The Grade I Dr. Reuben Garr Memorial

The third running of the Grade I Dr. Reuben Garr Memorial is for three year old and up turfers going a mile at the Big Apple, and the race drew a total of eighteen entries looking for a part of the hefty $500,000 purse. Let’s take a look at the cast:

1. Last Groom T. (23-6-4-2) – He had been running nicely, but his last two efforts over a mile have been somewhat of a disappointment. If he returns back to the form shown at the end of last year, he can be a nice surprise here.
2. Shimko’s Saratoga (43-10-3-4) – He has been losing against much lesser company. Needs to improve a lot to win here.
3. Giant’s Banjo (16-5-2-1) – He is not a winning machine by any means, but always puts up a nice effort and in this race there are a lot of horses who do not normally run in a Grade I. He will be stalking from the start and should be one of the favorites here.
4. Dom Tendencies (30-11-5-2) – Pretty dull showing in his last race, but that was his first in more than two months. Now he should be much fitter for this race and if he is sharp enough to repeat his race in the Laffit Handicap, he is one of the horses to beat. Ran in second last year in this same race.
5. Jacky Hollandia (15-8-2-2) – Graded winner who will come flying in the final stages of the race, his SFs are much better than the majority of the horses in here and must be considered one of the main threats.
6. Dubeye (26-8-3-4) – Every time he has stepped up to face graded company, he has been soundly defeated. Although this is not the strongest GI, he needs to improve to have a chance here.
7. Rahy Breaks Away (JPN) (11-2-0-4) – Talented horse who has been running in nothing else than graded stakes, and been defeated repeatedly in doing so. His SFs however are not that far away, so with some improvement can be a nice upset at 22-1.
8. Manifest Destiny (23-11-3-1) – Maybe the classiest horse in this field. He is running in this third race over the last five weeks, a factor against him. But his enormous talent and drive to win can be the difference here.
9. Xtremely a Fan (24-8-6-5) – This horse was running in claimers six months ago, a now he has a graded win in his resume and continues to improve with every race. He is one of the top horses in this event.
10. Modern Physics (23-4-3-1) – Horse that is losing constantly against Allowance Company, so you now have an idea on how much he has to improve to stand a chance here.
11. Goodbye Deputy (17-4-4-2) – Honest horse, but a repeat loser against graded horses. Will have to look elsewhere.
12. Gallant Wings (IRE) (21-5-4-4) – This horse can be the “speed of the speed” for this event. He will have to overcome a very bad post and a step up in class in order to score in this race.
13. Slew Can (35-14-5-5) – Marked improvement on his last race, which was a Grade III event. He maybe the best pure miler in this group and will be my pick to win here.
14. Hicky on my Booty (4-1-1-1) – Horse who just broke his maiden, and now is facing graded stakes horses, you can see why he is 99-1 on the odds.
15. Frankenstein Cow (54-3-1-8) – Horse running pretty badly in Allowance Company, you can see now why he is at least 99-1.
16. Kiki’s Storm Opera (40-10-5-1) – He has always done very nicely in minor stakes, and although this is a Grade I, as we have discussed before, this is not a very strong graded event, so we can not discard him. Nice play at 11-1.
17. Bigtate Fort (11-1-3-1) – Consistent loser in Stakes Company, and another horse whose 99-1 odds do not tell the real story.
18. Victory Once Again (10-4-1-3) – His last two races have been somewhat discreet. He has shown in occasions nice SFs, but the bad post will make me look elsewhere for now.

The picks: Dom Tendencies, Jacky Hollandia, Kiki’s Storm Opera.

Good Luck!!!!