Puentelarra Takes On The Boys In Wisconsin

Welcome to Wisconsin, on this cold Saturday afternoon.  The feature race on today’s card is the Wedding Slipping Challenge for all horses, 3 years old and up, going 6 furlongs on the Fast Dirt track.  We have a full field of 14 trying for the $50,000 purse today, so let’s see who’s braving the cold……

Breaking from PP1, we have #95839 Unreal Storm, a 3yo brown colt by Storm Creek out of an Unreal Zeal mare and has a record of 17/4-3-0.  This episode2 trainee has done well in allowances at this distance, but does not have the speeds that some of the other contestants bring to the table.  This is Unreal Storm’s first stakes attempt and he is off at 21/1 odds and has jock L. Olsen in the saddle.

Next, starting in PP2, is #57513 See Me And Weep, a pureluck trained brown 5yo horse, who is a son of Forty Niner out of a Danzig mare and has a race record of 35/5-6-5.  This fellow may be older, but he still has a little run left in him it appears.  He has done well in both stakes and allowances, and has recently finished 3^rd in a stakes.  His speeds have been good, but has been slightly inconsistent of late, so he might have to step up a bit to snatch this one away.  He is going off at 9/1 and is being ridden by L. Cihak.

From PP3, we have #49894 Rainy Day Blues, a 4yo chestnut colt sired by Rainbow Quest and based on Northern M.(A.P. Indy x Far North) and is 32/5-3-7.  The ontarget2 trainee has done decently in allowance races, but has had little success in his stakes attempts.  His speeds are ok, but will not get it done in this crowd, especially with his stakes record, so I am not expecting too much for this race.  He is off at 16/1 odds today and has jock M. Carter in the irons.

Next, breaking from PP4, is #86099 Point Blush, a allwins trained 4yo chestnut colt who is by Point Given out of a Blushing Groom(FR) mare, and has a record of 29/6-2-4.  This colt was doing very nicely early this year, but has slacked off form big time of late.  His latest speeds are a bit inconsistent and if he continues like this will not get it done here.  He really needs to revert to that earlier form to have a shot here.  He is going at 21/1 odds today and is ridden by jock S. Pirtle.

Breaking from PP5, we have #59976 Shamash, a gonzo trained chestnut 5yo horse, who is sired by Sadler Slew out of a mare by Compliance and 25/6-6-2.  This fellow has been fairly consistent in the allowance ranks, but finished 4^th in his only stakes start.  His speeds have been decent, but he will need to pick up the pace a bit to hit the board here.  He is off at odds of 10/1 and is being guided by jockey C. Buckle.

Then, starting in PP6, we have #41834 Utah Colony, a 5yo brown horse trained by sadlier and sired by Fibak out of a Ile De Bourbon mare.  This 5yo has a record of 14/4-2-1, but has barely covered his nw4L condition. His speeds will definitely not be enough to keep up with some of the other runners here today, but he has done ok in the allowance ranks.  I am not seeing this fellow making the cut.  He is the longshot of this race, at odds of 31/1 and has jockey M. Kay in the saddle.

Up next, from PP7, is #71782 Northern Swain(IRE), a slades2 trained 4yo light grey colt by Swain(IRE) out of a With Approval mare and is 30/10-5-3.  This colt has been doing very well in both stakes and allowance races and won in his last stakes start two races back.  His speeds have been very good and he has a real shot at winning today.  He is off at odds of 8/1 and has jock G. Cooper up.

Breaking from PP8, we have #36823 Closed Book, a 4yo light grey colt sired by Open Forum out of a Raconteur mare and has a record of 23/5-5-3.  This alleds trainee has run in 7 straight stakes races this year and, until recently, did well in them.  But in his last 3 races, he has had very inconsistent results.  To win, or hit the board, today, he will need to revert back to the nice form he had earlier this year.  He is starting today with odds of 9/1 and has jockey M. Snider in the saddle.

From PP9, we have #76048 Afluke, a cylla trained 3yo brown colt, sired by Afleet out of a Sunday Silence mare, with a record of 21/5-7-3.  This colt has done a good job this year, running decently in his stakes attempts, but has become inconsistent of late, which could be just a stage.  I see him as a threat in this race, even though he is off at odds of 12/1.  He has jockey C. Ironside in the saddle today.

  Next, starting in PP10, is #41696 Or Not Two Punch, a 5yo roan horse owned and trained by decker and sired by Two Punch out of a Graustark mare, and who is 31/12-6-0 lifetime.  This big guy poses a real threat, despite his age.  His last three starts have been stakes, where he won one and finished 4^th twice, but wasn’t too far back either time.  He definitely has the speed necessary for a win here as he’s been in the 100s his last 4 starts.  He is a co-favorite here at 5/1 and has jock B. Redding in the irons.

Starting from PP11, is #35675 Pursuer T.  This puddinpuss trained 4yo brown colt is by King Cugat out of a Not For Love bred mare, and has a record of 34/10-7-5.  Here is another one with a real shot of at least hitting the board in this race, especially since it seems to be his favored distance of 6fl.  He won LTO in a 6fl stakes race, recording a sp of 106.  This colt may be one to watch here in this race.  He is off at 6/1 odds and has jockey A. McDowell up.

Next, from PP12, we have #58345 Fractal.  He is a gorgeous trained 3yo chestnut colt, who is by Pulpit out of Panthera(Gulch x Danzig) and is 11/6-2-2.   This race is only his second stakes try, but he has defiantly done well in allowance ranks, having easily gone through his nw4x condition.  He has never been out of the bps in his career, and should be an outsider to watch in this race, even if his speeds aren’t as great as some.  He is off at odds of 16/1 and is being ridden by J. Hartel.

Then, breaking from PP13, we have #79324 Like The Rain. This milkshaker trainee is a 5yo chestnut horse by Woodman out of a Storm Bird mare and is 39/12-8-2 lifetime.  This fellow has definitely been declining of late, as his stakes races have shown, even though he has done ok in allowance races.  I don’t see this boy making the top 3 cut.  He is off at 12/1 odds and has jockey M. Petersen in the irons.

And, last but not least, from PP14, we have #90310 Puentelarra.  This har trained 4yo brown filly is the only female in this race and this is her first race against the boys.  She is sired by Sadler’s Wells out of a Nashua mare and has a record of 25/9-2-6.  She is nothing to sneeze at, as she’s a graded stakes winner, but who knows how she will be against the boys here.  She has enough speed to get the job done, but she has to see if she can compete against all the boys in this race.  She is the other co-favorite in this race at 5/1 odds, and has Wisconsin’s top jock C. Capper in the saddle.

            There are several runners in here today w/ a real chance at winning and it looks almost wide open to me, but I am probably going to go with the 8, the 10 and the 11 for my top three(not necessarily in that order), even though I could be wrong, which is what makes it interesting.  Good luck to every horse and trainer here today and Good Racing!