18 Youngsters Aim to Become Next Afleet Alex

Welcome to the Minnesota Raceday Festival! The wonderful fall weather (ha!) has given us a good track today. We have 18 youngsters lining up for the Afleet Alex Stakes, going 8.5f on the main track for a purse of $75,000. This is the first time most of these babes will be stretching beyond a mile, and should be a good test to see if any may have what it takes to make it to the Classics next spring. Let’s review the entrants in post position order.

On the rail is Tiger Cloud, with odds of 24/1. A brown filly by Cloud Cover (Storm Cat) out of a Metfield mare, she won her maiden last time out, after running a nice 81 in her debut the race before. Cloud Cover has sired only 38 runners in the sim, but 24 are winners, which is 63.2%. He has sired one stakeswinner so far…Tiger Cloud looks like a good candidate to become his second. The real question mark today is whether she will stretch out beyond a mile or not.

Jimj’s Tryordie ships in all the way from South Africa for today’s race. The youngster by Stravinsky out of Sky Execute(GB)(Diesis(GB)) quite rightly debuted on turf, winning smartly with an 82. His dam was a graded winner, and looks to have passed on her abilities to this handsome chesnut. Don’t say, oh, he’s a turfer and count him out though. Stravinsky did have a runner in last week’s Breeder’s Bowl Juvenile Filly, and her best speed figure so far was at 8.5f on dirt, and it was even a sloppy track, so I like this guy’s chances a lot, especially at 9/1.

I’m sure I don’t need to sing the praises of Awesome Affaire‘s sire Awesome Again to BTB readers. He has sired 30 stakeswinners and 4 graded winners in the sim in the last five years. Awesome Affaire is the first baby out of the Black Tie Affair(Ire) mare Zip Gun Boogie(Ire), who only ran three times before switching careers. She’s off to a good start with this one, who likes to settle at the back of the pack and weave his way through horses to the wire. That may cause him problems in an 18 horse field, but he looked, dare I say it, awesome doing just that in winning his maiden last time out. He goes off at 14/1.

In post four is Arse Magic, a Miesque’s Son filly that rharfo9 claimed out of her debut. Knowing that Miesque’s Son offspring often perform well on turf, he tried that next. Unfortunately, the pretty dark grey seems to have an unruly streak, and has been quite green in her three races so far, fighting her jockey and failing to concentrate at all on the matter at hand. Her trainer has worked extensively on this problem, and she has been galloping in blinkers. It is hoped that her progress will be apparent today. The oddsmakers must want to see some of that in a race situation before giving her the benefit of the doubt, as they have her at 76/1.

Sunshine83 must be elated that the track has come up good today, as Malibu Quest has run his best races on an off track. The Malibu Moon colt scored a convincing victory in his last race on a sloppy track, posting an 80 while under wraps. Malibu Moon has only one stakeswinner in the sim so far, but that filly won on, yep, you guessed it, a good track. Malibu Moon offspring have no problem going 8.5f, so this colt could be a great bet at 21/1.

In post six is The Curse Lives. Quite the creative name for this youngster by Boston Harbor out of Irish Melissa (Devil His Due). The Curse Lives has carried on his dam’s status as a stakeswinner, having won The Cryptolightning Bonanza last time out with an 85. He has run this distance before, where he was run down in the stretch by one of the super stable horses. His stakes victory was on a good track, and he has one of the top jockeys here in K. Friar (18% wins). His odds today are 10/1.

Supertoy07’s Slammin’ has won twice…on each surface. She won her maiden on a good turf track, followed that up with an allowance victory, and then switched back to dirt, where she has won both an allowance and a stakes. She is by Grand Slam out of Astarinthemaking (Mining), who was a useful dirt sprinter. Grand Slam has sired 29 stakeswinners and 7 graded winners, and they tend to split the centre as far as sprints/routes go, so the distance shouldn’t be much of a problem, although she hasn’t gone beyond 7f yet. She gets a nice jockey here in O. Stinson (14% winners) and goes off at 12/1.

Eddington’s Alcohol was putting together a nice string of improvements before faltering last time out on the lawn. Considering that his sire War Chant won the BC Mile, you can’t fault the trainer for giving that a try. The colt is based on the Awesome Again horse Federov (hey! that was my horse! LOL), who flashed some ability at times, having run a 92 at today’s distance. Alcohol ran his best speed so far at a mile, and has B. Craver (13% winners) in the irons, so I look for him to rebound off his turf experiment and post yet another improvement here. Odds are 20/1, mostly because of his allergy to turf.

Desirable absolutely describes this gorgeous filly’s pedigree. Trainers would be falling all over themselves to own a Fusaichi Pegasus x Seattle Slew baby. The tall brown filly has had a string of bad racing luck, taking five starts to break her maiden, finishing second by less than a length in three of them. This year alone, FuPeg has sired 9 stakeswinners and 2 graded winners. Off tracks do not appear to be a problem for his runners, in fact they seem to do better on them, so the only thing standing between this girl and victory is her case of seconditis. Maybe this one should have been named The Curse Lives instead. She is going off at 9/1.

