G1 5-Series Features Card in Victoria

The 5-Series is on the card for this weekend in Victoria.  This will be the fourth time this mile and a half Grade 1 event will be held.   The Oil Rules All had the honor of winning the inaugural race in 2009 with a speed of 115 as the third choice at 5-1.  The Oil Rules All retired just last month.

2010 was run on a good track, with Monte Youn taking home the prize as the 7-2 favorite, wiring the field with a speed of 110 and going on to retire later in the year.

Last year, Barn Owl won the event and had to put up a tough battle early on and hold off a late closer to take the victory with a speed of 108.  He has won 5 of his last 15 starts and continues to be very competitive.

Quite a mixture of past winners and the cash rich $2,000,000 purse has attracted a nice group of horses for this race, which is open to all horses age three and up.

1.     21-1

The Streetz

Sired by Street Boss, this entrant makes his fourth appearance with graded company.  His best finish at this level occurred in October where he finished third in the Timberland Lodge in a rare small field of five.  The stakes/graded level has been difficult with a pair of shows in six races.  However, he has won three of his last four starts at the allowance level.   Looks to be a bit over his head here.

2.    7 -1

Tyrannical

Winner of 7 in 14 starts in 2011, four coming at the non-grade stake level, the others in allowance races.  This son of Arch only has three graded starts and has been improving with a most recent second this past January in the G3 Gary Trent Stakes.   He picked up his first win in his last start, an allowance race where he equaled his career best speed of 112.   Continued improvement at the graded level could give this horse a side trip into the winner’s circle.

3.    9-1

Frisco

Since September, this Dylan Thomas colt has been charting speeds of 100 and higher.   His career best happened in January with a 111 where he finished fourth in the Marcos Footwear Handicap.  He has a G3 win which came in June in the Virginia Turf Cup.  He’s being asked to go 12 furlongs, a distance he’s tried twice over the past year and his lowest speeds during this time period came in these races.  With this in mind, the distance becomes a concern.

4.     10-1

The Eliminator

A front running son of Pivotal who has been on the board 14 of 17 races with 6 wins.   His three times off the board included a maiden effort in his sole race on the dirt and two graded race chances.   It should be noted that he has appeared three times in graded races, finishing second once in the Hall of Fame last August.  With a handful of speedsters in this race, this one will have to work overtime to put them away one at a time.  Tough task to accomplish.

5.     7-1

Blakely

This son of Montjeu found the 2-mile Ackland Cup to be too much of a challenge and returns to a more competitive distance.  In January he took the top spot in the 11f Buck Dharma Handicap with a 3 stride win with a speed of 113.   Five of his last seven starts had speeds of 110 and up and with three graded wins this one has a shot as he drops to a more competitive distance.

6.    10 -1

Stray Dog

This four-time grade winner has been in a bit of a drought lately, which started with the Breeders’ Bowl in November.  He’s been off the board in four straight stake races (three graded).  Over the summer, he shined with back-to-back victories in the Greatest Show on Turf and the Rheinstone with speeds of 110 and 114, career bests.  This is the longest stint that he hasn’t had a top-three finish of his career and his last start was in a non-grade stake race where he finished fourth.  The recent form of this High Chaparral colt is cause for concern.

7.     7 -1

Vuvuzela

When this son of Montjeu scores, he scores big!  In July, he picked up his first graded win in stunning fashion in the Fivestarnick Handicap at 32-1 with a 113 speed.   He would better this speed in November with a 118 in the Fall Tent Show, which he strutted across the finish line at 12-1.   He has been off the board in his first two starts in 2012, both at 10 furlongs.  However, he is a stretch runner and will add distance going 12f for the first time.  I don’t see any reason why the extra distance won’t help his chances.

8.     9-1

Scrabby Crabby

A front-end runner who has wired the field in two of his last three starts.  While this High Chaparral colt  makes his fifth start at the graded level, heis still in pursuit of his first win at this level.  He’s picked up three non-graded stake victories and he has averaged a speed of 108 over his last three starts.   Looks to be in top form right now and will probably put in a very competitive effort in this race.

9.     14-1

Galilayo

This son of Galileo is the G2 winner of last year’s The Stayer’s Dash.  Although this is the only graded race win he has in 13 starts, he has finished second four times.  He lost his form in October and ran a series of races with sub-100 speeds.  Over the last three races, the speed numbers have improved, averaging 103.   He will be making this start with only two weeks rest and after a poor performance in the Sand Castle Golden Turf Classic.  Hard to see this race leading to a successful quick turn around.

10.   8 -1

Maximum Spell

A nice colt out of A.P. Indy who took a long winter break, more like hibernation before coming back in mid-March and taken a beating in the Victoria Cup.  At the end of 2011, this front runner snagged a pair of G1 wins in the Jolly Summer Cup and the Allied Assault.  The March start was definitely a needed start and he should improve off that start.  Just a question of whether he needs a second start to get back to peek of form.

11.     6-1

Yak

The sim’s number one long distance running aged colt gets the favor of the oddmaker’s and is the favorite in this race.   This four-time grade winner is sired by Redoute’s Choice and comes into the race with a decent fourth in the Sand Castle Golden Turf Classic, which he ran with a 110 speed.   Since his win in the Japan Classic in November, he hasn’t hit the board at the graded level in four tries.  A solid runner with speeds over 100 since this past July.  Has chance to improve if he keeps up with the speedsters.

12.     9-1

K’s Kunaviche

In 2010, this child of Smart Strike earned two graded wins in the Clubhouse Stakes and The Deauville.  Despite not winning at the graded level since gaining these victories, his speeds have ranged from 105 to 113 since November.  Could be a surprise spoiler in this race as he’s had top three finishes 8 times in 10 graded races.

13.    15 -1

Balance Act

Winner of the Classic Turf last October and put in a second in Coffeefields Cup later that month however, has struggled over last four.   Most of these were at two miles which seems to have been a stretch  for this son of Giant Causeway.  Still, current form has been questionable but drop in distance could ease things a bit.

Vuvuzela is my top choice as I believe the extra distance will payoff nicely.

Several speedsters in here and I’ll take my chances with Maximum Spell who is making second start after a long rest to get things going again.

Blakely drops back to better distance and gets my third choice.