Union Jack Flyer Featured In Gr. 2 Golfer’s Wager
The Golfer’s Wager Stakes Record Time: 1:41 2/5 (Twice) (2011) Horse: Artemis And Apollo (IRE) Owner: Super Stables (2tohold) (2009) Horse: Classically Styled (KY) Owner: At The Wire Thoroughbreds (chorwon) ********************************************************* ( 1 ) FRINGE BENEFITS (KY) (10 3-0-3, $89,460) 4 YO Brown Filly Odds: 17/1 Owner: MTK and GALLOPLAZ SIM Joint Venture Career High Speed Figure: 106 (04/21/12) Fringe Benefits is a very lightly raced daughter of Kingmambo out of the A.P. Indy mare The Golden Goose. The four year old will be seeing her first graded stakes action ever, and she picked a tough spot to do it in. With the likes of Union Jack Flyer in here, she’s going to throw her hat in against one of the best older mares in the game. Fringe Benefits has only 10 career starts, but last time out she popped a career-high 106 speed figure in a 9 furlong allowance in Portugal. In fact, this the first time that Fringe Benefits is stepping foot on North American soil after having done all her racing overseas. She’s got some really blue blood flowing through those veins of hers, that much is certain. Her dam had A.P. Indy, Alydar and Bold Ruler blood in her veins, and when you throw Kingmambo in there as her sire, it really doesn’t get much better than that. Distance is no problem for this one, and she comes in here really well rested, not having raced since April 21. Can she pick off the likes of some of the bigger graded winners here? That much remains to be seen, but this is probably a 4 year old you’re going to hear a lot about in the future. ( 2 ) GOLD PAN (JPN) (26 12-8-2, $337,860) 4 YO Chestnut Filly Odds: 5/1 Owner: Nikkin Stables Career High Speed Figure: 108 (03/10/12) The Japanese-bred Gold Pan is another one here who’s seeing her first graded stakes action. It looks like she was claimed for $40,000 way back in August of last year, and she‘s done nothing but win or finish top three for her new connections. She’s a scratch-bred daughter of Conduit, with Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer in her pedigree. Since she was claimed, she has been to the races 15 times for Nikkin Stables, and she’s won 8 times. She’s only been in stakes company once, and that was in the 8-furlong Tete Grand End Dirt Filly Mile in Hong Kong, where she got up big on the field early and held on for an easy win in November of 2011. She hasn’t been in stakes company since then, but she’s been doing superbly in allowance company for Nikkin Stables. In those 15 starts for her new connections, she’s popped triple digit speed figures 10 times, and she looks like she’s ready to step up into graded company this weekend in Ontario. She’s 5/1 in this spot, and she’s got a ton of early speed. Winner of four of her last six races, look for Gold Pan on the lead here early, and she just might stay there for a while. ( 3 ) PICKIN’ WINNERS (KY) (38 12-6-5, $511,333) 7 YO Brown Mare Odds: 3/1 Owner: Denovo Stables Career High Speed Figure: 110 (12/24/11, 01/31/09) Pickin‘ Winners was on a five-race win streak that included three graded stakes wins. She was on a major league roll before her last two starts. The seven-year-old scratch-bred daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus ran into a buzz saw two starts back in the Grade 1 Santa Marina Handicap in California, where she finished 11th. That start came off quite a layoff, so toss that one. She fared much better last time out, when she finished fifth in the Grade 2 Davey Jones Handicap in Florida. She was beaten only 1 ¾ lengths by the winner there, Wild Henny, but what is more important is that Pickin’ Winners got back into the triple digit speed figure column there (107). She’s 3/1 here, second favorite behind the mighty Union Jack Flyer, who’s 8/5, according to the morning line odds makers. Tons of early speed here for Pickin’ Winners, who had run in only two races over 7 furlongs in her entire career before last December, when she won the Grade 3 Exit Stage Left down in Florida. She’s making her 39th career start here, and it looks like Pete at Denovo Stables is determined to make a more classic type runner out of his star filly. ( 4 ) DIPLOMATIC TIES (KY) (17-5-3-5, $244,048) 4 YO Brown Filly Odds: 6/1 Owner: Shamrock Stables Career High Speed Figure: 106 (12/17/11, 04/21/12, 02/25/12) Diplomatic ties is a four year old daughter of Kingmambo who’s out of the Dynaformer mare Bold Bandit, a graded stakes placed mare in her day. Bold Bandit ran mostly in turf routes early on in her career, before she switched to the dirt later and got a couple of place finishes in graded stakes on that surface. Her daughter here, Diplomatic Ties, looks like she’s following her mom’s dirt success. Diplomatic Ties has been run on the turf, too, after starting her career on the dirt. Last time out Diplomatic Ties finished third in the 8-furlong Grade 3 Boquet O’ Daisies Stakes in British Columbia. She turned in a 106 speed figure in that effort, a career-high that she has done three times in her career, with all of them coming in three of her last four starts. After trying the turf, she turned back to the dirt in her last four starts, and she’s really starting