Look of Eagles – Sunny Solar Storm
Greetings race fans and welcome to Victoria. It’s projected to be a beautiful Saturday and the track has come up firm, which once again tells us that the Weatherman knows nothing. Forecasts called for a 40% chance of rain but the sky has stayed clear for the ten furlongs Solar Storm Memorial. Six fillies will head to the gate in this one and the winner will take the King’s share of the $80,000 purse. This race looks like it could set up for an early speed duel between a few horses who will probably put quite a bit of distance between themselves and the rest of the field. If the early duel is a fierce one, we could see a horse close in the stretch and pull out a win. Otherwise, this race has a very good chance of being a gate to wire affair.
The top speed horses are Yankee Rose, Tonnochi Road and possibly Light Green. Not surprisingly they have some of the best odds in field with 2/1, 9/2 and 5/2 respectively. Morning line favorite Yankee Rose is a black four-year-old Silver Charm filly. She has devastating speed and knows how to use it at this distance. She’s a two-time stakes winner, including a win here at Victoria in the 9.5 furlong Fighting Force Stakes in which she recorded a 101 SF a couple races ago. She recently had a three race winning streak snapped as she ran a horrible race in her first graded try last time out. “She got into a speed duel early with another good looking filly, Tess Carlisle and they both ran each other into the ground. It was a very disappointing result. We trained her up to that race and thought we had a chance. You really need some fortune on your side in a graded race.” said a spokesman for the fillies’ connections. Yankee Rose has a tendency to try and break the will of the field by opening up huge leads and daring them to reel her in. Tonnochi Road and Light Green will have to keep her honest or we could see a Sinister Minister at Keenland type of race.
Tonnochi Road certainly has the credentials to do just that. This is a fantastic filly; a five-year-old mare out of Rainbow Quest, her resume is glistening with achievements. She ran 3rd in the English Oaks and is also a Grade II winner at 10 furlongs. She has banked almost $875K in her illustrious career. At this stage of her career, it looks like she’s a little better going longer. Recently her best races have been over 12 furlongs but a proven winner like this cannot be discounted. She regularly records 100 start speeds at 14 furlongs but hasn’t at 10 which leads me to believe Yankee Rose is going to get the early lead. If Tonnochi Road can wear down Yankee Rose while leaving something in the tank she can find the winner’s circle. “She’s a veteran mare of superb quality who has given us countless joys in racing,” said trainer wagkombi.
Light Green is the other speed horse in this field. A daughter of Fantastic Light, she doesn’t have the acceleration of the above two so Light Green will most likely be put into a stalking role. Light Green was claimed by trainer jkjturf for $150K. Since then she’s won two allowance races and tries to cash a big check here. It’s going to be a tall task for her however; she’s never run ten furlongs, or nine for that matter. She has had a pretty successful sprinting career so it doesn’t seem like she’s going to explode at 10, which is what she’s going to need to do. Both Yankee Rose and Tonnochi Road can easily get ten furlongs so it’s going to be pretty hard for Light Green to catch them.
If the speed fall apart look out for Ramble On, an Australian horse trying to defend the home track, to make a late charge and get up for the win. Ramble On is a five-year-old daughter of Testa Rossa. She’s a three-time Stakes winner at 11 furlongs. She too is a veteran of many turf wars; recording 47 starts in her long career. She is 3/6 on an off track and one suspects trainer phatpharm was hoping for one here. While the rain stayed away, I’m sure the Aussie flags will be out in force cheering on the hometown girl. Ramble On will settle back in mid-pack and make a move on the leaders in the stretch. May fall over 10 lengths back, but she has a very credible chance to win if she gets rolling.
Thexy Thong is another intriguing possibility. She has talent and is coming off an NW2x win at 10 furlongs. However, this Not For Love filly also lost by 15 lengths in her last stakes try at these conditions. She’ll stalk and attempt to make a run. Will need to run a career best at this distance to win, but its possible with the right circumstances. If she falls too far behind I don’t think she can make up the ground.
The long shot in the field is Baby Bam. A lightly raced filly by Kadeed she has only 7 career starts, running in the money in 5 of those. She comes off an allowance win at 8 furlongs and has never run at ten before. She’ll take back and attempt to close in the stretch. This is a pretty decent place for court4 to take a stake shot though I would have liked to see a longer prep first. Could fire and pull a big upset if she likes the distance but is going to get beat badly if she doesn’t.
I like the experienced horses in this field. Yankee Rose and Tonnochi Road will probably put themselves well ahead of the field. Ramble On will charge at them late. It’s tough to bet on horses that have never run within 2 furlongs of the distance because they are such a wild card. Safest bet is to box the Tri 1-2-4.