10,000 Lakes, 19 Choices
Minnesota Raceday Festival – Land of 10,000 Lakes Special
Starter Allowance ($15,000)- 7 F Good Dirt
75k Purse; Horses 3 and up
The Minnesota Residency is truly a special place to be a member. The co-commanders’ in chiefs do a wonderful job organizing this festival. There are numerous ways to win prizes based on the races. This race required a little advanced planning on the part of the residents in Minnesota. While most of the races are stakes and allowance caliber, this race required the entry of a horse with a 15k tag. 19 entries were made, and an assortment of horses will meet in what looks to be a very competitive race.
Coaltown sends BADGE OF SILVER (Silver Deputy X Broad Brush X Spectacular Bid) at 14/1 odds. K. Bowen, largely held to be the track’s second best jockey gets the mount. Badge has been in te money in 10 of 17 sprints, including last out in which he finished 2nd in a Allowance. His last two SP are 95 and 96, but at shorter distances than this. Badge interestingly has never gone exactly 7 furlongs and will look to find out whether the recent jump in SP will translate to the distance.
Johnno tries HICKSVILLE (Awesome Cat X CB Connection X Future Storm) at 53/1 odds. Popular jock, J Ritorto, who is rumored to have mob ties to the Minnesota Leadership, gets the mount. Hicksville isn’t used to sprinting, with his last sprint coming in 2377 at the MSW class, is another who has never tried this distance. Ritorto had this mount two races back at 10F and didn’t fair well. This one could shock as I think the drop in distance will do wonders.
Mets69 a chuckrock conglomerate stable reclaimed last years Land of 10,000 Lakes winner WEST BG VIRGINIA (Sunday Silence X Forli X Sir Ivor) at 6/1 seems capable of pulling this one out, but hasn’t been running in the same form as last year at this time. BG has been in the money his last two out and 2 of 3 have come at this distance. BG is being shipped from Jamaica, but has proven to like the Minnesota track in the past. L Pannier gets the mount, as he does in 9 other races Saturday for chuckrock.
Maxattack brings LIQUOR IN EXCESS (In Excessive Bull X Whiskey Road (Aus) X Quack) at 23/1 and gets 8% winner R Vanlandingham. This filly seems to like the turf better and didn’t fair well the last time she ran this distance and surface combo. This will her first race for this barn, so we will see if max has had enough time to shape her into form. I think she is a little outclassed here, but could surprise especially given the good rating on the track.
Rsb likes ROBBIE’S CHAMP TOO (War Chant X Miesque’s Son X Roberto) at 17/1 and with top jock K. Friar has been in the money 7 of 10 sprints and has won his last three. The downside is that the last three were at shorter distances than this. Robbie’s Champ Too has never tried this distance in fact. A short tour through his history shows that he has been trained by several who seemed to think he would like distance and turf. Give RSB credit for shortening him up and sending him consistently to the dirt.
Rman send MOTHER BOOK (Spicy Story X Herculean X Exclusive Native) at 9/1 has only hit the board in 4 of 11 sprints and hasn’t sprinted since 2559. Has proven that he can post 90+ SP at 7.5 F but has never broken the mark for 7F. Shortening up after a tremendous effort last out in an 8F race. Mo Book has a true shot here. Ritterspauch at 10.7% gets the mount.
Theodore10 tries I. PLUG (Net Asset X Tri Jet X Northfields) at 10/1 drew G. Hardinger who has been slumping this year. This dark grey horse is 0-2 in sprints, and has only sprinted once on dirt. His sole 7F try was on turf. Plug likes to get the lead and then fade, so it is possible that he will get the lead and then run out of real estate before he decides to fade.
Desperado3 sends BETTER MAN (Slew City Slew X Forty Niner X Northern Dance) at 16/1 and gets Beasley on the mount who is in the money 1/3 of the time. 2 of 5 times this horse has sprinted and been in the money. Better Man hasn’t run this exact distance since the first race of his career though. A 96 SP in 2 of the last 3 at 7.5 F makes this one dangerous.