to blossom on that surface. Diplomatic Ties is pretty versatile in her running style. In those last four dirt starts, she’s shown the ability to stalk the early leaders or come flying from far back. ( 5 ) JONESTOWN RIOT (JPN) (16 4-7-4, $164,168) 4 YO Brown Filly Odds: 7/1 Owner: houseriot riot Career High Speed Figure: 108 (04/28/12) Jonestown Riot is making her 17th career start here, and this will be her first foray into graded stakes company. She’s taken a while to bloom, but last time out, she busted out with a career-high 108 speed figure in an 8-furlong allowance win in Italy. The four year old daughter of Johannesburg was sort of flipping back and forth in distance between 8 and 9 furlongs in her career, until her last three starts, when her connections settled her into three one mile distance allowance races. This must be what she likes, because in those three starts, she’s thrown the only triple digit speed figures of her career. She’s out of the Smarty Jones mare Romans Nine, who was graded placed in her career. She’s hitting a couple of tough ones here in the Grade 2 Golfer’s Wagers, including odds-on favorite Union Jack Flyer and Pickin’ Winners, a graded winner, but if she keeps on showing improvement in the speed figure column, as she has been lately, there’s no reason to think she can’t run with the likes of these. Pretty interesting four year old here. She’s been top three in 15 of her 16 career starts, which means’s she’s super consistent. Might want to keep your eye on her in the first graded stakes run of her career this weekend. She’s 7/1 in this spot, and she just might be pretty live on race day. ( 6 ) LIVING LAVISH (GER) (29 9-6-2, $202,527) 5 YO Brown Mare Odds: 5/1 Owner: Gotta Catch ‘Em All Career High Speed Figure: 108 (03/24/12) Gotta Catch ‘Em All Stables sends the German-bred Living Lavish here to the Grade 2 Golfer’s Wager here in Ontario this weekend. The five year old daughter of Monsun is out of the Deputy Minister mare Blarney Deputy, and Living Lavish is one of her eight foals. Living Lavish is a half to stakes-winner Silver Earns Gold, but Living Lavish has yet to pick up her first stakes win going into her 30th career start here. She’s a former claimer who looks like she might be ready to hit the big time. Living Lavish was riding a four-race win streak going into her only listed stakes try last time out. She ran eighth in the Gold Hero Dirt Mare Route, a 9.5-furlong affair in Upper New York. That 9.5-furlong race might have been a bit long for her. She’s dropping in distance here, and this 8.5 furlongs she’ll see in the Grade 2 Golfer’s Wager might be more to her liking. She has popped triple digit speed figures in four of her last six starts, and that bodes well for her here. She’s been much more consistent lately, and at 5/1 Living Lavish is not a bad play at all in this spot. She might not beat Union Jack Flyer, who’s the class of this bunch, but she should acquit herself well here. ( 7 ) UNION JACK FLYER (KY) (22 10-7-2, $3,283,820) 5 YO Chestnut Mare Odds: 8/5 Owner: ScotsAnglo Career High Speed Figure: 114 (09/25/10, 03/05/11) Union Jack Flyer is by far the class of this field. In 22 career starts, the 2011 Eclipse Award (Champion Older Mare on Dirt) winner has run in an amazing 17 graded events, and she’s won seven of those. It’s easy to see why she won the Eclipse last season. Look at what she did in 2011. She won four grade 1’s (The Original Margaritaville, The Very Vane, The Go For Gold and the Breeders’ Bowl Distaff). She also won a grade 3 early last season, and if all that wasn’t enough, Union Jack Flyer topped off her season last year with a second place finish in the Grade 1 Japan Dirt Cup–against the boys, no less. Oh my, Union Jack Flyer was a very busy girl last season, and her Eclipse Award was well-deserved. She has got some monster speed figures on that resume of hers, as you might well imagine. She took a little time off after that Grade 1 Japan Dirt Cup race. Then she opened up this season with a tune-up allowance win in Germany while she was overseas. She came back last time out and finished second in the Grade 3 Route Sixty Six in Illinois after a two-month layoff. She’s back and ready to roll again. She really prefers 9 furlongs, but the ½ furlong drop in distance here in Ontario this weekend shouldn’t matter much to her. She can handle this field, and she’s odds on against this bunch in the Grade 2 Golfer’s Wager this weekend. It’s hard to imagine her losing this race, but then again, it’s hard to imagine her losing anywhere she happens to show up. She’s got over $3.2 million in earnings, and she might just get her second Eclipse this year, before it’s all said and done. It’s still early in the season, but if she can hit last season’s form, or come anywhere close, she should be in the running for her a major award. An outstanding mare from ScotsAnglo Stables, she’s a daughter of A.P. Indy out of the Awesome Again mare Beatbenwithastick. And Union Jack Flyer is looking real good in this spot this weekend.
Grade II
Distance: One mile and one sixteenth, Or 8.5 Furlongs, Or 1,700 Metres
Surface: Fast Dirt
Purse: $300,000 ($180,000 To The Winner)
Conditions: Fillies and Mares, 3 Years Old and Up