Movieland Futurity Draws 14 Hopefuls
“Hoo-ray for Hollywood, that screwy ballyhooey Hollywood…”
Yup, good ol’ Tinseltown! That’s where the final Grade 1 2yo dirt race of 2012 will be held. 14 top-level juveniles face off for a prestigious title and a spot high on the 2013 Derby Watch list.
Let’s have a look at this interesting and varied field:
I’LL BE DARNED makes his stakes debut for astinator7, but has shown much ability in his four career starts and is well-regarded at 7/1. The quick Giant’s Causeway colt had the clockers double-checking their stopwatches after his dominant allowance win last time out. He was practically eased up in the stretch after building a 6-length lead, yet managed to earn a fine 99 on the speed gun. Two questions remain; he has to show that he can handle the class rise and the extra half-furlong.
FAPPIANO’S TALE has only managed one win in eight starts thus far in his career but has been highly competitive with stakes company ever since breaking his maiden back in April for zenyatta. The Take Of Ekati colt has a pair of impressive near-misses in his only two route tries, both stakes races. Gets 11/1 odds here.
LANCERO was right in the thick of an epic battle in the Grade 3 Nashua Special last time out, missing the top money by a just a couple feet while finishing 4th. The argentino5 trainee, a son of Majestic Warrior, needs only a tiny bit of improvement off that run to contend at 11/1 here.
TEA MASTER brings a strong closing rush that has already garnered two graded-stakes victories for the smurf trainee. An Awesome Again colt, he has a ton of talent to go along with his undefeated 2-turn record. Might be a bargain to bettors at 7/1.
DARKEST FIRE comes to Hollywood where paddy hopes to have his runner make amends for an awful performance in the Breeder’s Bowl Juvy, where he faded to a distant last place. Before that, the Monsun colt made a strong showing in the Grade 1 End Of The Line Futurity at Kentucky, so maybe, just maybe… Would be a 24/1 upset.
HAACK’S DUKE will need to make a giant leap forward from his recent pretty-good allowance runs for haackslew. Going off at 22/1, the Pulpit colt makes his stakes debut in a tough spot.
TIZ ROCK HARD was unable to break his maiden until his 6th career start, but the Rock Hard Ten colt’s solid performances prompted artracing to try the Grade 3 Charcoal Breeder’s Cup after he finally broke through. The colt pulled through with a solid 3rd place, and followed that with a decent 4th in a minor stakes on the lawn. Back to dirt now, he gets 21/1 odds.
LOOKONTHEBRITESIDE looks to break his maiden against graded-stakes company after a pair of 2nd’s… Looks tough, but not impossible. The Lookin At Lucky colt has the pedigree to handle 2 turns, and his running style also indicates he wants to go further. The newracing trainee gets 16/1 odds.
L’ARPEGE has done absolutely everything right thus far in his career, 3 wins in 3 starts, a pair of stakes including the Grade 3 Cryogenics Juvenile and thus earns co-favorite status at 5/1. The blue-blooded scratch-bred Curlin colt should enjoy that extra half-furlong, too. Will Saturday be the “coming-out party” for the smokeglack trainee?
ABROAD closed well in a small stakes race last time out, and now the jmsstable trainee tries the big time, getting 12/1 odds. The Point Given colt will need to be really sharp to compete with these, but he could make his presence felt.
SIMBESTO has been right up there with top runners; even in his 12th place run in the Grade 3 Nashua Special, he missed by less than 5 lengths. The oxymoron trainee, a More Than Ready colt, gets 9/1 odds and needs very little improvement to make a dent in this field.
TOMHANNOCK is undefeated 2-turning, and looks like he could be better than his 11/1 odds here. Empire Maker colt has been brought along nicely by blankpoin2, winning handily in his stakes debut last time out. Loves this track and certainly knows this rider…
ROAD WARS missed by just a couple lengths in the Grade 3 Nashua Special last time out while earning a lifetime-best speed rating for littorio. the Quality Road colt was closing late in that, his 2-turn debut. Has a shot to outrun his 13/1 odds.
LEFT SIDE STRONG has danced every dance, earning his #1 ranking by running in 7 consecutive graded stakes, winning a pair. Trained by dundey3, the Street Boss colt has had a little trouble holding on in that last half-furlong, but tries to turn that around today as a 5/1 co-favorite.
Time to pull out the Tarot cards and handicap this deal…
L’ARPEGE looks like the real deal from where I sit…
LEFT SIDE STRONG should be in front by midstretch, but just misses…
TOMHANNOCK looks best of the rest.
Good luck all!