The Cremation G1
Ten three year old fillies headline Berkshire’s Saturday program in the Grade One Cremation Stakes. The race will be run at one mile over a firm turf course for a purse of $750,000. The ladies running are quite evenly matched with eight of them listed at single digit odds. Headliner in this spot is Akatah, last year’s Breeders’ Bowl winner and Champion but she will have to face Jessa who is already a multiple grade one winner this year. You can’t really count out any of the horses in the field, let’s take a look at them.
#1 River Road Runner 8/1
River Road Runner enters this spot with only five starts to her credit. Three of them have come on the grass and she has two wins and a second. Her last two starts have been her best. Both came on the grass at one mile and both were listed stakes races. In the first, River Road Runner had a lot of horses in front of her early but was only about two lengths off the pace before closing solidly to finish second with a 103 speed. In her most recent start she was farther off the pace early but closed stoutly to win going away by almost two lengths with a speed of 104. The daughter of Street Cry has a lot of upside but this is a difficult spot to tackle.
#2 Akatah 5/1
Akatah was last season’s Champion Two Year Old Turf Filly off a victory in the Breeders’ Bowl. The daughter of Street Cry and grade one winning mare Hataka (Exceed and Excel x Fappiano) will try and win this race for her dam who finished third in the 2013 edition. Akatah only has one victory in the five starts following her Breeders’ Bowl triumph. That win came in February when she took a listed stakes at a mile and one sixteenth. She tried stretching out to a mile and one eighth in March and was fourth in the Grade Three Longest Walk but rebounded strongly when returned to one mile in her most recent start. After being dead last early on in the Classic 1000 Guineas, Akatah rallied to pass all of the field save one, finishing second behind Avery Arizona by only one-half length while running a career best 105 speed.
#3 Jessa 7/2
Jessa is the favorite here. The daughter of Galileo out of the stakes winning Kingmambo x Storm Bird mare Fourth Spice Filly earns that distinction off smashing victories in the French and Japanese 1000 Guineas races (both grade ones). It’s no surprise she’s winning important mile races this time of year, her half brother Idealista (by Redoute’s Choice) won last season’s Irish 2000 Guineas. Overall Jessa has won six of nine starts, all on the turf. She closed out last season with her first graded win, the Grade Three Me Me Me Handicap at one mile with a 100 speed. She was given a good layoff after that race and returned to action in the Grade One Vermont Is 4 Lovers which may have been an ambitious spot to mark her return to the races as she finished eighth. That was followed by the Japanese 1000 Guineas which saw her close from midpack to win by one half length with a 108 speed. She did that one better, running a 109 while winning the French 1000 Guineas by the same distance.
#4 Foodeukanuba 5/1
Foodeukanuba is a strong entrant in the field. She has seven wins from nine starts and is undefeated in five route runs. She made her stakes debut two starts back when she took a listed race at a mile and one eighth with a 103 speed. Foodeukanuba followed that up with a victory in the Grade Two Regina Elena Stakes with a 108 speed. The daughter of Exceed and Excel is out of the grade three winning Pivotal x Storm Cat mare Storm Puppy. Storm Puppy’s dam is Hall of Fame mare Storm Dog who won the 2002 edition of this race by a convincing margin. A win by Foodeukanuba would keep this race all in the family.
#5 Lopeki 5/1
Lopeki was a very nice two year old, winning the Grade Three Natalie at one mile before finishing second in the Breeders’ Bowl Filly Juvy Turf behind Akatah. She was given time off after that race and returned to the races in January winning an allowance race easily. Following that race she lost three straight stakes races although she was second in the third attempt, going seven furlongs. The daughter of Lonhro won her most recent start a seven furlong allowance race which she won with a 101 speed, her first triple digit effort. She’s never been out of the exacta in eight sprints starts but she has not been as successful routing.
#6 Hartshill 19/1
Hartshill seeks her first stakes win of any kind in this spot. She’s only run in two prior stakes and both were graded. In April she took on the seven furlong Grade Three Darling Fred Stakes where she ran a creditable fifth with a 96 speed. In her most recent start she finished last in the Grade One French Diana at a mile and five sixteenths. In between those races she won a local-bred allowance at one mile with a 97 speed. She is a daughter of Intello has shown speed in her winning efforts.
#7 Darci Meztli 9/1
Darci Meztli has won half of her eight starts and one of two mile efforts. But that win was a big one. It came in her most recent start when the Darci Brahma filly tried the Grade Two Germany 1000 Guineas and closed from next to last to win going away with a a107 speed. Her connections are really hoping to run back to that race today. Prior to that she’d had two runs this year; an off the board finish in a grade three at one mile and a third place finish in an allowance at seven furlongs. The Germany 1000 Guineas was her first time breaking the triple digit barrier and she did it in a big way.
#8 Lyra D’Amour 20/1
Lyra D’Amour is looking for her first stakes win of any kind here. She’s also going to have to break the triple digit speed barrier for the first time if she wants to win against these fillies. Her most recent race was promising, she finished second in a listed at one mile with a 97 speed. Prior to that she had run two much longer races this year. She started the year with a mile and three sixteenths listed and then returned in a mile and one half allowance. She failed to hit the board in either start but considering she is undefeated sprinting those races may just have been too far for her. She’s got a lot to prove in this spot but at least the distance will suit this daughter of Lope De Vega.
#9 Forest Fire Pye 7/1
Forest Fire Pye was graded placed as a two year old and earned her stripes in her second start this year, winning the one mile Grade Three Ice Cream Gold Stakes with a 105 speed. She followed that up with a second in the Grade One Japanese 1000 Guineas with a 101 speed and then was eighth in the Grade One Irish 1000 Guineas. Her victory in the Ice Cream Gold came after a break of only twenty seven days. She then had over two months off before the Japanese 1000 Guineas and about six weeks between that and the Irish race. She may be the sort who needs to race more frequently to be successful. She’s coming into this spot with only four weeks off since her last start so we’ll see.
#10 Like A Maniac 6/1
Like A Maniac was a grade three winning juvenile and twice grade one placed. This year she has a listed win and a neck second in the Grade Three Irish 1000 Guineas Trial, both at one mile. She earned a 101 speed in the listed and a 99 speed in the grade three before running a 101 again in her most recent start, the Grade One 1000 Guineas where she finished seventh. She’ll need to up her game to do better in this field of talented fillies but she’s got a ton of class and the daughter of Choisir has already banked close to half a million dollars showing consistency as well.
Good luck to all!