“Come On Down!”
(SP)Wyoming- Welcome racing fans to the 6th running of the Grade III Bob Barker Stakes. Once again the WRC rolls out the red carpet for a hopeful crop of sophomore fillies. It is a time when the community gets together and puts on a great show, starting with a gala dinner Friday night for all the trainers and their people sponsored by WHAO, to the ending parade and BBQ on Sunday afternoon – evening. It is a tradition that is becoming more popular with each succeeding year the event is run. This year the WRC and WHOA have put their animosities aside and commissioned a lithograph for this race. There have only been 100 made by the prominent native American artist Charlie Little Bear. Six of these have been given to the trainers of the competing horses with the rest to be distributed through auctions for several charities in the state and the western Unites States region.
Although most of the races have not been as close as many would have liked, there have been some fine ladies that have come to compete, this year is no exception. Once again we have a medium field and all new trainers trying their luck. All previous winners had more than ten wins except last years filly. Bourbon Coffee has been retired early due to injury, but she was also well on her way to the ten win plateau. Exbourne‘s Freedom, the 2002 winner, holds the race’s speed rated record at 109 and Keys, the 2004 winner, holds the most lopsided win when she won at over four lengths. All previous races have been won by breaking the 100 speed rating and the WRC is hoping that trend continues despite the forecasted light drizzle on Saturday. There is optimism this will continue because of the 108 rated speed win by Livvi‘s Lass when she won on a sloppy track in 2003. The $125,000 six furlong dirt sprint should be another addition to an already successful yearly race. So to paraphrase a line form the real life Bob Barker’s game show, “Come on down and meet the ladies.”
Mail Order Bride entered by zapspride. This chestnut filly wasn’t really ordered by mail, but she is sired by Gone West out of a Nijinski mare. This will be the second graded stakes in a row and she will be looking to add her third win of the year. Others usually set the initial pace as she is slow coming at of the gates. This has only caused her problems on a couple of occasions and both those times were with full fields. Since this is a smaller field and more to her liking, she should have no trouble navigating down the track. She has been tagged with very low odds, but that may be a misnomer as she has never been on an off track before. There is no telling how she will respond to this. She does have the experienced and wily jockey Vince Gannon in the irons and that should help if there is a light rain on Saturday.
Smokin Lois entered by molwr. I sure hope this roan sophomore gets her name because she is smoking up the track and not out behind the stalls lighting up. No, really she is named for her sire, Smoke Glacken out of her dam Lois Without Echo. She stays at the graded level and is looking to return to form at the beginning of the year when she won two in a row. This closer has been on the board in ten out of twelve races and even broken the 100 speed rating. The biggest knock about her is her inconsistency. She has a tendency to run a couple of excellent races and then throw in a race at half effort, but still maintains the #2 sprint filly. When on, she is very hard to beat and after her poor outing last time out she could be coming in her ready to tear up the track. She has drawn the top jockey in Jesse Sands and this is just what she needs.
Cheyenne Gold entered by ozioziozi. Talk about the right name coming into this race named after the capital of the state of Wyoming. Do you think this chestnut sophomore sired by Seeking The Gold out of Cheyenne Storm may have an unfair advantage? The filly also comes in with two graded wins in a row and the favored moniker. That in itself could be a death sentence. The front runner has been putting up some good numbers lately and it has paid off by her finally making it in the top ten sprint fillies. This will be her shortest race since her break out maiden win and may not be enough ground for her. She has drawn the fiery jockey John Dawg in the irons and the two could match up well.
Daisy Ransom entered by noitsabes. This large well muscled and bad tempered filly has been named well as she is not anything like a delicate daisy. She is sired by Red Ransom out of Daisy Power and is a hard working horse even if she likes to take a nip from a shoulder or watch people scramble after a well placed kick. This front runner has been struggling all year and should probably take a few more turns at allowance level to level her out a bit. She comes in as the long shot but that doesn’t mean the other racers can ignore her. Because of her tenacity that is always a mistake. She does not have much luck in her jockey draw for the race either as Billy Millnichik is having his worst start ever. Add that to the fact that this will be an off track which she has never been on one before, well lets just say her chances are going to be slim.
Nightflyer entered by upperhand2. When this chestnut filly finally was moved to the dirt her career took off. She is sired by Belong To Me out of Alter Ego. She has been slowly improving all season and now has two wins in a row with the last being at stakes level. The trainer has worked on her exploding from the gate and that has paid off as her front running style can best be used now. She has never been on an off track and if she responds like she did on the grass then she is in big trouble and could end well back from the rest of the field. She has drawn the solid veteran jockey in Mitch Writer and that should give a her a boost.
Exquisite Release entered by hihosilver. This small filly comes in the most experienced of the group. She is sired by Elusive Quality out of Holy And Regal. The closer seems to be at home from sprints to the classic range, but has been concentrating more on the longer runs and it has been awhile since she has any this short. She comes out of the gates slow but has a devastating final kick that has gotten her five wins and almost a sixth this year. She is the only one in the field that has been on an off track and has shown no ill effect because of it. This could give her the edge, as she will need it. She has drawn Marc Blade in the irons, who is having a very poor year indeed.