CVBear Buys A Grade III Distaff Sprint; Millions Weep For Joy

About ten years ago, a long time removed from living in New York, I found out they had named a race after my hometown.  That race has become a fixture on the fall schedule of the New York circuit, and has stakes a claim of its own as a viable option for older filly and mare sprinters on the way to the Breeders’ Cup. 

My hometown shares a lot of the responsibility for giving Belmont its distinction.  Part of the training area was right across the street from my high school, and if the wind was right, the scent brought the track closer to home.  I went to grammar school about a quarter-mile, as Google Earth flies, from the six-furlong pole, beyond the trees.  The house I first grew up in was only about three-and-a-half furlongs from that same six-furlong marker, and the track was reachable by walking downhill on a dirt path, walking behind the guard rail on the Cross Island Parkway, and walking a quarter-mile up the exit ramp into the parking lot that borders the far turn.  Many folks in the ‘70s parked the car on our street on race day, and walked the unglamorous, somewhat dangerous route instead of paying for on-site parking—gamblers are such hardened folks.  So my connection to Belmont has always been very deep indeed.

The connection extended to the race named after my hometown, which I believe (but I’m not certain) is the smallest town to have a graded race named for it.  A simple little handicap at first, it’s now a Grade III race that usually gets lost on one of the fall championship meet’s big event cards.  The fields have never been huge, with the biggest field being seven older fillies going six furlongs, but the race has produced some of the top distaff sprinters of recent times.  You may not find an Xtra Heat, but the race has attracted Grade I winners such as Twist Afleet (won the Test and this race), Carson Hollow (won the Prioress and this race), Finder’s Fee, Shine Again, Raging Fever and Molto Vita, to say nothing of the other graded winners racing in this spot at one time or other.

Since there’s a Mike’s Hometown Handicap every Bluegrass Derby weekend in the Sim, and since there’s not one for my hometown in the Sim, and since I’m all for making my Sim experience more enjoyable, I bought a race, theoretically for my fillies, this same weekend as the real thing.  Ergo, we have this week’s $125,000 Grade III CVBear’s Hometown Handicap, a six-furlong, six-figure sprint for older distaff sprinters.  Where the real-life counterpart usually has a small, if usually esteemed, field, I’m ecstatic to report that the Sim race is overflowing with some of the best older fillies and mares that sprint for a living.  It’s very gratifying to see so many of the top 20 sprinters in the division taking a run at my little race…

…even as I don’t have an entrant myself; the horse I bought this for has gotten hot in another division, so she races elsewhere this weekend and I’m content to watch the action from the side.  Here’s the field for this new Grade III:

Sioux City Slew [Avenue Of Flags-City Wrapping, by Slew City Slew, trained by tiznow] is ranked #66.  This is her fourteenth start, and she seems to favor a modest stalking approach, never falling more than six lengths back in each of her six victories.  Her debut in graded company over this track didn’t go as planned when all she could do was pass tired horses to wind up seventh, and this field here is very much stacked, with seven of the twelve fillies entered among the top 20 filly sprinters.  There figures to be a lot of speed, so her running style shouldn’t be considered a minus, and the turning-back in distance figures to help.  Still, six-and-a-half panels is her preferred distance, and her speed figures place her in the middle of the pack.  An off-track would help.

Canadian Gold [Touch Gold-Buda In The Bar, by Gone West, trained by pher] is ranked #18 among three-year-old filly sprinters.  A newcomer to older competition, she’s got six wins from twelve starts, including a Grade II win back in May over this track.  She’s versatile enough to go to the lead as desired, or sit chilly and come late, and she gets a somewhat-underrated jock in the irons for her coming-out against her elders.  Lastly, she’s coming off a mediocre performance in the Grade I Exam over this track last time, which was over a wet track, so the shift back to a fast one should be to her liking.  Now, for the bad news: she hasn’t cracked the 100 speed barrier yet, though her Grade II win got her to a 99.  Six furlongs figures to be just a touch short for her (and her pedigree).  And with a load of talent here, she’ll need the race of her life to keep pace with the more talented closer here.

