Graded Winning Turf Miler Takes On Sprinters In Ireland

Welcome to Ireland, where the turf sprinters will be featured this week. Our race is the Furiously Believe Stakes and will showcase the 4yos and up going 7.5 furlongs on the turf for a nice purse of $70,000. Nine dropped their names in the entry box, and, as is typical of our stakes here, we have everything from graded winners to former claimers lining up for this one. Let’s take a look at the runners.

On the rail at 7/1 is Super Sumo (Quick Cut x Victory Gallop) owned by caddywampu. He is a 5yo and is making his first start for his new connections. He has mostly run in claiming and allowance ranks, although he did finish 4th in his one stakes appearance. He has run as fast as a 100 speed figure.

In post two at 12/1 is Shannon’s Papoose (Affirmed x Fappiano) owned by bqs. This 8yo is a familiar sight here, having run his last two races in Ireland. Neither of those went very well, so he moves back to turf here to see if it will wake him up. He did break his maiden on turf, and has run a 95 on the surface.

In post three at 16/1 is Aussie Bomb(Aus) (Akhenaton(Aus) x Explodent) owned by ellowyn2. He is a 4yo and is making his second start for his current trainer, having won a high dollar claimer last time out. That effort resulted in a repeat of his career high speed of 99. He likes to go right to the front and make the rest of the field chase him down.

In post four at 6/1 is Muadib (War Chant x Theatrical(Ire)) owned by eddielegg. This 4yo is one of the up and coming stars of the Alpine Turf Club. He is already a dual stakeswinner, with placings in both a G2 and a G3 to go along with that. He’s run a top speed of 104, and has a closing style that should fit into the pace scenario here quite nicely.

In post five at 7/2 is Blazing Sevens (Seattle Slew x Gone West) owned by braylee. He is a 6yo and has racked up nearly $1.7 million in earnings. He’s a grade I winner on dirt, but performs quite well on turf. His top speed on the surface is a 108, and he should be stalking near the pace.

In post six at 12/1 is Off The Hizzy (Carson City x Unbridled) owned by catullus. He is a lightly raced 4yo, and all four of his wins have been in turf sprints. His last two wins were both at today’s distance, although he’ll likely need to improve upon his 98 speed figure to win this one.

In post seven at 11/1 is Medieval Jinx (Tracker x Machiavellian) owned by peregrine. He is a 4yo and is coming in off of two straight allowance wins. He won two stakes as a 2yo, and competed quite well in stakes company throughout his 3yo season. His top speed of 98 was run at today’s distance.

In post eight is today’s favourite at 2/1, Urko’s Danzig (Danzig x Storm Cat), owned by urko. This 5yo is a mile specialist, but his connections probably figured that this was close enough. He won the G2 Lone Star Mile two races back, and an allowance last time out. His top speed is a 110, with his best sprint speed only slightly behind that at 105, in a race in which he likely could have gone faster had he needed to.

Rounding out the field at 9/2 is Stormy Jack (Storm Cat x Alydar) owned by juju. Representing the elder crowd, he is an 8yo just like Shannon’s Papoose. A later bloomer, he did his best running as a 6yo, when he won three stakes and ran as fast as 117….regularly. He may have lost a step or two, but he finished third in a stakes last time out and isn’t ready to hang up the tack just yet.

That is our field. The favourite certainly looks unbeatable…at a mile. Blazing Sevens looks like a viable candidate to hit the board, and Stormy Jack hasn’t given up the ghost and remains competitive. I like Muadib for the upset, though…provided there IS an upset. Good luck to all the runners, and may they all come home sound.