Let’s hear it for New York! The lyrics of the famous Jay-Z song are still ringing in my ears. Dreams will be made today in New York as we get set for the Grade I The Priceless Stakes. This big race is the 12th on the New York card today and will feature just six fillies and mares that are three years old. These girls will be going six furlongs on the fast dirt in hopes of cashing in on a piece of the 300,000 dollar purse. The long shot sits at 7/1 and it looks to be a great and entertaining field that we will have run today. So now, ladies and gentleman, let’s meet our pretty little ladies.
1. Given Away Cash, (Any Given Saturday X Dynaformer X Seattle Slew) will be out of gate 1 today coming in at odds of 6/1. Oddsman will send this girl onto her first graded attempt of her career after bursting out of the races she has been in and running a 101 speed figure. This girl won the first three races of her career in a maiden special weight and two listed stakes. She then went on to not win another until two races back where she defeated an NW1T allowance field of four. Her last race though was the breakout race where she posted her career best speed figure of 101 while placing second in an open allowance. Prior to running the 101 speed figure, her best speed figure of her career was a 92 set in January of this year. The big question is will the speeds continue to rise which will have to be the case if this girl wants to find herself in the winners circle.
2. Cuore E L’Anima (Unbridled’s Song X Storm Cat X Alydar) will come out of gate two at odds of 7/1. This girl is the long shot in the race today, although she is coming off one of the best performances of her life. She has just seven career races under her belt, but has won four of them and placed in two. Her only falter was in the first race of her career where she finished 6th in a maiden special weight. Two races back started the recent winning streak as she took down a NW3L allowance field of five while running a 98 speed figure. Owner ticketman2 said what the hay and entered this girl into a Grade III last time out. At odds of 10/1 she took down the graded field of ten while matching that 98 speed figure. She will be looking to make it two in a row here today, and the question with this one is will she be able to match and even improve upon the speed figures she has been running.
3. Awesome Princess, (Awesome Again X Kingmambo X Danzig) is a 3/1 shot in today’s race. Owner londoner sends this girl out to her first Grade I attempt after picking up her fist graded win two races back. This girl has had an interesting start to her career of big spurts followed by a few disappointing runs. All that changed in the beginning of this year as she rattled of five straight wins including one allowance, three listed stakes, and one graded victory. Her last race featured her toughest test yet as she was entered into a Grade II field of 11. She ran her heart out and posted a 99 speed figure while finishing fourth in the race. Her best speed figure came two races back where she won the Grade III Warfare Farm Stakes by 2 ¼ lengths while running a speed figure of 101. Will she top her highest speed figure is the question on everyone’s mind.
4. Day Of Prosperity (Corinthian X Forty Niner X Deputy Minister) is the co-second favorite in today’s race coming into the race with odds of 3/1. This girl started her career off on a hot streak winning her first four races. There is only one problem, and that is that in the 11 races since she has not won a single race and has hit the board just five times. Owner mtkholding will look for her to find the winners circle as she desperately needs to find some way to get a win. She has not posted a speed figure of over 100 yet in her career, but she has run two of the best speed figures of her young career in the last two races. Two races back was a Grade III attempt in which she ran third out of eleven horses and finished with a speed figure of 99. It was then back into the listed stakes last time out where she finished third again running a speed figure of 98. If she can run a speed figure of over 100, she has a shot in this one.
5. Legal Embrace, (Stormy Atlantic X Saint Ballado X Carson City) is also the co-second favorite in today’s race also with odds of 3/1. This girl won her maiden special weight debut and hasn’t seen anything but graded company since. In the 11 races since that debut, she has raced in 4 Grade III’s, 4 Grade II’s and 3 Grade I’s. The only type of race she does not have a win in is the Grade I, and she will be looking for her first here today. Her last three races have been interesting as she ran 1st three races back while winning a Grade II with a speed figure of 104. It was then back to back 7th and 8th place finishes where her speed figures were only 94 and 93 respectively. She will be looking to get back on track in this one, and if she can run like she did three back, she will definitely have a chance.
6. Vicenza (Bernardini X Ghostzapper X Seeking The Gold) is the favorite in today’s race with odds of 5/2 and why shouldn’t she be! This girl has 12 career races under her belt and has won nine of those races. She has won her last two and has two graded wins in her career. Her last couple of races have been well as she won a listed stakes race two races back taking the field of five with a 98 speed figure. It was her last race that really sticks out though as she took a field of six horses down in a Grade III race where she tied her career best speed figure of 102. Her previous race of running a 102 had been a listed stakes win in March of this year. The question with this girl is will she have enough left in the tank to get win number three.
I think that this will be a great Grade I race today. I think that it will come down to the wire, but Vicenza just looks like to much for the rest of the field to have an opportunity so that is who I will take. I want to thank you for reading this pre-race article and encourage you to head on over the the BTB forum, found on the forums page, for all of your sim racing news. I’m Dylan and I want to thank you once again and say, good luck to all trainers!