Golden Ticket Up For Grabs In Wooden Indian
The march to the Bluegrass Derby is nearly complete with final lock races run this week and next. Last week saw Proust take down the Sand Castle Derby and secure a spot in the big race while filly Street Etiquette took the All Saints Derby. This week runners converge in California for the California Derby and here in New York fourteen three year olds line up for the Wooden Indian. We have two fillies in the field and an undefeated runner but the co-favorites are grade one winner’s Clinton’s Ditch and Silverton. Let’s take a look at the field.
#1 Canadian Kash is the first filly in the field. The daughter of Scat Daddy is facing males for the first time and, perhaps more importantly, routing for the first time. She won her first graded stakes in her last start, taking the Grade Two seven furlong Girl Up Front with a career best 100sp. Canadian Kash comes from a family of sprinters; she is a half-sister to a graded winner and an additional stakes winner, all below one mile.
#2 Clinton’s Ditch is returning to the scene of his biggest victory. He ran away with the Grade One Sparkling Win Stakes here last season before going on to finish third in the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile. The son of Smart Strike has not progressed as well as a three year old. From two starts he has a fourth and a fifth in a pair of Grade Threes. He has yet to break the triple digit barrier in speed but Clinton’s Ditch has more back class than any other horse in the race.
#3 Wild Out is the lightest raced horse in the field. He’s won his last three races after losing his debut. The son of Any Given Saturday’s last two wins came at one mile. This includes an allowance win with a 95sp and a win in the Image Ralph Dirt Mile with a 96. Wild Out is getting a gut check in this race but if he is to move on to the Bluegrass Derby that is exactly what he needs.
#4 Sarcastic Glance is the only native New Yorker in the field – he is a son of second year sire Justenuffhumor. After taking five starts to break his maiden Sarcastic Glance won four of his next five starts. He ended 2010 with a victory in the Grade Three Pleasure Stakes before his losing streak was snapped with a third place finish in the Grade Three Giant Slayer Classic. He rebounded with a win in the Grade Two Felipe Alou Stakes in his most recent race, running a career best 101sp.
#5 Rock Dancer Ted looked to have a big future ahead of him last fall when he took the one mile Hold the Pickles Dirt Juvenile with a 95sp. The son of Rockport Harbor took some time off and did not immediately return to the winner’s circle. He was unplaced in two stakes races before dropping back to an allowance where he finished third going six furlongs before finally winning a conditioned allowance at one mile in his last start.
#6 Vive Le Rongeur earned his biggest career victory in his last start of 2011 when he took an owner restricted stakes race at a mile and one sixteenth. He finished second in his next start, a listed stakes at a mile and three sixteenth but has failed to finish in the money in any of his next three starts. Troublingly Vive Le Rongeur has finished last in his two graded attempts.
#7 Silverton enters riding a four race win streak which started last December. In that skein he started by taking two allowance races. He graduated to stakes in February with a victory in the Danzig with Sal Dirt Route at a mile and one sixteenth in which he earned a 103sp. Most recently he traveled to Kentucky for a win in the Grade One Immense Derby Challenge by nearly three lengths with a 102sp. Silverton was based on multiple stakes winner Band of Silver who did his best running between a mile and a mile and one quarter.
#8 Giant Zen is second filly in the field and owns the second highest lifetime speed number in the field. She earned that high sp – a 105 – winning her last start, the Grade Two Miss Bonnie at a mile and one eighth. Prior to the Miss Bonnie she was third in the Grade Three SilverBulletBeer Stakes. She finished last season with her only other stakes victory, an owner restricted race at a mile and one sixteenth. She has never faced males before.
#9 Kayaderosseras has three wins from six starts. That includes a maiden and two allowance races. He was seventh in his only stakes attempt, the Grade Three Gary Asher Memorial Stakes. The scratch-bred son of Candy Ride x Sadler’s Wells x Buckpasser is a confirmed closer but the fast pace expected here should benefit him. He will have to improve from his lifetime best 96sp to be a factor though.
#10 Big Time Charlie is the big question mark in this field. He’s undefeated nine for nine but has never tried graded stakes and has never run a route. The son of Indian Charlie does have three stakes wins coming at distances between five and five and one half furlongs. He also has some of the highest speed numbers in the field, having run a 103 and 104 in his last two starts.
#11 Implausible would live up to his name with a win in this race. The son of Zabeel has two wins from five starts, both coming in one mile allowances this year. He ran seventh in the Grade Three Buccanneer Derby in his most recent start, running a career best 95sp. He already has four starts this season including a race just two weeks ago.
#12 Eskidoro is a colt getting good at the right time. He has the highest speed number in the field, earning a 106 while winning the Strike a Boundry Dirt Route at a mile and one sixteenth in his last start. That was his first race since December when he was third in the Grade Two Eruption. The son of Eskendereya was also second in the Grade Three Cornstalk last fall. The big question for Eskidoro is whether he will bounce off that big return race or if he can possibly move forward and prove himself to be a freak.
#13 Fantastic Ruler won the Grade Three Cryogenics Juvenile at one mile last fall. His only win since came in an allowance in January. He was well beaten in two graded starts since. The son of Fantastic Light has run back-to-back 93 speed numbers but he will have to improve upon those numbers to be competitive against this field.
#14 Bella Sposa is making his third start of the year in this spot. Last season’s Grade Three Buckeye Juvenile third place finisher returned to the races after a brief hiatus to run seventh in the Grade Three Scam. He followed that with a win in a one mile allowance last out with a 98sp. The son of Awesome Again was also second in an owner restricted stakes last fall.
Good luck to all!