This year’s The Colonial Derby definitely has some talent to it

Virginia (VA) Sunday, July 20, 2014 — 2:30:00 PM EST | Race ID : 1234162
The Colonial Derby
Grade II / Group 2 – Purse : $1,000,000
Restricted to 3 Year Olds
Firm Turf

 

Colonial Downs is the site of  the annual running of the Grade 2  Colonial Derby and it is certainly filled with a lot of talented horses going for a prestigious purse of $1 million dollars. Thirteen 3 year olds will go to post in this mile and a quarter running on firm turf and prove who is the best.  For some, this  will be the first time running at the Downs but for others, it will feel like home. Let’s take a look at this fine field in their respective running order:

1 EvilSeeker     Eng      lenny18          9/1

Bay colt by Authorized out of the sim mare LightSeeker is looking for his 4th straight victory on the turf. However, he has never won at Colonial Downs so going against a new turf surface and meeting 12 other horses that have raced here before will certainly be a challenge. EvilSeeker is coming off of a Grade 1 win in The Jockey Club which was at DEA in France at 10.5f  so he can get the distance. EvilSeeker is trained by lenny18 and will be ridden by L Radzinski.

2 Hypnopomic    KY    seekgold    5/1

Trained by seekgold, this grey colt by Unbridled’s Song is going into the race off of a 5 race win streak but he has yet to run beyond 8.5f but he has run at the VA track before. His last race, an allowance, was ran at FL where he earned a #105 SP. Being ridden by W McClendon, look for this stalker to make his move turning for home.

3 Dr Sheldon Cooper   JPN    theprofit1   11/1

This bay colt sired by the one and only Deep Impact will be looking for a win after a disappointing 5th in The Jockey Cup. Even though he finished 5th, he did earn a #104 SP. Trained by theprofit1 and being ridden by G Wendorff, this colt can go 10f but will he like the track is the question. Dr Sheldon Cooper will once again meet Finest Form, Fleetwood Henry, and Frankie DeDeputy on this VA track.

4 Finest Form       LA     9PM     7/1

Bred and trained by 9PM, Finest Form is a bay colt sired by Finest Hour out of the Sim mare Daily Racing Form. Finest Form will be ridden in the Colonial Derby by J Piotrowski. The 3 year old colt is no stranger to this track; he won the Grade 3 The Virginia Turf Cup with an impressive SP of #107.All of his wins have been on turf and to date, Finest Form has earned $695,840.  The Colonial Derby will basically be a rematch between Finest Form, Fleetword Henry, Frankie DaDeputy, and Dr Sheldon Cooper. This colt can get the distance and look for him to be saving ground throughout the entire race until they make that final turn in the home stretch.

5 Frankenbot     ENG      Allfrankel     11/1

Another horse bred and trained by his owner Allfrankel, is an offspring of the famous turf stallion Frankel out of the Sim mare Robot Chicken. The 3 year old bay colt has been struggling to win a race since his last win was in the G3 The Condo For Rent run on 10-26-2013. He has yet to run at Colonial Downs, I don’t think he will be able to get the distance, and he is averaging a #99SP out of his eleven starts.

6 Raid       KY    blankpoin8      12/1

Sired by Smart Strike while bred and owned by blankpoin8, this bay colt will be ridden by O Brim in hopes of winning his first on a VA track. With 8 starts  on the turf, Raid has only 2 wins on a grassy track which were ran in KY. He posted a #106 SP when he ran in an allowance for non-winners of 2L on 4-15-2014 and I will also mention that can get the distance running his last race at 9.5f  in May.  It would be a shocker if this colt pulls an upset on Sunday.

7 Frankie DaDeputy      ENG      Vertain4     7/1

Another offspring of the great Frankel and out of the sim mare Deputy DCO, this bay colt has 4 wins from 12 starts on turf while earning $243,575. Trained by vertain4, Frankie finished 3rd to Finest Form in the Virginia Turf Cup and now that he has had a feel for the racing surface at Colonial Downs, he should give Finest Form a run for his money. This colt can definitely get the distance and he also posted a #105 SP in the VTC. With the breeding of a turf superstar, Frankie will be piloted by N Lawton and should be there at the end along side Finest Form and Fleetwood  Henry.

8 NBN Disaster    JPN    crimeboss1       11/1

This 3 year old colt sired by Fasliyev out of the sim mare ADSL, he has yet to get a win on the turf racing surface since his last two wins were in NY. His last graded stakes race was on 10-13-2013 when he ran in the Knick Knack Juvenile finishing in 8th place. His highest SP #104 was in an allowance race ran in France. NBN Disaster needs to show up and run a good race on Sunday if he wants to post a win in a G2 race. He will be ridden by A Weldon and let’s hope that Weldon can keep NBN Disaster out of traffic to post a good finish.

9  L ittle Grassy       GB      saluki9       8/1

Little Grassy certainly has a name to live up too. He has also won at the VA track winning an allowance race and finishing 4th in a starter race but the question remains, can he get the distance? Bred by saluki42and trained by saluki9, the 3 year old colt by Nathaniel does have 5 wins to his resume at such tracks like IL, IN, KY, and of course, VA.

10  Instigate        CA       gowansca      17/1

Sired by Whatsthescript and out of  the Sim mare Spirited Dances, Instigate is bred and trained by gowansca. His last race was the VTC where he finished 7th and despite being blocked on the rail for most of the race, he did manage to find some running room but didn’t have enough energy to catch the leaders.  Instigate did finish 2nd in the Dee Stakes which was run at 10f so there’s no reason why this colt can’t run his race but he has to get passed the likes of Finest Form first. He has never posted a SP above 100 so he is definitely a long shot for The Colonial Derby.

11   Dragon of Discord     JPN     waremblem4      18/1

Here’s another longshot for The Colonial Derby and the fact that he has only raced at tracks overseas. Sired by Harbinger out of the sim mare Empire Storm, some would think that he would have more wins on a turf surface since his sire raced on turf. Dragon has to prove to his trainer, waremblem, that he can compete in the United States. Dragon of Discord will be ridden by A Haack and hopefully this stalker can add a graded stakes win to his resume.

12  Fleetwood Henry      KY      fleetwood      12/1

This very talented colt bred and trained by fleetwood should keep Finest Form on his toes in the home stretch come Sunday in The Colonial Derby. He finished a strong 2nd to Finest Form in The Virginia Turf Cup and I know fleetwood is looking for a graded stakes win with his 3 year old bay colt. Being sired by none other than Henrythenavigator, Henry can get the distance  and turf running is in his blood through his sire and Kingmambo. Fleetwood posted a #105 SP in The Virginia Turf Cup and he will be ridden by T Kelly.

13  Fast In The Past      AUS      pmjstable      6/1

Bred and trained by pmjstable, this bay colt has eleven starts on a turf surface with only four wins but most of his races have been in graded company. His last win, The Jefferson Davis run at 9f, was a G2 event where he posted a very impressive SP of #109.  Another horse that hasn’t run past 9f, jockey T Ace definitely has his work cut out for him.

Selections

Finest Form

EvilSeeker

Frankie DaDeputy

Fleetwood Henry