Sleezy Toe, now there’s an inspiring race
Hello folks and welcome to Newmarket on this blustery afternoon. In fact its so windy that your reporter was blown half way back to Cherry Hinton on the way in and only just got here in time to consider the nice group of fillies in the pre-parade ring as they prepare to do battle for the Sleezy Toe Memorial Stakes. It’s the feature race on the card today and the ten lovely females wil have to battle the elements as well as each other to lift the $75,000 purse over todays 6 furlong fast dirt dash.
They all look a picture despite the fact that they are coming into their winter coats and lets watch them move down to post and see if we can sort the winner from the group.
Stall 1 is home to lucky15’s Catiano, a beautifully bred five year old Cat thief mare out of a Fappiano brood mare. She’s lightly raced for her age, with her 14 lifetime starts having yielded 4 wins and over thirty six thousand sim dollars. She missed almost all of her three year old year, which could account for the sparsity of races in her career, but she has made up for that by winning 4 races from nine starts since turning four. Her two wins this year were both in allowance races with decent speed figures which have obviously encouraged her owner to step her up in class today. Jockey Bo Edwards will likely try to sit just off the pace and hope to pick off the front runners and repulse any late challenges, but her odds of 9/1 reflect the hike in class and it remains to be seen whether the pairing can be successful.
Next up in stall 2 is Dangerous field, the mount of A Holohan. Scnrdoor’s daughter of Unbridled would seem to have plenty of stamina in her pedigree with both Darshaan(Eng) and Secretariat at ds and dds, but she has raced admirably over sprint distances for years. One would expect age and racing to be catching up with her at eight years old and with 48 races under her belt, but that view was confounded by her last start. Facing a much younger and fresher field, in her first stakes try for years, she led her seven opponents a merry dance and was only picked up halfway down the straight, holding on to a very respectable 3/14 length third placing and posting a 93 sp which was her best for over a year. Her connections will be hoping that is was no fluke, although the morning line price of 11/1 suggests that some punters think it was just that. Whether she can add to her 5 wins from those 48 starts seems doubtful, but if she slips her field, who knows?
Next comes one of four 3yo who have decided to take on their elders today. Reacher’s Sansa is one of the most blue blooded fillies imaginable being by Storm Cat out of a Gone West mare who’s own dam sire was Danzig. The only times in thirteen starts that she has been beaten more than four lengths have been when tried over routes, and she has shown ability on both surfaces so far. She has won 4 of her 13 starts and three of those were allowances. Perhaps most amazingly of all, every one of her previous races were in China, and in all of them she was partnered by top local jock B Ball. The last win, four weeks ago was the one that set her up for this tilt at stakes company, as she absolutely crushed a decent field including a couple of stakes winners. Providing she hasn’t been fazed by the travelling, and can accept having decent local jockey C Barnett doing the steering, her odds of 10/1 could prove to be real value here.
Voluptuous dancer is next and coug’s runner is one of the more fancied in the field at 5/1 third best. She’s a likeable four year old daughter of Seattle dancer out of a MT. Livermore mare and has so far amassed $125,000 from her 5 wins from 25 lifetime starts. Another who has been racing in allowances so far and is making a big step up, there is no doubt that she is in the best form of her career this year. She has won 3 from 6 and broken the 100 sp barrier this year, so is clearly enjoying her racing. If the race sets up right, and her late closing style comes to the fore, there is no doubt that she can cut down a large majority of these in the home straight and P Riggs will be looking to steer a clear course as the front runners falter.
Repurcussion starts in stall 5 and is another of the three year olds. Kyclocker6’s daughter of Johannesburg out of a Gulch mare has won five of her 12 starts, which is a more than decent return, especially since she has won over one hundred thousand sim dollars in those races. she is definitely another improving type and has won five allowance races this year, with decent speeds. Her last two forays into stakes company have been fairly inauspiscuous, but this is not the most competetive race ever and could see her step up. She has the least sucessful jock in the field, but her best races have come when leading, which he may not be able to prevent her from doing if he wants to, and 8/1 is a fair reflection of her chance.
Exspeliamus is next, in stall 6 and the market makes her the 7/2 favourite. She has picked up 9 wins in her career and since her wins seem to come in groups, and she has won her last three starts, it is plain to see why the man on the rails think she will run well. She’s never posted a speed higher than 100 dead, but never seems to be far below that mark, and it is this consistency that attracts the support. Since her juvenile days, this is her first stakes start, but she looks to be likely to adapt to this level. Jockey L Anderson will probably try to keep her close to or on the pace, and it will be interesting to see whether any of these can force themselves past her.
Euro runner is the next runner in the field and since she has won 11 stakes races to date, she deserves to be at the head of the market. That said, she is certainly getting to the stage where her form will be heading slightly down hill. The daughter of Cape Canaveral has won over $650,000 for her owner joe333, and therefore doesn’t owe anything to anyone, but another win here is not out of the question. It must surely be a matter of time before she heads to the breeding shed, but while she keeps winning, she keeps running. She seems to win most races she leads, but that may be a difficult task here, although jock T Cooper certainly knows his way round here and will try to make every post a winning one.
Mayama is housed in stall 8, and with a 50% record of 5 wins from 10 starts and top local pilot A Craig in the plate, maruxa’s 3yo filly looks a leading contender. By Afleet out of a Damascus mare, her sire lines are a chef de sim cordon bleu, and she has run accordingly. She was kept off the track untill turning three, and has certainly made up for that in her sophomore year. with some really classy looking runs, in stakes races and eyecatching allowance wins, including two in open allowances when she ran 101 and 104 speeds. With the top man round the track trying to get her to the van, and probaly a bit of improvement to come, she lloks like a very good bet at 6/1.
Gahd Dam Bushpig is a fantastically named daughter of Thunder Gulch out of Buckaroo. Monimonica’s filly has run pretty well this year after really missing out her three year old season. She had a real touch of class at two, and if she could recapture that, she would have a cracking chance here. Having said that, she looks to have a lot to find on the balance of her form, and it is just possible that she left her best racing behind her in a busy 2yo campaign. She’s the outsider of the field at 17/1 and it looks like B Bentley will need to work miracles in the irons to carry her across the line in front.
Last but not least, is Crypt Robber, trained by browns. She is a nice type, and while she has only won three times in her 21 starts, she has run with credit in several good races, lots at this level. By Gone West, out of the good racemare, Crypt o’ night (Nureyev x Storm Cat), she looks to have a bit to find to win here but could well pick up some money. If J Bradley can keep her near the pace, then coax her very best finish from halfway down the straight, she could make her odds of 8/1 seem huge, but the balance of her recent form makes this an unlikely scenario, but not impossible.
Not a race to put your mortgage on, but I’ll have a sneaky try with Sansa to beat Exspeliamus with Mayama for third, good luck to all connectins, and lets hoep thes elovely fillies all come back fit.