A Lot of Speed to Check

Racing fans will have to stay till the end this Saturday.  Tired of fans leaving after the feature, the inaugural running of the Grade I Check My Speed Stakes for three year old fillies has been carded as the last race of the day. 

The $250,000 purse has attracted three of the top ten sprinters.

It is no surprise that this six furlong dash has attracted a field full of early runners, but that comes at an interesting time in the Sim.  A recent article in The Black Type Bugler has pointed out that Eastern Kentucky is one of the hardest tracks for early speed to prevail. 

Here is a look at the field:

1. Incredible Peg (Fusaichi Pegasus x Tabasco Cat) has eight in-the-money finished in her nine dirt sprints.  The two stakes wins for the TG1 (18%) trainee both came in front running style.  The rail may help, but it looks like she is behind some others here early.   She has shown some ability to rally from just off the pace in the past, but she has also shown she can get discouraged and fade.  8-1.

2. Trainer of the year Jockeymax enters Northern De Lago (En Costa de Lago x Fusaichi Pegasus) from his JockeyMax5 (21%) stable.  The filly has four allowance wins in seven starts this year, and takes the step up in class.  Stalking style and, of course, stable connections are a plus, but she needs to run much faster than she has in the past to take this.  10-1.

3. Little Cat (Redoute’s Choice x Alannon) always guns for the early lead, and can even maintain her pace when facing some pressure.  The Nog1 (11%) had her best speed figure and her worst placing last time when pressured early.  The step up to graded company seems ambitious, but connections don’t think so: She was the a Wednesday entrant, and Nog1 could see the rest of the field and chose to pay the $10,000 shipping charge from France.  17-1.

4. Benny Being Benny (More Than Ready x Fusaichi Pegasus) has an awful lot going for her.  The EBryant (13%) trainee is undefeated in her five sprints. She comes here off a G1 win in the Ode to Barbaro where she earned the highest speed figure of any in here.  She even has a win in the only race she didn’t get the lead, and in her only loss, a two turn G2 stakes, she had a huge lead after three quarters of a mile.  5-1.

5. The stalker/late runner Sweet Sister Mercy (Kingmambo x Nijinsky II) will find plenty of speed to chase.  The Zwango1 (17%) trained filly has a win and two seconds in her three dirt sprints.  She’s been showing steady improvement since moving to the dirt three races ago.  This is a very nice filly; ignore her at your peril.  11-1.

6. I feel a special connection with the top rated filly, Lucky’s Brook Lynn (Kingmambo x Danzig).  I wrote the preview for both of her graded stakes wins, and I picked her to win both of them.  (Don’t look that up.  OK, here’s the truth: I said nice thing about her and picked her in my top three.  OK, she was my third choice both times.)  What the MrLucky229 (20%) filly had going for in both of those races was a come from behind style in a race filled with early speed.  Hmm. Look at fillies 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11.  It seems this is a race filled with early speed at a track recent BTB articles say favors late runners.  For the pickers of nits, she does very much prefer seven furlongs to six.  When I pick her third and she wins, I expect MrLucky will contribute to my son’s college fund.  7-1.

7. Storied Past (Red Ransom x Storm Cat) rallied to finish within two lengths of Benny Being Benny last time, and the additional pressure on that one may help this Correction (28%) trained filly here.  Finishing close, that last race was the only time this filly did not finish in the money.  She is two for two in dirt six furlong races, including winning a graded stakes.  This race should be fun. 5-1.

8. I have too many horses that have the breeding Seeking The Gold x A.P. Indy x Storm Cat to mention, so let’s not talk about me – let’s look at their sister Cheyenne Gold (Seeking The Gold x A.P. Indy x Storm Cat).  After three graded wire to wire wins, the Ozioziozi (13%) trainee got caught up in the speed duel in the Ode to Barbaro and was passed late by both Benny Being Benny and Storied Past.  That was her only loss in seven sprints, so it’s hard to hold it against this favorite.  9-2.

9. Undefeated in her last three races, her only dirt sprints, KSparrow’s (17%) Bloodbones (Woodman x Storm Cat) takes the step up to graded stakes from allowance company.  Her stalking style and upper 90’s speed figure make her a genuine threat for a piece of this.  8-1.

10. After winning a graded stakes as a two year old, and two more six furlong stakes this year, Seeking the Hawk (Foreign Wildcat x Seeking the Gold) steps up to graded company this for trainer Lotto (9%).  In 15 dirt sprints, she has failed to cash a check only once.  Runs early and stays around.  8-1.

11. Upsetter (Golden Missile x Clever Trick) has finished first or second in eight of her 10 sprints, but has been unable to upset Cheyenne Gold in their last two meetings.  She has been fading badly when facing challenges and this field is full of early challenges.  8-1

Morning Line: 8-4-7-6

Timmn’s Picks: 6-4-7-5