Colts return to Virginia for Spinning A Tale Challenge

The ladies have finally relinquished the track this week, leaving it open for all three year olds in this week’s Spinning A Tale Challenge. A $50000 purse waits at the end of seven and a half furlongs of firm turf. This is the inaugural running of this stakes, named after a son of Spinning World, who had eleven career victories in seventy seven starts. This race has drawn a field of six colts, running the gamut from first time stakes starters to veteran stakes winners. Once again, odds are being held close to the vest, with the favorite going off at 2/1 odds, and the longshot at a close 9/1 odds. Five of the six entries are listed at 4/1 or better. Could be anyone’s race, so let’s look at the contenders.

PP 1) Gunnar’s Gold(IRE) Sired by Giant’s Causeway(IRE), Trained by chance. Gunnar’s Gold(IRE) will make his eighteenth career start here, by far the most veteran runner in this field. This is his eighth start of the season. He is well acquanted with this level of competition, and has one prior stakes win to his credit. Seventeen career starts have netted him a record of 5-1-3-3-0 record, with a best speed of 97.2, earned two starts back. His last outing was a eight furlong Grade III in New Hampshire, where he finished ninth, though only out by seven and a half at the wire. He has had two dirt starts over the course of his career, and both of those were top speeds for him in for the distance range. Turf was where the money was though, and that has been where he has spent the bulk of his career. As for distance, he has faired better at route distance than sprint distance, with three of five career wins in the eight to eight and a half range. Ten of seventeen starts have been routes. He is a fast starter, and all five of his wins have been wire to wire efforts. He likes to open an early cushion and hope he can hold on down the stretch. His best career effort, by far, has been on a yielding track, and the firm turf is not his friend here. The sprint distance and the fact that this will be his third race in four weeks are against him here as well. Should push the early pace here, but look for him to fade in the second half.

PP 2) Miter Saw Sired by Not For Love, Trained by bobthehat. Miter Saw sees his ninth career race here, and his fourth as a three year old. He has two prior stakes starts, and is still seeking her first victory at this level. His first eight starts have gained him a record of 3-0-0-1-1 record, with a best speed of 96.9 earned two starts back. In his last start, an eight furlong Grade III in Kentucky, he finished fourth in a full field, closing hard down the stretch. He made his first three career starts on dirt, with mediocre speeds, never even coming close. His switch to turf drove his speeds up by 30 points, and he has landed out of the money since the switch. The switch to turf also coincided with an increase to route distance, and his five turf starts have all been at eight furlongs. He’s a deep closer, and his close on turf has been very consistent. Route distance lends itself well to his close style, but he has shown more than enough speed, especially in his last two starts, to hold his own in this long sprint. He looks like a very good bet at his juicy 4/1 odds.

PP 3) Strong Ride Sired by Strong Hope, Trained by reems11. Strong Ride is taking the track for his eleventh career start here, and the fifth of his three year old campaign. He has one previous stakes win in two tries. He has been riding a hot streak as of late, with four wins in his last five starts. Overall for his career he has set a mark of 4-1-2-2-0 with a best speed of 92.1, earned in his first start of this season. His last outing was a seven furlong stakes in Pennsylvania, where he bested a short field by a length on yielding turf. He has shown good speed on both surface, and is quite versatile. He really matured on turf though coming into his three year old season, and has improved his speeds measureably while staying consistent. He has excelled as a sprinter, and the distance here could be a bit long for him. Thus far his best has been in the six to six and a half furlong range. He is a fast starter and he likes a piece of that early lead. He has shown the ability to close short gaps late if he has the need. He has a lot of early pace to contend with here, and is going a bit further that he is used to running. He will need a career best here to hold on in this one and keep his streak going.

PP 4) Two Storms Sired by Coronado’s Quest, Trained by maryfran. Two Storms finds himself racing for the eighth career time here, and the fifth of his three year old campaign. This is his first try at stakes level after terrorizing allowances in his last six starts, and he rides a three race winning streak into this one. He gets the oddsmaker’s nod in this one after racing to a 4-3-0-0-0 record in his first seven starts with a best speed of 97.5 earned three starts back. He comes into this one off an A3x run in Florida, where he bested a field of eight easily by two lengths. He made his first four starts on dirt, but after three near misses after winning his debut, he decided to try turf and was rewarded with the straight allowance victories, marching smartly up through his conditions. This will be his longest run to date by a half furlong. His three turf starts have all been right at seven furlongs, though, and it doesn’t look like he should have a problem with the extra distance. He generally runs as a midpack closer, and his close has been nearly perfect so far. He’s also shown that he can hold his own in a field of closers. Two things of note here are that his best speed was earned off track, with his next best being on dirt. On the other hand, his last three wins have been by an average of nearly two and a half lengths, and we may not have seen his best speed yet. With definitely be right there down the stretch.

PP 5) Wildforestcreature Sired by Forestry, Trained by spelunker. Wildforestcreature goes for run number eight here, and this is his fifth outing as a three year old. This races marks his first start at stakes level. Over all, his first ten have earned him a 3-1-1-1-0 record with a best speed of 91.8 earned in his start before last. He coming off an A3L race at seven furlongs in Upper New York, where he ran to a two length victory. This is another colt who spent most of his early career on dirt, running well, but suffering near misses. Switching to turf for his last two, he has back to back victories by nearly two lengths both times. His dirt experiences beyond six and a half were somewhat less than stellar, but his two turf starts were both at seven, and he looks like he shouldn’t have too much trouble with the distance here. He is a midpack closer and while his dirt close seemed to suffer the further he raced, his turf close has been quite solid. He has excellent potential here, but will need a bit of extra speed to earn the stop spot here.

PP 6) Sharks Oleander Sired by Olmodavor, Trained by dcsharks. Sharks Oleander runs for the twelvth time here and makes his fifth three year old start. He has one stakes victory in three tries at this level. Eleven prior starts have left him with a 4-1-3-1-1 record, and sporting a best speed of 89.7 earned in his first start this year. His last race was a six and a half furlong stakes in Vermont, where he finished last, appearing to stumble coming out of the gate and never quite recovering. After not being able to buy a win in his first three on dirt, he switched to turf, grabbing wins in four of his next six.. All four career wins have come at seven furlongs, and while half a furlong doesn’t seem like much, he’s been having trouble beyond that seven furlong mark. He’s a faster starter, but thus far, he hasn’t shown the speed he will need to seriously challenge the early pace here. He will need a career best to survive the early pace and then hold off the closers in this race.