Uninhabitable [Capote x Vice Regent, trained by phartlap] is ranked #67 among the older distaff sprinters.  Talk about getting your house in order: this filly cleared her allowance conditions with relish last year, but finally started to win stakes races over the summertime.  While her speed figures haven’t quite been as contentious as others in here, she’s shown consistency, with three straight triple-digits in her last three efforts.  She’s also versatile enough to either go to the front or come from the back, but lately she’s preferred a strong stretch run.  Her last in the Grade I Dancer had her gaining on the leader while losing position late; take that as ye might.  She likes the distance, but might be better off hanging closer to the front here.

Jackdaw Castle [Forty Niner x Touch Gold, trained by mccoy] is ranked #14.  She had the lead from a stalking position entering the stretch in the Dancer, but had to give way late to Explosive Storm (who’s back for a rematch).  This is her first try since July 2005 at six furlongs, and one should expect to see her near the lead if she can afford it.  Though most of her better recent results have her on the front end in longer sprints, a turn back in distance might be a decent tonic for that recent near-miss, if she could survive expected pace pressure.  The 105 in the Dancer is very strong, but it remains to be seen whether it can be sustained in this attempt to run back to her wire-to-wire score in Missouri three back at six-and-a-half furlongs. 

Kacymygirl [Macabe x Silver Ghost, trained by nj50] has the highest sprint ranking here, at #6.  Her sire is a definite bargain on Saturdays, but her success should ideally elevate his status also.  She’s exploded this year, with three graded wins in 2006, and four in her career.  But that success can be telling in this spot: all the graded victories were at seven furlongs, not six.  But she’s still talented going six panels, with five wins in eight starts at the distance.  She’s speedy, to be sure, and should have the lead outright, if not alone, here should she want it.  Turning back might be the key, as she faded over this surface in the Dancer last out, but she’ll face less intense pressure up front, ideally.  She’s run the best speed figures of her life this year, with a high of 112 in the Distaff in the springtime.  If she has enough in the tank without a lot of competition while leading the pack, she’ll be a tough customer.

Explosive Storm [Storm Cat x Danzig, trained by pjlracing] is ranked #7.  The deep threat won the Dancer with ease late last out, and turns back to a six-furlong distance that might not be so receptive to her late-closing ways.  She’s hit her stride this summer, and her speed figures reflect this, with a 109, a 105, a 107 and a 112 in four straight wins (including a pair of graded events, topped off by the Dancer victory).  She gets the top circuit jockey, and there should be a lively pace to follow late.  But she has been only modestly successful at shorter distances; she’s won at four-and-a-half furlongs as well as at this distance, but her tries against top-flight runners have seen much more success in the longer sprints, at seven panels and beyond.  If she can get her motor running early enough against a very talented, eclectic field, she’s dangerous, but against a strong field going a short distance of ground, she’ll have to be sharp, and quick about it.

Treasure Coast [Silver Deputy-Tropical Smurf, by Mr. Greeley, trained by paddy] is ranked #82 in the division.  This solid sprinting filly hated hated hated the “good” track last out, and returns to graded company here for the first time since February.  Last year was her banner one, with a pair of graded wins in the Priority Princess and the Manhattan District, the latter over this surface.  While she’s backtracked from that type of result so far this year, she did have four straight 100+ speed figures before struggling in the Arkansas mud last time, with a high of 109 three starts back.  She should be in good stalking position here behind some talented pace achievers, she comes off of a bad wet-track run, and has shown signs of life this summer going six-and-a-half furlongs, both times having the lead into the stretch.  She’s a strong value at 10-1 while shortening up, and is worth more than a few second looks here.

