Pea Shooters Handicap

Pea Shooters Handicap (Grade II)

6 Furlongs

3 year olds

Saturday was the 7^th running of the Pea Shooters Handicap from South Dakota.  This race was expected to have an exciting finish with so many different running styles.  This Grade II race has already produced one Historically Graded B horse, Snow Squall, the 2002 winner.

At the start Heehaw II and Rock of Ages broke early for the lead.  Big Poppa Pump established its position right off the leaders.  This was a change from the last race in which Big Poppa Pump tried to wire the field and tired badly.  O/T Stonecold and Jockey Green decided to change back to the style that had won previously for this stable one month prior in The Late Prospects Stakes.  At the halfway way point, Heehaw II’s lead over Big Poppa Pump was three lengths, when Jockey Green made its move in the turn taking over the lead at the stretch.  After dispatching the front runners, Big Poppa Pump now had to worry about the closers.  Wonderboy Eamon, Depravity and G Code were five to nine lengths back when they made there move for the finish.  In an exciting finish at the wire, Big Poppa Pump held off the three closers winning by 1/4 length over Wonderboy Eamon and Depravity.  

Big Poppa Pump, paid $16.90, has now won two of its last three races, earning over $360K in its career for the Stonecold stables.  This Point Given X Storm Cat X Mr. P horse has won five of its fourteen races with three second place finishes.  It’s still uncertain where this horse might reappear, but certainly the prestigious Grade II Bluegrass Cup Sprint or the Sooner-Husker Stakes (G II) is a possibility, but those races are further down the road.  The speed rating of a 95 was 10 points below the average rating of previous Pea Shooter champions, but some of that can be attributed to the slower pace set by the front runners.  Two horses that I plan on keeping an eye on, in longer races, are Depravity and the surprising G Code.