Eight accept challenge in Tess Carlisle Turf Mare Route

Older females look to light up the track in this week’s highlight race in Virginia, the Tess Carlisle Turf Mare Route.  The race is for fillies and mares four years and older, and will run over eight and a half furlongs of turf.  Spring has dawned beautifully here in Virginia, and the track will be rated as firm for the event.  The race draw eight contenders, and it looks to be a fairly well matched field.  You won’t break the bank at the betting windows here, but there is some nice money to be made here, with a pair of co-favorites at a relatively long 7/2 odds, and the rest of the field weighing in at 9/1 or better.  A little skill and perhaps a little luck could net handicappers some decent exotics payouts.

PP 1) Sharks Prada(KY)  Sired by El Prado(IRE), Trained by dcsharks.  Shark Prada is a six year old mare, making career start thirty five here.  She’s no stranger to stakes company, but up until now, has only a single win at this level to show for her efforts.  She’s gone 3-3-1-1-1 in her last ten, with seven 100+ speeds, capped by a 112.8 early last season.  Her last race was an A2s tuneup at this distance, coming off a slight injury in the Penn Oaks, and she owned a ten horse field by three lengths while posting a 110.2 speed figure.  All but three career starts have been on turf and she has a high comfort level on this surface.  This is her distance range of choice, and she has eight wins and seventeen top three finishes in twenty four turf starts in this distance range.  She likes to break in the mid pack, but her close has been somewhat inconsistent over her last several starts.  Much of this field has the same running style, and some have shown much more consistency.  She comes into this race off her best race in a long while, and she will need to duplicate that effort to be in the mix late here.

PP 2) Gold Rod(KY)  Sired by Mineshaft, Trained by pebbles.  Gold Rod is a lightly raced six year old mare, taking her twenty sixth career trip here.  She has one stakes win, coming on dirt in her last start.  Over the course of her last ten she’s gone 4-4-0-1-0 with eight 100+ speeds, topping out at 111.0 mid last year.  Her last start was in December in a mile stakes on dirt, where she took control at the half, and never looked back, besting a short field by two and a half lengths.  Her career has been about an even split between dirt and turf, and she’s had good success on both surfaces, though her speeds have been slightly stronger on dirt as a rule.  She a veteran miler, and has finished outside the top two only three time on either surface in fifteen tries.  She tends to break toward the head of the mid pack, which could put her not far off the leaders in this field.  She generally hasn’t shown a strong close but shows good stamina in holding a second half lead.  This field is not the best of setups for her with the big speed out behind her.  She’s going to need a big second half jump to be effective here, but she could be dangerous if she gets it.

PP 3) Sammy Giant(KY)  Sired by Giant’s Causeway(IRE), Trained by samwich77.  Sammy Giant takes the track for career start number thirty one in this race.  She’s a stakes veteran, and has raced at the highest levels, and has a pair of stakes wins, including a Grade 3 last season.  In her last ten starts, she’s put up a 4-1-0-1-1 record, with eight 100+ starts with a best of 111.4 in her Grade 3 win last year.  Her last race was a nine furlong stakes where she finished sixth in a tough field of nine by nearly six lengths.  Other than a pair of dirt starts early in her career she’s been a pure turfer and the eight to nine furlong range has been her playground.  In the distance range here, she has twelve top three finishes in sixteen starts.  She is a deep closer, and her close has generally been quite consistent.  In this field she shouldn’t be buried too deeply at the half, and that is going to make her dangerous late in this race.

PP 4) Panthenon(KY)  Sired by Giant’s Causeway(IRE), Trained by oostende2.  Panthenon is another lightly raced six year old mare, making start number twenty five here.  She two has raced at the highest levels, and she has five career stakes wins, two of them graded.  Her last ten starts have netted her a 3-2-0-2-0 record with eight 100+ starts, with her best of 110.3 coming late in the 2010 season.  Her last race was a nine furlong stakes where she finished a hard losing fourth in a filed of eleven, two lengths out at the wire.  All of her starts have been on turf, and there’s been no incentive for her to try anything else.  Though she has been racing slightly longer recently with some mixed results, but she’s been excellent at this distance range, with eleven top three finishes in twelve races.  She’s a midpack to deep closer, and her close has been quite good in her recent starts, though not quite enough to bring her all the way home in the longer races.  Her last two starts have been a couple of her best in the last couple of years and the small cut in distance should benefit her, as well.  She definitely one to look for late in this one.

