California Here We Come
California Here We come
A beautiful day awaits us this weekend in sunny California and we have a solid card highlighted by race 10, the Silver Crest Special Stakes.
Worth a cool $100,000, six fillies and mares will take centre stage in what promises to be a great race. They will race 11 furlongs on the dust and there are a number of solid chances in the race……but only one can take the honours………..
Sophisticatedwager has drawn the inside gate and from there should get a good run. This 4 year old has 9 wins and almost ½ a million in career earnings and looks to be in with a great chance here. Perhaps a little outgunned last time out, her run to score 3rd in group 3 company was very good and her stakes form before that is solid. Sure to be in this one for a long way and looks a big threat.
Purely Academic is a smart Red Ransom filly and has cracked the 1 million in career earnings. Stakes placed the last two runs she’s had, pedroza will no doubt be looking to go a tad better here and take the main prize. There’s no reason she can’t win this, loves the surface, solid strike rate at the distance and has a capable jockey on board. She’ll likely sit mid to forward fieldish and unleash her usual big run. Highly capable.
Xtremely Gold is an xtremely classy and lightly raced youngster from the ejdstable barn. Just 15 races to date for 10 wins this flying filly is the real deal and will take a world of beating. I rate her my top pick, she’s a filly going places and no doubt ejdstable is very happy with this one. She is a multiple group 1 winner and at only 4 years of age with 15 races under the saddle has a ripper of a future ahead.
Psycho Babble II is your classic hard working type. Well above average in ability she gets by with a big heart and is always thereabouts. Ever consistent and never puts in a bad run but just lacking the class that a couple here possess she will no doubt be in the finish again but will have to run the race of her life to get there first. She is one of the more experienced campaigners here with 36 career starts. Chance.
Midnight Squall will run from the 5th alley and is rated a 7/2 shot in the latest markets. This Squall Warning mare hails from the waybill barns and overlooking her 7th last start (which was still a great effort) she has been in great form, form that holds up very well in this company here. She’ll be sure to feature strongly come the weekend and is very good at this distance range. A quality mare with every chance at notching up career win number 10 here.
Cardinal (NZ) is the long shot of the field at 12/1 and there hasn’t been a lot of support for her. This filly is by Octagonal from a Carnegie mare and on paper looks a little better than the 12/1 might suggest. She’s capable in this company being stakes placed multiple times and loves the dirt. She’s ran some ok places of late but there’s a slight query on the depth of quality of those races in comparison to this. Will her form hold up? We’ll see come Saturday.
Looks to be a race with multiple chances and a big finish promises. I mark Xtremely Gold on top, with Sophisticatedwager and Midnight Squall looking the main dangers to her.