Lucky Seven in Second Division of DPCD Juvenile
A lucky seven duck the tougher division of the DPCD Juvenile, ending up over in the Garden State and garden spot. The heavy favorite is wolverine’s Barb’s Dubai. The son of Essence of Dubai has yet to route, but has done little wrong so far in his career with six wins in seven trips to the post. He suffered his first defeat last time out in a 7 ½ furlong stakes, behind Tortured Vision. Gets the leading rider at New Jersey, and is the one to beat.
Top among the challengers is Peepsclaim’s Victimless Crime. The son of Vindication out of an Easy Goer mare was a victim of his own inability to rate when he was caught at the wire after opening up a near 5 length lead. He posted a 93 SF, top figure in the field, but will have to stave off Barb’s challenge late. The bettors are on to him this time, as he goes off at odds of 3/1.
I’m not sure why Avenger’s Miesque hasn’t returned to the turf, where he is a perfect one for one, and that race was over an off surface. Theavenger trainee sank to the back of the pack in the ARSE Goes Down Stakes after contesting the pace early on, and hasn’t shown any desire to go forward since then. Hard to recommend here. Stormintothetop(IRE) is an audacious sort that hopes to live up to his name, as he makes the leap from maiden company to stakes. Duanecrisp obviously has all sorts of confidence in this guy. A decent speed figure of 81 going 7 furlongs on the dirt, but it was the sort of even performance that gives no hint to whether this son of High Chaparral actually wants to go further. A definite mystery, but not much value at 5/1.
Hotwalker’s Java Smoke makes his route debut here after tiring in a series of six furlong races. The Smoke Glacken colt will most likely battle with Victimless Crime for the early lead and set the race up for the favorite. Outside chance if he can learn to relax over a distance of ground.Knightmare’s Reminded looked really good in his first two starts, including a maiden win at 7 panels (79 SF), but has leveled off since then. Had a stiff turf prep for this race three weeks ago – it remains to be seen how that training angle will work out. Finally, the only horse in the field with a win over a route of ground is twinoaks’ Wall of Sound. It took five tries for the son of Theatrical to break his maiden – on the flip side, this was only his second dirt race. The speed figures are a little light (77 SF) a career best, but has the chance to pull off the upset. The value play at 12/1.