Older sprinters tackle BLATANTLY LAUNCH Challenge
Older sprinters is the name of the game in the Saturday feature at Ontario, with a field of nine entered for the BLATANTLY LAUNCH Stakes. They’ll travel six and a half furlongs on what is expected to be a blustery Toronto afternoon. The expected post time favorite is multiple stakes winner Closed Book, who enters this one off of a fast-closing victory.
Cader Ydris(IRE) drew the rail post in this event, and he will be saddled by oldgraymar. This son of Giant’s Causeway(IRE) has shown speed at a route, and he cuts back in distance today. Last season, he competed in several Grade 1 events, and even finished fifth in the Grade 2 Winchester Park Derby in Oklahoma. As a 4 year old, he’s ran only once, finishing seventh in a 1 1/8 mile stakes event. This cutback in distance will be to his benefit, as he is 2 for 3 sprinting. Look for him to be close to the pace, and staying on well at the end.
More speed will come from Kuintessence K’s, a son of Forty Niner who hails from the barn of supreme. He seems to run his best while on the engine, but it is his return to form that makes this one look more formidable. We should see him spring from the gate, and the addition of a decent rider will greatly help his cause.
Dark Horizons is a deep closer who will need a brutal pace in order to get the top prize. Trained by wiz10, this son of Mambo has been running well in the claiming ranks, then stepped up to win an allowance event at today’s distance. Class is a huge question here – he’ll need a lot to go his way in order to win.
Abuddhaba Kai has been spinning his wheels at the Nw4L allowance condition, finishing second in his last three attempts at that level. A step up into stakes seems like a bit of a stretch here, but animekid must like the way this son of Buddha is training to make the leap to stakes company here. He is capable of running huge, as he owns a 111 SP# on his form. He’ll be running if the pace is quick.
Alleds’ Closed Book will go as the race favorite. This son of Open Forum has an effective late kick if the pace is hot. He’ll get at least a decent one to run at today, although this may not be his preferred distance. At any rate, we should see a good performance, and any bettor would be ill-advised to leave him out of this one.
Dominion II is an outsider who has finished second in two straight claiming events, the most recent one for a $20,000 price tag. Briel sends this son of Dynaformer out as a pace contributor. His only hope would be to shake loose on the lead, and that does not appear to be likely here.
Four More Years competed in the Grade 1 Deep South two starts back, and ran on well to finish sixth of 14. He wheeled back three weeks later to finish a disappointing seventh going 7 ½ furlongs in a Maryland overnight stake. The cut back to 6 ½ furlong swill surely help this son of Event of the Year, as trainer bezza1975 appears to have him well spotted. He’s yet another closer in here, but he may not need the extreme pace that the other closers seem to prefer.
Pursuer T is a stalker/speed type who also competed in the Grade 1 Deep South two starts back. He faded to 12th in that heat, and came back to be unplaced in a 7 furlong allowance event in Iowa. Puddinpuss sends this son of King Cugat out looking to rebound. This spot look a bit too tough for a task like that. He’ll need to show some reversal of his recent form.
From the outside post will be Easy Ballad, a good looking son of Saint Ballado from the barn of ontarget. He likes to run late, but isn’t that deep closer type that this race seems to be filled with. Today, you may see him a bit closer to the early pace, which could make him dangerous at the later stages. However, his most recent stakes outing, he was tenth of 14. He’ll need to bring a better game today.