Bias’ Expectation(Aus) has lived up to expectations so far. A daughter of Lonhro(Aus) out of a Sir Tristram(Ire) mare, she has won 2 of 3, including a high-purse allowance last time out in Kentucky, in which she showed a lot of class in catching the leader just before the wire, also holding off another late-charging filly. All indications are that this girl is going to want some ground to cover, so today’s distance should be just what the doctor ordered. Provided she gets a good trip and can thread her way through the field clearly, she could be looking at win number three. Oh, and she scoffs at the 18/1 odds, which aren’t much larger than the odds in her two wins so far.

In post eleven is Sting Like A Bee. By Victory Gallop out of Business End Up (Kingmambo), the handsome chestnut has built a reputation as a nice turfer, and had the early lead in the G2 Manofjunk Stakes before giving way in the stretch. He has run second in both of his dirt starts, including an allowance over this same track, and the turf to dirt angle should give him a boost today. His older half-sister is graded-placed and is a stakeswinner who also runs well on both surfaces, so he comes from very good stock, and could make a splash today at 10/1.

Post twelve brings us to Ten Bold Affairs, who has been resting since his excellent third place finish in the G3 Pea Patch Juvenile in August. He is by freshman sire Ten Most Wanted and out of a Black Tie Affair(Ire) mare. He should be very fresh and has the services of K. Bowen (17% winners) today. Given the last two months to mature, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see a jump in speed figure from the 88 that he ran last time out. Ten Most Wanted has already sired two stakeswinners, and there is no doubt in my mind that this colt will soon join them. He has been given odds of 10/1.

In lucky post 13 is Missed Out Twice. He is by Dubai Destination out of La Secret (Seattle Slew). Missed Out Twice has been somewhat erratic with his performances, but when he’s on, he’s a pretty good colt. He ran an 80 in a mile allowance two races ago, and he has the pedigree to be a pretty darn good runner. Dubai Destination has sired one graded winner last year and three stakeswinners so far this year, and La Secret has thrown a stakes-placed filly, so if this guy can mature and become more consistent, he could have a very nice future. He has a good jockey in D. Geddes (13% winners) and odds of 21/1.

And here comes the favourite! Spastic Zips is not your typical blueblood stakes horse, but don’t tell him that, because he doesn’t know it! By Zilzal(Nureyev) out of a Lead On Time(Nureyev) mare, this is one case where the close-up linebreeding created a nice little runner. His best performance to date was a victory in The Lunceford Special Memorial over a good track, where he posted an 87. An exciting colt to watch, he lets everyone get up ahead of him and then makes a fantastic rush for the wire. He goes off today at 7/1.

Mountain Flood‘s connections are hoping that his name turns out to be an indicator of his abilities on today’s off track. By Mountain Cat out of Flood Stage(Danzig), the red colt won his maiden here in Minnesota. Flood Stage was graded placed, but was a turf runner, and although Mountain Cat produces more dirt runners than turfers, it may be interesting to see this colt try it once. For today, however, he will be looking to improve upon his races to date. He has run a mile, and equalled his best speed figure in doing so, which should indicate that today’s distance will be fine with him. Mountain Cat has sired five stakeswinners this year already, including one out of a Danzig mare who won a stakes at this distance at this track two weeks ago. Wouldn’t THAT be an interesting coincidence to see this colt do the same! His odds today are 13/1.

In post 16 is Somekindawonderful. A sleek bay filly by Lemon Drop Kid out of a Nureyev mare, she began her career on turf. She suffered a setback in July, however, and moved to dirt on her return to the track. Since then, she has won her maiden in an easy victory last time out, and is now looking to stretch out to a more comfortable distance. Lemon Drop Kid’s runners should be able to stay a good route of ground, although it is apparent that they have no problems sprinting, either. Her odds today are 17/1, though that is likely inflated because of the race in July in which she was eased.

In post 17 is Preachintothechoir. He is by Pulpit out of Dixie Chicken (Dixieland Band). He won his first two races, before finishing third in his first stakes appearance. He followed that up with a second place finish in his first route over today’s distance. He then shipped to the left coast, and wasn’t enamoured with the surface there, so he comes here looking to pick up where he left off before he went to Disneyland. His first-rate pedigree needs no explanation, and he has good odds at 8/1.

In the outside post is Mr Bossy Pants. He is by the little-used sire Sea Hero, who won the Kentucky Derby in 1993, and out of a Holy Bull mare. Other than one short jaunt to Wisconsin, this is the boy’s first venture outside of Michigan. He won his maiden there in this third start, and has been competing in allowances since. He has shown steady improvement, and has gone a mile twice now, which should be to his liking given his pedigree. He will have to overcome the terrible post position in this large field, though, and has been given odds of 24/1.

That wraps up the preview of today’s runners. In a race of this size, with all these youngsters who could improve and run a shocker of a speed figure at any time, it really makes you wish you could bet the field, doesn’t it? Good luck to all. Enjoy the festival, and don’t miss the wonderful buffet, but most of all, enjoy the race and may they all come back sound.