We All Scream for Ice Cream!
The KILBEGGAN Special Stakes
Six and one half furlongs on Firm Turf
$35,000
All Horses, 3 years old
Standing along the rail at Emerald Downs Racetrack in Washington D.C. we are getting set to run down the KILBEGGAN Special Stakes Race named after eight times Stakes and Graded winner Kilbeggan. This six and one half furlong $35,000 turf Stakes race for all three year olds looks to be on fast turf as the weather is warm and nice for this time of year in the Nations capital. We’ve got a small but interesting field so let’s take a look:
1 – RAINBOW FLUX ODDS OWNER WIN% JOCKEY WIN% TOP SPEED AVG SPEED RANK 3/1 Mrfu2 16.5% T.L.Clark 27% 83.9 78.7 86
This Rainbow Quest out of Renee Flux colt seems to be taking a little more after mama who won only three times in 30 plus races. He won a stakes in the middle of last year but tried to go classic distances and didn’t take too well to it. He is now back on turf and back at the sprints and has a hot jockey up in T.L. Clark. That all may be just what the doctor ordered.
| 2 – CAME DANCING | ODDS | OWNER | WIN% | JOCKEY | WIN% | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/1 | Alittlebit | 8.8% | T.Washington | 0% | 75.9 | 68.9 | 106 |
Trainer Alittlebit has to wonder what happened here as this Mr.Greeley colt won a Stakes race four back and just missed another by a nose in the next race then finished way back the past two. He’s a lead jumper that hasn’t been able to hold on and may benefit by backing off a bit out of the gate.
| 3 – BARB’S ICE CREAM(IRE) | ODDS | OWNER | WIN% | JOCKEY | WIN% | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/5 | Wolverine | 17.1% | L.Jenkins | 21% | 84.7 | 79.1 | 16 |
You want to talk about consistent? This Irish bred grey beauty has run an 84 SPF in FOUR STRAIGHT races! How hard is that to do? Two firsts and two seconds in those four sprints for the Manndar out of Barb’s Seeking colt. It’s that consistency that makes this race tough to pick. You know what you are getting here but her biggest challenger FANTASTIC MUSE is all over the board and you don’t know which kind of race he will run. Jenkins and trainer Wolverine will just have to run their race and let the chips fall where they may.
| 4 – FANTASTIC MUSE | ODDS | OWNER | WIN% | JOCKEY | WIN% | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/5 | Borden | 13.2% | A.Lund | 18% | 87.4 | 82.7 | 34 |
Sometimes I feel that inconsistency is bred through Fantastic Light and this colt is no exception. He has three wins in six races including two Graded wins but also a 6th, 7th and 11th in those races. He is dropping back down to sprints where he seems much more comfortable and ran his best SPF with an 87. All of his wins were in Europe and he might not like the U.S. life or something. Perhaps Trainer Borden can hand a poster of the London Tower in his stall. That may be enough to get him over the top here.
| ULYSSES MAIN EVENT | ODDS | OWNER | WIN% | JOCKEY | WIN% | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/1 | Jimch11 | 14.7% | L.Peters | 14% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Tough to handicap this one as the Event of the Year colt has run one race, at a different distance, AND it was a Maiden Allowance. Good SPF with a 76 but I really have no way of knowing how he will fare against this crew. Trainer Jimch11 has his work cut out for him.
Morning Line = 4-3-1-5
Yoss Tipsheet = 3-4-5-1
Paz Picks = 3-4-1-5
A fairly even race, I like ULYSSES MAIN EVENT to finish fourth, but who knows with this one. RAINBOW FLUX likes the sprints and should be able to nail down a place on the board. That leaves a duel between FANTASTIC MUSE & BARB’S ICE CREAM. My Daddy always told be to bet on consistency so I am taking BARB’S ICE CREAM to hold off the MUSE and win it at the wire.
Good luck to all runners!
Paz