Storm Force Looking For Fifth Win in a Row!

Storm Force Looking For Fifth Win in a Row!

New South Wales – It was a long flight but I got here almost before I left and after checking in at a local motel, I wandered down to the track to check out the horses running in the $275,000, Grade II, Bird Legs Cup on Saturday afternoon.  Eight fillies and mares, three years old and up, will go to the post for the mile and a quarter race over the beautiful turf course.  After much investigation, here is a look at the field from the inside post out.

Post one will hold the 4 YO filly, Bustout Connection (38/1).  Owned, trained and bred by Gonesurfin, this well made filly has only three wins from her 15 starts and may find herself over head on Saturday.  Her last win was at the 10 furlong distance but was in an allowance 2X and this is a big class jump from that.  In her only other graded stakes try in the last six months she was a well-beaten 8^th, some22 lengths behind the winner.  She will need her best on Saturday but stranger things have happened.

Storm Force (5/1) is another 4 YO filly with 11 wins from 31 starts.  She is ranked # 58 and the daughter of Storm Cat is trained by veteran Sim trainer, Foxon.  She is looking for her 5^th win in a row and wouldn’t we all like to have one like that.  Her last four were all stakes wins and she likes to try for that long early lead.  Her last two wins were the High Oro where she took the field gate to wire and the Memphis Deputy, where she tracked the leader before blowing by him to win in hand.  Both races were at 10 furlongs so the distance won’t bother her and woe unto the others if they let her loose on the lead.

Dtown will send out his grand old mare Cryptic Habits (6/1).  A 6 YO, she shows no sign of slowing down and has won 10 of 50 starts.  The daughter of Cryptoclearance kicked her heels up at retirement and finished a strong third last time out in the Grade II, That Goat Just Fainted Cup.

Seeking A Native (4/1) is a 5 YO mare by Seeking The Gold and is trained by Domedriver which I think is an affiliate of the AFC racing industry.  She has seven wins from 32 starts and has not been worse than 3^rd in her last six races, winning two of them.  She can handle the distance just fine as she finished a good third last time out in the Grade II, Dollplayer Price at a mile and a quarter.

Post five will hold Wondergirl Cheryl (5/1) a 5 YO daughter of Sakhee, trained by Wonder2.  While she has won nine of 23 starts and two of her last four, they were both at shorter and she finished a tired fifth last time out in the Dollplayer Price.  That should have put some ‘air’ in her and should improve her chances.

Otto You Do It (7/1) is another 5 YO mare and is by War Chant.  She is ranked # 30 and is trained by Gallorette.  She is comparatively lightly races and with six wins from 25 starts she has earned over a half million dollars.  Recently she has been an ‘all or nothing’ type horse, winning the Grade III, Barbara Bush, three back before running rather dismally in her last two outs beaten by a total of more than 30 lengths.

The morning line second choice is Flambeau (7/2) and is by Woodman.  The 5 YO is trained by Deajai2 and is ranked at # 23 in this division.  She has won 18 of 36 starts and even more impressive, she has won six of her last eight.  She won easily last time out with a speed figure of 103 and while she hasn’t run in at the graded class level for a while, she did win the Grade III, OK Bayou BB six races back at nine furlongs.  She is on a roll and may just carry that confidence to another win.

On the outside will be Devil’s Slide (3/1) the morning line favorite.  Ably trained by Afc, the 4 YO daughter of Kingmambo is the top ranked filly in the field at # 3.  She has won 12 of 29 and has banked over two million for her connections.   While she has won only one of her last eight, an overnite stake in California The Forty Six Groom, she won it for fun, and she has been closing in all of her recent efforts.  She was a coming on 2^nd in the Grade I, Rich and Famous, a closing third in the Grade II, Empire State and last time out she closed again for third, this time in the 12 furlong, Grade I,  Brisbane Distaff.  She needs the win to hold her ranking but is a very capable horse in the hands of a very savvy trainer.

Good Luck to all the entrants.