FIFTH RACE OF MINNESOTA SIRE SERIES
The 2nd race on the Minnesota festival day is the current Minnesota sire series contest race. This contest had rez members breed a 3yo horse all using the same sire, Mountain Cat. These horses are all restricted to run in a 20 race series over 60 weeks covering a multitude of surfaces and distances. The leading money earner at the end of the series wins 5000 credits for the owner. Today’s race is the 5th race in the series.
Let’s look at today’s field:
1) SECOND TIME LUCKY 5/1 MC X MR PROSPECTOR X NORTHERN DANCER
Co rez manager JOHNNO was unhappy with the performance of his initial entry in the series and promptly sold that one to the local hayride amusement park in the australian northlands. It appears he got a pretty good price for that one even though the performances were bad or he has placed a second mortgage on his house as he has spared no expense in bringing in his “mulligan” entry to the contest. This expensively bred horse is debuting as the morning line second choice and all eyes will be on this one to see how a mile on the grass debut will be handled. Not trusting the local jockey contingent the owner himself will ride his entry today after completing 16 gruelling weeks of the “weight watchers” program in order to make the weight for today’s race.
2)MOUNT CHIRS 7/1 MC X OUR NATIVE X NORTHFIELDS
DUNDEY is the owner of this colt who currently holds down 2nd spot in the series standings. His last was a greatly improved 93 SR for 7.5F on the dirt where he cam on to win by 1/4 of a length. He has shown to prefer the dirt surface over the grass where in 2 previous starts he finished well back. With today’s race being 1 mile on the grass we are leaning to waiting for the series to switch back to the dirt for this one to excell again.
3)MOUNTAIN DANCE 7/1 MC X HALO X NATIVE DANCER
ROBSCOOBI entered this colt into the series late as his stable was involved in a huge slander lawsuit versus the JOHNNO stables with regards to comments slung against that stable on the Minnesota message board. The suit was later settled with JOHNNO receiving 1 pair of Minnesota mighty mouse official underwear as settlement. This horse promptly set himself up as a serious series challenger by winning his debut with an 82 SR over 6F on the grass. His running style suggests he will enjoy the added ground and he has already shown a likeness for the turf. This horse skipped the 3rd and 4th leg of the series and will be fresh for today’s race.
4) SOFT SAD SONGS 37/1 MC X RUNAWAY GROOM X NUMEROUS
BIGRICK has one of the long shot’s on the board entered in today’s race. This colt has finished well back in the first 4 contests and while showing an improved SR in his last on the dirt has not shown a propensity for the turf and will be hard pressed to get any piece today.
5) CATS AND LITTERS 10/1 MC X ARTS AND LETTERS X DR. FAGER
RICHGINS has this filly in 3rd place in the series to this point and is the top rated filly in the series so far. The wire to wire wscore in the 3rd race of the series a 7.5F sprint on the grass show she can be a contender here today as she was pulling away in that one and could handle the extra 1/2 furlong today. That grass score was won with an 84 SR her highest mark in the series to date. Should get a piece in today’s race.
6)MOUNTAIN TOWN 21/1 MC X CAPE TOWN X CHEROKEE RUN
CHUCKROCK sends this filly in today’s race having yet to earn a check in the previous 4 races of the series. Her SR’s on the grass have been higher than those on the dirt so we will have to see how she takes to the added yardage on her preffered surface.
7) MINNESOTA MOUNTAIN 51/1 MC X DALHART X PANCHO VILLA
THE PICT sends out the morning line longshot in today’s race. This filly missed the first race of the series and did not earn a cheque in any of the following 3 races. She did vastly improve her SR in her last and we will have to see if she can carry that improvement over to the grass surface where her 2 starts to date on that surface have been very dull.
8)CATHOUSE 4/1 MC X KING MAMBO X STORM BIRD
DESPERADO sends this colt out as race favorite and the current leader in the series standings. He has finished 1st and 2nd in the 2 dirt races so far but was an also ran in the 6F turf sprint. In the 7.5F turf spring he showed some life by pressing the early pace of wire to wire winner CATS AND LITTERS and held on to finish 4th with an 80 SR. If he can improve on that effort and score some more winning in this grass race it will make this colt one of the heavy favorites in the series having already shown his exceptional talent on the dirt.
9) LETTERS TO KRIS 11/1 MC X KRIS S. X ARTS AND LETTERS
TROTTER sends out this colt in 6th place in the series. The trainer skipped the last race of the series so this one should be fresh for today’s race. He finished 2nd with an 81 SR in his last over 7.5F on the grass and with the hard closing finishing kick he displayed in that one should like the extra distance in today’s race. This horse is my pick in today’s race and hopefully journeyman jockey Ritterspauch will stay out of trouble early in this race giving him clear sailing for the stretch drive.
10) PERSIAN KITTEN 29/1 MC X MILL REEF X PERSIAN BOLD(IRE)
CITATION sends this filly out today without any winnings yet in the series. In her only grass start whe was outrun and will probably have to wait for the series to switch back to the dirt to have a chance at scoring her first points in the series.
11) ON AND ON AND ON 14/1 MC X HANSEL X LORD AVIE
RHARFO send’s out this colt standing in 5th place after the 4 series races so far. This colt has shown a strong preferance of the turf over dirt having had 80 SR’s in both turf starts while being outrun in both dirt starts. This colt’s stalking style has him close to the leaders in this race and if he can handle the extra yardage today should be one of the main contenders in this race.
12) VALLEY CAT 25/1 MC X PENTELICUS X STOP THE MUSIC
JKJ sends this filly out today with no earnings points in the series so far. While she has finished way back in the 4 series races so far, her SR’s have improved with every race and she could finally earn a cheque soon with the continued improvement. Looks to be one that will improve with experience and mya be a factor in the series later on.
13) THEO’S MULLIGAN 21/1 MC X ELA-MANA-MOU(IRE) X TARLAC
Series sponsor THEODORE will be sending out the 2nd “mulligan” entry in today’s race after original entry THEO’S CAT FRENZY was becoming to comfortable running in last place in series races. When the trainer confronted his horse about her poor performances in the races she went into a frenzy and refused to run in any more of the races thus prompting a change of entrants for the series. The trainer has joined the ELA-MANA-MOU bandwagon in hoping to score some points in the series.
14) KING SUPERTOY 8/1 MC X MARCHIAVELLIAN X LYPHARD
Co Rez manager SUPERTOY sends out this colt in 6th place in the series having cashed minor cheques in each of the three races he has run in. In his only grass start to date he did manage to get the lead at the top of the stretch but faded to third in the stretch drive. He is another with improved SR’s with every start and should eventually score a series win. His consistant running will make him competitive to the end in the series standings.
15) GLACIER 12/1 MC X RAJA BABA X ICE CAPADE
SILVERNY99 has the current series 8th place standing horse with this colt. He has shown much stronger races on the dirt having been outrun on both grass races so far in the series. We will wait for the series to shift back to the dirt for this one to shine.
A good competitive race with a guaranteed Mountain Cat sired horse to be the winner. My preference for the race are 9-3-5-11.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE ENTRANTS
GOOD LUCK AND GOOD RACING.