Seeking Sal, Causes Wood(ire) Co-favored in Half Million Dollar Feature
I’m Back Again For Good
Grade I
A mile and one eighth
Firm Turf
$500,000
All horses, 4 years old and up
PP Horse Trainer Jockey Odds
1 HONOUR MY NAME(IRE) manager B Alt 5/1
2 LEOFRENZY SS(IRE) tinsaltown I Hoge 72/1
3 MANIFEST DESTINY tigerman S Blood 3/1
4 REDSADKY sherwood B Sipe 7/2
5 CAUSES WOOD(IRE) ruby7 D Sherman 2/1
6 SEEKING SAL keryn S Garber 2/1
Grade I
A mile and one eighth
Firm Turf
$500,000
All horses, 4 years old and up
PP Horse Trainer Jockey Odds
1 HONOUR MY NAME(IRE) manager B Alt 5/1
2 LEOFRENZY SS(IRE) tinsaltown I Hoge 72/1
3 MANIFEST DESTINY tigerman S Blood 3/1
4 REDSADKY sherwood B Sipe 7/2
5 CAUSES WOOD(IRE) ruby7 D Sherman 2/1
6 SEEKING SAL keryn S Garber 2/1
A short but extremely talented field of turf routers will go postward in Saturday’s prestigious half million dollar Grade I feature. Here they are in post position order.
Breaking from the hedge will be Manager’s Honour My Name(ire) who has been a solid stakes runner on the grass for several years. The five year old son of Galileo(ire) and the Grade II winner Shan’s Bird (Bluebird x Sharpen Up(gb)) has amassed career earnings of over a half million dollars while winning or hitting the board in twelve stakes. He finished second to Causes Wood(ire) last time out but has yet to win a graded stake. In a race containing four Grade I winners, that is not a positive sign.
Leofrenzy SS(ire) makes his graded debut for conditioner Tinsaltown. He’s been getting crushed in mid level allowances. So the Galileo(ire) four year old is hopelessly buried in here as his odds indicate. Later with much easier.
Manifest Destiny is a three time Grade I winner and is just a tad shy of two million in career earnings. The magnificent Storm Cat stallion has as much raw talent as any horse in training. But sometimes he fails to bring his “A” game. He finished an even fifth in the Grade I All Comers Stakes last time out. Trainer Tigerman felt that bringing him back on short rest after the Garr Memorial was a mistake. Has had four weeks rest for this test and will be a major factor with his best effort.
Sherwood’s homebred Redsadky (Red Ransom x Sadler’s Wells x NijinskyII) has been nothing short of sensational in his brief career. After winning his first four starts, he shocked the turf world with a huge second behind the brilliant Minesweeper in Arlington Park’s Grade I Big Red last summer. He closed out his sophomore campaign by winning the Grade I Nijinsky Handicap in Dubai. This season he’s started only three times but enters the fray on Saturday coming off of a big score in the Grade III Slowness Stakes. Looms a serious danger.
Free wheeling Causes Wood(ire) is the likely pacesetter here. Last time out the handsome son of Giant’s Causeway(ire) posted a most impressive gate to wire tally in the Grade II Hallelujah Turf Cup in Florida. In that event, nobody could get within two lengths of Ruby7’s speedster as he ran away and hid from a very good field including Seeking Sal. Causes Wood(ire) is a multiple graded winner including the Grade I Coxless Stake. He has won over half of his twenty-seven lifetime starts and is closing in on two million dollars in career earnings. Huge threat.
Rounding out our sparkling field is Keryn’s multimillionaire, Seeking Sal. The flashy chestnut is a two time Grade I winner and arrives at Churchill in splendid form. Three back he spanked a good field at Sam Houston in the Grade III Connley. Then came a HUGE win in the Grade I Sand Castle Fee Duty in Dubai where he beat a field which included thirteen graded winners. Among his victims were Causes Wood(ire) and Jupiter’s Moons. Last time out he was unable to collar the speedy Causes Wood(ire) but did finish a solid second. Yet another with the credentials to win.