King Kong Vase
King Kong Vase Preview – 1:50:00 PM Official Game Time
The annual King Kong International Festival will be held once again this Saturday in the sim. Consisting of four grade one turf races worth seven and a half million dollars this is always a big year end event. We’re focused on the King Kong Vase, run at a mile and one half for one and a half million dollars. The turf is firm and a field of eleven lines up for the rich purse. Favoritism lies with King Tachyon, a contemporary sim great who has earned over eleven million dollars. But youth will always be there to take on age and King Tachyon faces some up and coming three and four year olds looking to unseat him from his throne. Let’s take a look at the field.
#1 K’s Kunaviche 7/1
A tough old competitor, six year old K’s Kunaviche was third in this race last year. He’s won three races this season but all came at the allowance level. In three graded events his best finish was a fourth in his most recent start, the Grade Two Flying Carpet Handicap with a 109 speed. Indeed he has not won a graded race since 2010. That said all of his speeds this year have been triple digits and with thirteen wins under his belt K’s Kunaviche knows how to reach the winner’s circle. He’s less than $50,000 shy of becoming a millionaire.
#2 Lemon Drop Girl 8/1
Despite the name, Lemon Drop Girl is in fact a four year old colt. Once available for a $150,000 claiming tag, Lemon Drop Girl is having a breakout year in 2012. He won his first graded stakes just two starts back in the Grade Three Sick No More. He also finished second in the Grade One Rhys-Smith Anniversary Turf Classic. Both of those races came at a mile and one half and the 113 speed he earned winning the Sick No More was a career best for Lemon Drop Girl. He’s only missed the board once in ten starts this season and should be tough in this spot.
#3 Dynamique 7/1
Three year old Dynamique enters on a three race win streak. His speed average for those three starts is 113.7 with the last two starts being most impressive. Both came in graded runs versus older foes and he won both by open lengths. If you had to find a flaw in the way Dynamique is coming into this race it is that all of those races came at a mile and three eighths. He’s never won at a mile and one half but there is nothing in his history to suggest the extra furlong will spell doom. It just hasn’t happened yet.
#4 King Tachyon 9/2
What can be said of King Tachyon? A sim legend he has won over eleven million in purses, six grade one races and a legion of fans. King Tachyon has started in almost all of the major turf stakes throughout the years but this is his first visit to the King Kong International Festival. The speedster has won only two starts this season and while known for his need the lead style he has sat back in second and third in his last two starts (resulting in a win and a fifth place finish). He ran back to back 113 speeds in those starts so certainly his final speed is not in question.
#5 Thetalkofthetime 10/1
Thetalkofthetime is a four year old son of Giant’s Causeway and is a late addition to the stakes ranks. He ran in his first listed in December of last year and won that race. This year he added two more listed wins and an allowance victory along with a second in the Grade One NY Island Cap at a mile and one quarter. He’s run unsuccessfully in several other graded events up to a mile and a half in distance. He’s run solid triple digit speeds all year but has never tipped the 110 mark which will likely be needed for a win against this field.
#6 King Porter Stomp 10/1
Like Thetalkofthetime, King Porter Stomp is a listed winner and graded placed runner. King Porter Stomp is also having his best season yet as a four year old, but unlike his rival he came from a more humble background. The South African-bred colt was claimed by current owner sprinter for $35,000 in the summer of 2011. He won his listed stakes on New Year’s Eve and this year added a ½ length loss in the Grade Three Timberland Lodge Stakes just two starts back.
#7 What A Trickster 37/1
The outlier of the group is three year old What A Trickster. He has only two wins from fourteen starts but has bankrolled nearly three quarters of a million dollars. Most of that comes from his six graded placings last year and this. What A Trickster’s last race resulted in one of his wins; he took a mile and a half allowance against older runners in his first start on the dirt. What A Trickster’s lifetime best speed is a 104, a far cry from the rest of the field.
#8 Mintberry Crunch 8/1
Mintberry Crunch entered 2012 as a listed stakes winner and he exits a grade one winner having taken the win in his most recent start, the Jockey’s Weapon at a mile and one half. The four year old son of Cape Cross also has two graded placings this season. He’s run triple digit speeds in each of his last ten starts and will likely be leading the way early (if King Tachyon chooses to sit back).
#9 Gimlet Theory 5/1
The only mare in the field is co-second choice in the wagering. She is facing males for the first time in her eighteen race career but her last three starts have shown how competitive Gimlet Theory is. She was a winner in the Grade One Lone Star Park with a 116 speed in July and most recently finished third in the Breeders’ Bowl F&M Turf. Gimlet Theory is a perfect example of taking your time to develop a runner. She took five starts to break her maiden but two races later was a grade two winner.
#10 No Qualification 5/1
No Qualification is the other second choice in the wagering with Gimlet Theory. He is the shortest priced of the four runners who have never won at the graded level and for good reason – in seven 2012 turf runs he has never been worse than second. Included in that is two listed stakes wins and a solid second in the Grade Two Flying Carpet Handicap in his most recent start. His average speed over his last seven starts is over 107 and he ran a career best 113 in that last start.
#11 Curtainsforsirtin 10/1
Curtainsforsirtin became a grade two winner for the first time at age five in 2012. He took the Yorkshire Plate in May at a mile and three quarters with a career best speed of 110. Unfortunately he has not run back to that effort in three subsequent starts, finishing fifth twice and sixth in three grade twos. He did have some time off from August to October and is running back on eight weeks rest now. Whether that will help this colt’s chances or not remains to be seen but he needs to find the winning form he had in May to be competitive in this race.
Good luck to all!