Blazing Seven Horse to Beat
Summer vacation is over, at least for the BTB crew, and racing is in full stride, as everyone is gearing up for the Breeders’ Bowl, and perhaps, more importantly for the DelPenn residents, DelPenn Champion Day in December. This second half of the season kicks off with a full field in the Debee Elk Memorial Stakes at 6 ½ panels over the firm turf course. Several three year olds are taking on their elders, we’ll have to wait and see whether youth will be served. To do that, though, they’ll have to take on the deserving favorite, Blazing Sevens, the class of the field and the horse to beat. Braylee’s son of Slew has scorched his way to 11 wins from 24 starts and $1.5 million, including a pair of turf stakes wins (104 SF, 103 SF). He’s won five of seven on the turf, and has an excellent chance of completing the hattrick here.
The favorite still needs to run the race, though, with two of the 13 competitors seeming to have the best chance of an upset. Bill Person, from the flobarb2 stable, has fired off speed figures of 101 or better in four of his five most recent starts, winning the Dandy’s Ham Stakes at this distance with a 108 SF. Bounced a little in his latest, but with six weeks rest, his connections have him primed for a big effort. Manni149 has the talented Danzing Cielo. The beautifully bred son of Danzig has won only five of 20 starts, but bankrolled almost $400k along the way. A bit inconsistent, on his best days, he’s lethal, as he showed when third in the Grade 1 Penn Dash, and second in a stakes earlier this year. Probably better suited to a course with a bit of give in the ground, but cannot be ignored.
Of the sophomore set, Ghostlyformer appears the toughest. The son of Silver Ghost has Herbert Ross in the irons, and has hit the board in seven of his last eight races for epcotlen3. He likes this track, having won the 7 furlong Omaha Can here earlier this season, and the only question is whether he’s ready to leave the 3yo only ranks. Scortch is on a nice roll for afta95. The Atticus colt has won seven of 16, including two of his last three. He enters this race fresh off a win at this distance with a 98 SF, and he’s fired triple digit SFs on several occasions. The well-managed Aussie Hurricane looks like another nice one for RSB. The four year old son of Flying Spur has won 6 of 14 races, including three of his last five. Was dull in a stakes last time out, but should make a better account of himself on Saturday. Mining for Reef GA represents sinohero and the Mining horse is starting to show some mileage, but is still game and gutsy after 47 races, 16 of them wins. A bit dull in his last two, he’s won several allowances this year, and is still flashing near triple digit speed. I remember the lovely and talented Lolland as a superb 2 year old, and while she may be on the downward side of a brilliant career that has brought her 12 victories and over $1 million from 32 starts to date, the bm4 trainee is not yet done. Hopefully, competing against males will spark something (although I’d kind of like to see her try one more run over the main surface to see if that would perk her up, either in that race or her return to the turf). It is a real treat to have this Danzig mare visit the DelPenn track. Gulf’s Nijinsky Adam has been a bit dull of late, that said, he was a solid competitor in the Silent Cal six starts back, and is capable of the big effort.
A pair of horses are making their turf debut: Barb’s Favorite and Rolloverr. Barb’s Favorite, who hails from joydevil, part of the Barb empire (and PBS), is a son of Century City, has the pedigree to run on either surface. A talented sprinter on the main track, to me, the distance is probably a bigger concern than the surface switch. Rolloverr is actually one of mine. I purchased him at auction, and while stakes placed on the main track, this colt has never tried the turf. This is more an experiment than anything else.
Rounding out the field are: Hansom Ransom, trained by sarasans, who is better than his 94/1 odds suggest, but has struggled since breaking his maiden, and most likely needs a drop to N2L company. Golden Buckeye won a pair of claimers with ease, including one race with a 97 SF, prompting his trainer, ajhsstable to return him to allowance company, where he promptly turned in a much duller effort – I don’t see the additional step up in class here helping; and Imperial Punch, trained by gipper3, who has done his best running since changing hands for $1 million two starts back, but will need to take another step forward here.