Well Rounded Ten Hit The Grass
(SP)Wyoming- Before we begin with this weeks stakes race I would like to extend an apology to trainer chubby12 for incorrectly naming his horse. He should have been called out in my article as Mask Em(GB) not Mask Um(GB) as listed. I was in a hurry to get the article up and didn’t thoroughly check, but this is not a good excuse. Being a trainer I know how you like getting your horses up in lights. Having them called incorrectly is not fun.
Up this week we return once again to the turf for a six furlong sprint. It is the Mass Vrad Special named for a horse that did have seven win, four on the grass, but none of them in a Black Tie event. Having it relatively quiet the past few weeks on race names, this has WHOA again questioning the naming process used by the WRC. WHOA feels the names should at least reflect Stakes champions, not the continued spate of idea of, “you ran on the track – you get a race names after you.” As usual the WRC has maintain their no comment attitude. Anyway, the race is scheduled for three year or older horses. We have 10 entries ranging from three to seven years of age, a nice representation for the race. So let us take a look at our runners.
Inside Strenghth entered by hihosilver. This seven time wining elder colt comes in with very erratic running recently. He seems to either win one week or can not be found the next. He is comfortable with the front runners preferring a stalking mode. This is the third time coming out at the pole position and all three have been a row so one can say there is only a 50-50 chance. He has the wily veteran Vince Gannon in the irons and if recent history has any bearing, he will need him.
Once Haunted entered by loubrown. This light grey elder colt returns to the track after an injury his last time out. It wasn’t a major injury but enough to make the trainer cautious and keep him out a number of weeks. Before his injury, he was performing well in graded stakes, winning one and placing in two. He likes coming out of the two slot where he has several wins. Top jockey Jesse Sands will be in the irons to his advantage, but the recent injury has the betting public a little cautious.
Probable Cause entered by sendem3. This chestnut comes in as the elder statesman of the group. He is a solid consistent runner, but lets face it, his best days are behind him. The pace setter will try once again for that elusive stakes win and has been traveling all over the world looking for it. At one time he may have been capable of it, now allowance racing would be his best bet. Drawing a struggling Reggie Thomas in the irons will not help his cause.
Da Show Must Go On(IRE) entered by hairball. This elder Irish chestnut colt comes in off a win last time out. The elder boy just started racing this year and has been improving nicely. After the last couple of performances the trainer believes he is ready for his first shot at the big time. He likes to set the pace and challenge the field to beat him. Recently that has not been often.
Thirty Two Magic entered by silks2912. This horse comes in responding well to his new trainer. It appears the former trainer didn’t have much confidence in this horse and kept him in claimers most of his career. The current trainer saw something he liked took the horse and challenged him. The horse has responded winning a stakes race last time out. It will be interesting to see if this closer keeps performing well while being challenged.
Rubiton Active(AUS) entered by caddywampu. This elder Aussie colt comes in as the early favorite. The colt has the ability but has been a little inconsistent his last couple of time on the grass. He prefers a midpack position and seems to perform his best from there. He is the type of horse who performs well both surfaces winning multiple stakes on each, which makes it hard to lock them into a certain nitch.
If I Ain‘t Got You entered by bearpride. This chestnut comes in as our first sophomore of the day. It is also a day of firsts for this colt. He will be attempting his first Stakes race and will switch to the lawn for the first time in his career. After falling off the last couple of races the trainer has decided a change of ground will help. That could either be a blessing or a colossal failure. He seems to have a problem coming out of the gates making his closing style that much hard to control.
Sino Louis Song entered by sinostar. This light grey routing horse will attempt another sprint. He has spent his career racking up the furlongs getting several wins but never a stakes one. While running well all season, the horse seems to be ambivalent about winning. The trainer is hoping that the faster and more kinetic world of sprints will wake up his elder horse along with gaining that long sought stakes hardware.
Lost Mine entered by feedbucket. This sophomore was moved the turf last time out and exploded for a win. He had been doing fairly well in the dirt but didn’t seem to improving much lately so the trainer moved him to turf. He responded by bettering his speed record by ten points and prompting the trainer to move him up for his first stakes attempt. Although the win was at a mile, the trainer seems to want to play this cautious by putting him in a sprint until they see what they have.
Heehaw II entered by fedordan. This chestnut sophomore comes in with a first try on the grass as well. There have been a couple of suspect runs this season, but all in all he has been performing quite well. I guess the trainer is hoping a change of surface will spark this horse into greater glory. He has been in a graded race in which he did poorly so maybe a normal stakes will play better for him. Still, he is on grass for the first time.