Battle Of The Sexes: Breeders’ Bowl Winners Clash
Turning Japanese was the first of the pair to return to the racetrack, shipping halfway around the world to test her mettle against the boys in the G1 Coxless Stakes. She acquitted herself well, finishing a closing 5th, looking like she could have used the extra furlong that she had to work with in the Breeders’ Bowl. It was a performance that must have left her connections fairly satisfied, because her next stop was the G1 Japan Cup, where she’d face, among others,
While the top four from that race made an appearance in the Pennsylvania Marathon that will ultimately be remembered as Allied Assault’s victorious farewell,
PP | Horse ID | Horse | Owner | Jockey | Odds | Comments |
1 | 35/1 | Apparently, the result of breeding a top notch sprinter by Lost Code to a mare by Lost Code, instead of producing some sort of ultra-quick first sprinter, you get a turf marathoner. Go figure. Either way you cut it however, this horse seems to be treading the fine line between high claimers and cheap allowance races. As a speed influence, he may be winging it out front early, setting it up for the deep closers, but he’s likely to toss the bit as soon as he’s faced with any real pressure in this sort of company. | ||||
2 | ROIDAZOID(IRE) | 7/1 | $450,000 in the bank and a pedigree like his (Theatrical x Affirmed) warrants this one a second look, but upon closer examination, his situation is similar to Lowlands Lost One. While he’s riding the fine line between small stakes and graded company instead of two tiers down, he’s in a tough spot here. The good news is that he should be the classiest speed in the race, and should be the one in control of this race with about a half mile left to run, and he’ll have control of his own destiny with a chance to prove his moxie. The smart money is saying that he may stick around for a small check, but he’s not likely to be able to hold off that relentless late rush that both of the stars in this race posses. | |||
3 | KEPLER OF ROCK(IRE) | 7/1 | Apparently Kepler of Rock doesn’t like the dirt: seldom do you see a faceplant like the one Kepler of Rock managed in his last effort (his first over the dirt), a 14th place finish in the G3 Grey Fox. Back on a surface he enjoys, he’s going to find tougher competition than he’s used to and may need a race to get back to form after the dirt debacle. A classy horse in a bad situation here today, but stranger things have happened if the big horses don’t fire. | |||
4 | THRILL IS GONE | 6/1 | The subject of this week’s conspiracy theory, Thrill Is Gone is listed at 6/1 on the morning line despite, as some have suggested, not being as qualified for this spot as others in this field who are at longer odds. Some speculate that jockey S. “Slim” Shady may have teamed with the oddsmaker in an attempt to skew the odds for today’s contest, but an investigation by Epsom officials cleared the rapper-turned-jockey to ride, but has touched off a search for England’s newest racetrack bandit. An Epsom official offered the following explanation: “Our oddsmaker is an ancient, 95 year old horseman who refuses to use a telephone, computer, or electric lightbulbs, preferring to do his work by candlelight and in complete isolation. The only visitor the old man has received in the last two weeks has been identified as a tall, nondescript man claiming to be “Slim Shady,” but after some stellar work by the London police, we have determined that he is not, in fact, the real Slim Shady. Meanwhile, those closes to the horse insist that he’s ready to go and outrun his recent form, which sees him running maybe just one cut below what he’ll need today. Should he pull a career best effort out of his hat, he should have a relatively trouble-free stalking trip with which to work. | |||
5 | 5/2 | This is the big horse, and one of the leading contenders for the turf male of the year. His Breeders’ Bowl triumph was, however surrounded by a pair of duds in the Coalminer Cup and the Japan Classic, but he’s in a significantly easier spot this time than he found in the Japan Classic. He should be fresh and ready to handle this group, and if he brings his A-game, there’s not a horse in this field that can resist his late surge. The Red Ransom colt is ranked #1 in the division and looks to start out the season emphatically reinforcing that ranking. Its far from a sure thing though, given his recent inconsistency. | ||||
6 | SILKY WELLS | 14/1 | Would prefer to see a horse clear all his conditions before testing this type of competition. Last win came six starts back, and I’d like to see him find some legitimate success against allowance company before I’d be comfortable supporting him a G1 race. | |||
7 | ORTHOCLASE(IRE) | 7/1 | While 12 furlongs is the distance generally regarded as the upper bound of the range within which it is possible to campaign a top horse, there are occasional horses that prefer even longer: this is one such horse. He may find the 12 furlongs today a little bit short, and the jock, at only 9%, isn’t necessarily good enough to expect him to be able to adjust his horse’s style accordingly. | |||
8 | TREASURE OF ARMANA(IRE) | 5/1 | Another stalker type, this one has several graded wins to his credit, and he’s the likely winner if both of the big horses fail to fire, but if that doesn’t happen, he’s likely looking at a third place check. | |||
9 | TURNING JAPANESE | 7/2 | Recent history having been summarized above, it must be noted here that jockey Mike “The Hippie Spy” Myers is known more for his acting aspirations than his riding skills. He only brings home 7% of his mounts, and that might hurt the chances of this filly, especially with the wonderboy R. Harzheim (25% winners) getting the call on the favorite. Her closing kick should be ready for action, it just may be a little bit less devastating than | |||
10 | PROSPEROUS OUTBACK | 99/1 | At one time, this was a horse to be reckoned with. $4,000,00+ in earnings ($1,000,000 plus on each surface), but time hasn’t been kind to this living relic: he’s old enough to have raced against Stormy Prospector, Enough Knock, School Kris, Dusty Dance, Seattle Hit, Pharrun Prospect, Saddle Dedicate, Writer Orange, Oliver Plus Pit, |