Twice Told Tale Heads Diverse Field

 All horses, 3 years old and up

 A mile and one sixteenth on the Firm Turf Course

 Purse : $90,000

PP  Horse ID  Horse  Owner  Jockey  Odds 
1 URBAN A LA ANNUAL  flinken  N Tippins  6/1 
2 NEAR FANTASTIC  lbailey  L Fenner  14/1 
3 SADLER MAMBO  y2k  G Arnold  2/1 
4 PROUD LOMOND  bbudgies  A Hudson  8/1 
5 ADORE THE RAIDER  amber  R Lott  28/1 
6 TWICE TOLD TALE  nextbonus  K Ledwith  4/5

 

A short but classy field of six will be greeted by Tokyo Downs starter Masonuri Murakami on Saturday when they assemble for The Hearty Harry Bonanza Stakes to be run at one mile and one-sixteenth over the turf course.  Here are the starters from the hedge out.

 

Breaking from gate one will be a familiar face from a long, long time ago, the venerable Urban A La Annual.  The almost white son of Lit De Justice broke his maiden at first asking before Y2K and last won while Bill Clinton was in the White House.  The old boy was a dual stakes winner in 2000 but, despite a series of solid workouts, will probably need this start, his first in over four years. 

 

Lbailey’s 4YO Fantastic Light colt, Near Fantastic, needed a drop to $50,000 claimers in order to snap a five race losing streak.  He did it in eye catching fashion going from worst to first with a huge final half surge.  This handsome fellow was a multiple stakes winner at two but will find this group much tougher than those 50K claimers.  Needs to take a big step forward if he hopes to defy his 14-1 odds.

 

Graded winner Sadler Mambo will go over the million dollar mark in career earnings with any top five finish.  The impeccably bred (Sadler’s Wells x Kingmambo x Affirmed) stallion annexed the Our Theaters Special last time out.  In that contest he came flying down the lane to post a going away victory in a swift 1:41 for the grassy mile and a sixteenth.  Second choice at 2-1 and looks like a very formidable threat.

 

Three year old Proud Lomond faces older foes for the first time.  Bbudgies’ Seattle Dancer colt won four of his first five career starts.  That streak earned him a pair of stakes runs and he snagged checks in both races.  He was a sharp second last time out and posted a spiffy 107 speed figure in the process.  Seems to have a big upside and poses a threat if he can take another step forward.

 

Adore The Raider  is a nice looking three year old filly.  After terrorizing starter allowance company for months, trainer Pinerivers sold the filly he’d claimed for $15,000 at auction for a huge profit.  New owner Amber quickly found her Lion Cavern filly unable to handle stakes caliber foes and wisely exhausted the starter tag last time out.  Very unlikely to enjoy much racing luck against this bunch.

 

Race favorite Twice Told Tales returns to stakes competition following a brief respite against allowance foes.  The big Java Gold five year old beat up on three consecutive allowance fields while prepping for his comeback.  Twice Told Tales is best remembered for his victory in the 2004 Grade III Tally Ho Mile, a race he won by a block in an eye popping 1:33.4.  Although rightly favored, it must be remembered that this horse hasn’t won a stake in almost a year.  So accepting the low price on him may not be a wise decision.

 

You pays your money and you gets your choice.  Who do you like?