Bigrick3 sends CHIEF PIE ( Play for Time X Secreto X Raja Baba) at 92/1 is expected to beat two others. S. Foster wins around 7% of the time, but will have a true task in front of him here. Has been In the money once in three sprints. One time at this distance posted an 82 SP and for a different owner. The good news is that race was his best SP and just might really like this distance. This sire hasn’t been used since 2001, but I guarantee that if Pie wins here, he will be used shortly thereafter.
cheadle sends STRIKE THE STARS (Grand Slam X Smart Strike X Risen Star) at 7/2 is the favorite and has the services of P Green who is running at 2% lower this season than his career numbers. Strike has been in the money 13 of 21 sprints, and has won his five last races including 4 starters. He usually goes 7.5 Furlongs but has gone a straight 7 and ran a whopping 103 SP. Strike likes to come from the back so when your watching the race don’t get caught up with the leaders, because this one’s bid will come late.
Scoobidooo tries BIG BEAR (Chief Bearheart X Zabeel(NZ) X Vice Regal) at 25/1 gets O. Stinson who is having a great season. Big Bear is 11 of 29 in sprints (ITM), including a win last time out at 5 Furlongs. Despite having 41 races he has never gone this distance on dirt. The 5 year old is capable of pulling out a great race every now and then but hasn’t really done so consistently since last year. His best effort though would put him in the mix.
Tenpin5 brings GRAPELLI ( Woodman X Known Fact X Halo) at 19/1 and gets B. Craver who has been wining at a 13% clip lately. Grapelli has been in the money in only 2 of 5 sprints., but has gone this distance once in which he placed at a 90 SP. The concentration on routes lately begs us to question why now the sudden drop back into the sprinting ranks, but the history is there and perhaps Grapelli will show us that this is where he wants to be.
Learfan55 tries CONGO LINE(Unbridle’s Song X Cahill Road X Northern Prospect) at 10/1 is one of the horses to really watch in this race. A win last time out going 7.5, has been in the money his last 5 and in 7 of 12 sprints. D. Geddes gets the ride, another of Minnesota’s fantastic 13% jocks. Congo Line is mostly a turf runner though and his two dirt tries were the first two starts of his career and don’t give us much to work with.
Molah sends MARCH DANCER(Palace Music X Halo X Marshua’s Dancer) at 9/1. we are all lucky that its November not March I guess (ok one lame shot at a joke). G. Osborn who has struggled thus far gets the mount. In the money in 8 of 12 sprints, including one at this distance only a few races ago. One would expect a solid mid 90’s SP showing and if molah gets it, this one will be in the money again.
Rharfo9 sends PAPA ROACH AGAIN(Loup Savage X NODOUBLE X Silver Hawk) at 15/1 and gets B. Pickel on the mount. Only in the money in 1/3 of his sprints, and without a win this year. Is he due? One would probably tend to saying yes, since he has gotten so close lately. His last try at this distance had him place in a full starter field. A decent bet for the odds.
Mocha sends RODEO STORM(Rodeo X Mystery Storm X Barbizon) at 20/1 and gets S. Merwitz in his third season. A winner last out at 6.5 F and has been almost exclusively a sprinter throughout his career. He has been in the money in 8 of 25 sprints. Notably, he has also been in the money in 2 of 3 off track races, and could very well use tha for his advantage on Saturday. Rodeo needs to be in the middle of the pack around the 4 F mark to have a legit chance.
Lovetoplay entered BLUEY(Bluemoonofalaska X Hello Gorgeous X Lac Oimet) at 99/1 and gets the services of B Saaverda. This colt, from the Johnno stable group, has never led a race, has never posted a SP over 87 at any distance, and has never gone this distance. That actually may the best reason for thinking he has a chance because we don’t know if he’ll like the spot. Rumors are that he is here just to take out Big Bear.
Rmans sends MALICIOUSLY SNATCH (Chilito X Gallant Man X Blood Royal) at 12/1 better learn to like an outside draw at post 18. D. Gordon a near 10% WP jock gets the mount. MS hasn’t been in the money lately, and his last win comes in week 2433 at 6.5 furlongs. That was the race that rmans claimed him from, and what a claim it would turn out to be if MS could knock off this field.
Limeteen sends MYSTIC THOUGHT (Sadler Slew X Bucky’s in Luck X Celestrial storm) at 99/1 tries dirt for the first time. He had been in the money both of his previous starts, though both were turf races. This filly probably doesn’t belong here, and her odds are probably on the money. With that said, stranger things have happened and an unknown is always dangerous.
My Picks: Well keeping in mind I am a horrible handicapper and this was my choice of a race, here are my selections:
1. Strike the Stars
2. West BG Virginia
3. Hicksville