PP 5) Lute N Go(KY)  Sired by Midnight Lute, Trained by snowstorm.  Lute N Go is a four year old filly, stepping to the track for start number twenty one in this race.  She’s just recently stepped up to stakes level, and has one win to show for her five tries.  She boasts a 3-1-3-1-1 record, with five 100+ starts, her best being a 105.9 late last year.  Her last run was a nine and a half furlong stakes where she struggled home eighth in a field of eleven by nearly fourteen lengths.  After starting her career on dirt, she switched to turf in her sixth start and has never looked back.  She’s been at her best in the nine to ten furlong range, and while she has three top three finishes in four tries in this range, though her best speed in this range has only been in the mid nineties.  She has opted for a slower break in her last few but generally she’s had better success with a faster break.  In this field, setting the early pace could be a better option for her.  She’ll need to muster some more speed here to carry this one home.

PP 6) Nebulus(IRE)  Sired by Galileo(IRE), Trained by super3.  Nebulus is a four year lf filly taking the gate for run number nineteen here.  She has plenty of stakes experience, but is still looking for her first win at this level.  In her last ten, she’s cobbled together a 2-0-0-3-2 record, cracking the 100+ mark five times, clocking her best of 104.6 in her last start.  The race was a mile stakes in New York, where she finished a hard closing eighth in a field of fourteen, under five out at the wire.  After starting her career on turf, she switch to dirt for an extended stretch.  She made the jump back to turf in her last three, and has been doing some of her best running of her career.  This has been her best distance range, and she has won three of four turf starts in this distance range.  She’s a deep closer, and since her switch back to turf her close has been excellent.  She’s not shown the speed of some in this field, but she’s been steadily improving since the move back to grass.  I’m not ready to give her the win here, but could be worth a look to round out your trifecta bets here at 9/1 odds.

PP 7) Meet The New Boss(KY)  Sired by Street Boss, Trained by ruffino.  Meet The New Boss is the relative rookie of this field, making only her thirteenth start here.  This will be her first try against stakes competition, after exhausting her conditions in winning her last three straight.  She’s gone 5-1-2-1-1 in her last ten, with a best speed of 108.1 coming in her last race.  That race was a nine furlong A4x, where she came from way off the pace, to cruise to a win by nearly two lengths.  She move to turf in her second career start, and never went back, for good reason.  Her range of choice has been the nine furlong range, and this one may be a shade short for her to be at her best.  She’s a pure closer, and her close has been stellar over her last several races.  She’s been immproving with each start since late last season, and the field sets up well for her here.  The shorter distance is the real question mark here, but if you’re looking to take a chance on a longshot, this would be the one to bet.

PP 8) Noomi Repace(KY)  Sired by Street Cry(IRE), Trained by quietjohn.  Noomi Repace is a four year old filly taking her twentieth career trip here.  She has just recently stepped up to stakes level in her last two, with a pair of more than solid efforts, but is still looking for that first stakes win.  Her last ten starts have seen her go 3-2-5-0-0 with five 100+ speeds, capped by a 110.7 in her last race.  That race was a nine furlong stakes, where she settle for third in a wild finish, a scant quarter length out at the wire.  Outside a short sojourn on dirt, the bulk of her races have been on the grass, and she displays a high comfort level.  She has been solid from seven through nine furlongs, and in this distance range, she has three wins and three shows in seven turf tries.  She runs from the mid pack, and her close has been good, though it has had a little trouble bringing her all the way home.  She has had the hottest hand in this field recently, and her speed is definitely enough to put her into contention.  I’d like to see her stretch a bit longer, but she is another one here to box into your exotics the way she has been running.