Crafty Thief [Cat Thief x Crafty Prospector, trained by kevoman4], is #71 in the distaff sprint category.  She’s a graded winner from the summer of 2005, and usually likes a hand in how the pace plays out up front.  But she’s only cracked the 100-barrier once in her career, with a 104 in an allowance win late last year.  Still, her four-year-old campaign has been reasonably consistent, as she’s won four of her last seven, and finished second the other three times.  She’s a stakes winner this year, that coming last time out, so she knows what it takes to be sharp at a higher level.  Yet, she still seems a little bit dull here, because even though her recent speed figures are fair, they fall a little short of the leaders in this Grade III event.  Expect her to continue to press the early pace, but expecting a lot more requires a wait-and-see approach. 

Aim For The Moon [Woodman-Jimenez, by High Yield, trained by teamfoppa] is ranked #20.  An even third in the Dancer last out, she tries basically the same field here, with many refugees from that race trying again.  She likes to stick pretty close to the lead, but there’s an awful lot of that going around here.  She can hang with these, as her speed figures and her second in the Flying Pig earlier in the summer can attest, but she has been spotty more recently, throwing in a couple of clunkers in-between strong runs.  This race will show whether she can maintain consistent performances from one race to the next.  She’ll have plenty of company in mid-pack, but the 105 last out in the Dancer aside, she’ll need an extra kick late to compete for a money slot.

Dublin Lass [Storm Cat x Mr. Prospector, trained by dublinlad] is ranked #8 in the division.  She’s exceptionally bred for these sprints, and is usually the quickest from the gate when hitting the big time.  And she’s probably the best pure six-furlong filly among these, with five wins and a third in six starts at the distance.  But can she compete against a strong field of distaff sprinters such as these?  And will she be first from the gate here?  The latter question is more intriguing, as Kacymygirl is also one who likes to have the lead from the opening bell.  In their only meeting to date, the Flying Pig, Dublin Lass won the battle, but it was a Pyrrhic victory (a victory that comes at a price, that is); while Kacymygirl never fired, Dublin Lass faded late in the race to wind up third.  This race being a furlong longer, things might change up, but this filly can hold her own up front.  A speed duel might prove to be too volatile for either, but with a graded win under her belt, a constant stream of three-digit speed figures and a high division rank, the Lass should not be counted out here.

Belle Of Broadway [A.P. Indy-Duke’s Prospector, by Mr. Prospector, trained by dora] is #19.  She’s been running solely in six-furlong races this year, so she knows the distance well.  And it’s starting to become kind to her, if the win in the Grade II Scary Carrie two back is any indication.  She prefers to stalk (too) from mid-pack, and has been gradually beginning to earn higher speed figures as well as the respect of her peers.  Six wins in eight ’06 starts is a good way to go about improving your status, but this is the real test, as this could be the first time she’s faced such heavy-duty foes in one field.  It should be noted that in her six wins, none of them have been by more than a length and three-quarters; if she’s going to kick late, she’ll need to dig deeper than she has been doing.  She’s coming along well, but there’s more to come.

Bunny Lake II [Proud Truth x Raise A Native, trained by beefcake1] is the grande dame of this field, and is ranked #153 of filly and mare sprinters.  The six-year-old mare has been slow about feeling her oats, so to speak, but has come alive this year, finally becoming a stakes winner in June.  She’s been getting better as she ages; having raced fourteen times this year, compared with fourteen starts in the last four years combined, will do that.  She’s stepped up to a higher level admirably, but any further development hinges on her ability to close the deal with a deep stretch run as she likes to do.  She’ll close, but she’ll have to outrun the other deep threats to get the job done, and in a tightly packed field of experienced graded runners, she’ll have to improve from her last go-round with graded foes in the Delta Tau four back.  Her speed figures are light years better than when she was running in a point-claimer in May 2005, into the low-100s, but she’ll need to kick it up by five points to hit the board; nevertheless, what a good training job this mare has had, to go from there to now!

The selections:

1. Uninhabitable
2. Jackdaw Castle
3. Kacymygirl
4. Treasure Coast
5. Explosive Storm

Thanks to all who made my first bought graded race very special, good luck and happy racing to all.