Preview – Orange Blossom Stakes
Preview – Orange Blossom Stakes
Saturday 3:00:00 OGT
Older females battle it out in Arkansas’ Grade One OrangeBlossom Stakes this week for a purse of $500,000. The purse may seem light though, comparedwith the rich history this race has. Apopular spot for Eastern and Western runners to meet early in the season, theOrange Blossom brings plenty of good fillies together this year. The race is run over a mile and one sixteenthon a fast dirt course. Last year’swinner Seein Stars is in the field looking to make it two in a row, butinterestingly she is joined by two stablemates from the powerful desperadobarns. That well reputed trainerbelieves this is a key race early in the year and is taking no chances tryingto bring the trophy home for a second year in a row. But the field is a full one of fourteen andeach filly and mare entered has a legitimate shot so let’s take a look at thefield.
#1 Saratoga Fling is a lightly raced four year oldBernardini filly but she sure is improving at the right time. She enters off the biggest victory of hercareer the Grade One Santa Marina Handicap at a mile and one sixteenth. Her average speed over her last four startsis 110.75 which is hugely impressive for such an inexperienced mare. She’s also shown herself to be a push buttonkind of filly. She can lay close earlyor fall back if need be and still get to the wire first.
#2 Russian Machine is the first of the desperado trio. The five year old Giant’s Causeway mare hasonly one start in 2013, a second place finish in the Grade One Santa MarinaHandicap, behind Saratoga Fling. She rana 108 speed but her career best is a 113 she ran last October. Russian Machine is searching her first gradedwin in this spot but she’s come close before, losing the Grade Three NorthernOaks by only one half length in 2011.
#3 Too Many Songs is a late developing mare by Unbridled’sSong. The five year old won her firststakes on December 29th in her first attempt and she did it withstyle, taking a listed with a 114 speed. Too Many Songs jumped immediately into graded company after that,running third in the Grade One Santa Marina behind Saratoga Fling and RussianMachine with a solid 108 speed. Hercareer best speed came in December also, when she won an allowance with a115. Even though this mare is new tostakes company she’s super consistent. She’s been in the money in eighteen of twenty starts.
#4 Lucky’s FTW is the lightest raced horse in the field withonly ten starts. The four year oldStreet Cry filly has fewer runs than some of her opponents have wins. She’s only got three wins but overall is nineof ten in the money. Lucky’s FTW’s lasttwo races have been smashing. She wassecond by a length and one half in a grade two with a 112 speed and ran back atseven furlongs to be beaten a head in a grade one sprint with a 114 speed. She flies from the back of the pack and allLucky’s FTW needs is a little luck to get to the wire first.
#5 Autobahns is a four year old Quality Road filly. She ended 2012 with her first graded victory,taking the Grade Two Hunted By Lions with a 111 speed. Autobahns has been a bit unlucky in her twostarts this year. She finished third ina listed when stretching out to a mile and three sixteenths and then ran thirdagain in a grade two at a mile and one eighth where she ran a 114 speed. Autobahns will likely be setting or pressingthe pace early on.
#6 Seein Stars is desperado’s second entrant and the returningchampion in this race. The five year oldSea the Stars mare won last year’s edition with a 113 speed but she may need torun faster this year to take home the win. Judging by her most recent race she just may be up to it – she preppedover this track in a grade three, winning with a 115 speed and two starts priorshe ran a 113 winning a residency restricted stakes. Age has certainly not caught up with SeeinStars and she’s got a strong chance of making it two in a row in this race.
#7 Cause For Alarm is the last of the desperado stablematesand the oldest. The six year old Giant’sCauseway mare is in career form. In herlast four starts she won her first graded stakes and her average speed is a110. She only has one start this yearbut it was a very facile listed win with a 112 speed. If this mare has a chink in her armor it’sthat she does not like to rate. Her bestraces have come when she leads wire to wire. She can win sitting off the pace but she’s much happier when she’s onthe front end.
#8 Shades of Alex won a grade on as a three year old but thenow five year old daughter of Afleet Alex is looking for her first victory ofany kind in over six months. She did wina grade two last May and a listed in July but has fallen on hard timessince. She was off the board in five consecutivestarts before running second by a head in a listed in her most recentstart. That run saw her run a 110 speedbut the race came at seven and one half furlongs.
#9 All Magic is a five year old daughter of A.P. Indy whohas matured into a very nice mare later in her career. She ran in her first stakes race inSeptember, won her first listed in October and now has two listed wins and twothirds in grades in her last four starts. Those races have all come between a mile and a mile and one eighth sothe distance is right for her. Shecloses from well off the pace and needs a little luck negotiating trafficthrough the stretch but this filly is very hot right now and there is no reasonto think she won’t get a graded win soon.
#10 Ligeia is he only millionaire in the field. The four year old daughter of Big Brown was agrade one winner as a three year old and finished third in the Breeder’s BowlDistaff towards the end of the season. She’s made two starts this year, finishing fourth in a grade two andsecond, beaten only one half length by Three Forty Three in the Grade OneOriginal Margarita Invitational.
#11 Diplomatic Ties is a five year old daughter ofKingmambo. She’s graded placed on bothturf and dirt but has never won a big one. Diplomatic Ties has two starts on the year, both at a mile and onesixteenths. She won a listed easily witha 109 speed and then was second by a length in another listed with a 111speed. That 111 was a career best forthe mare who has hit the board in four graded races, three within the pastyear. She may be getting good at theright time for this spot.
#12 Three Forty Three is a four year old Awesome Again fillywho enters this race off the biggest victory of her career. She became a grade on winner when she tookthe Original Margarita Invitational at a mile and one eighth with a 110speed. She had only become a gradedwinner two starts prior to that, winning the Grade Two Barbacoa Handicap inDecember. If this filly has a weaknessit is that she seems to get hot and cold, running a big race and then followingit up with a poor one. She hasn’t puttwo good races together without a layoffbetween them since August.
#13 Medulla Oblongata is a four year old Medaglia D’orofilly. She was a grade three winner as atwo year old and entered her sophomore season as a classic candidate. She made it to the Bluegrass Oaks but waswell beaten and fell off form for a while. She reversed her fortunes last October, winning three straight allowanceraces between one mile and a mile and one eighth. She exploded back into stakes company in heronly start this year, running champion Final Exit to within a quarter length inthe Grade Two Canada Stakes while running a career best 115 speed.
#14 Lawabiding Song is a six year old daughter of Unbridled’sSong who scored her only graded win in May of 2012. Since that race she has one second placefinish from eight starts, all in graded races. That second did come in a grade one but it was at a mile and one quarterand her graded victory came at a mile and three sixteenths. The thought here is that this race may be tooshort for this filly to show her true stuff.
Good luck to all!