Number 20 colt faces short field in Senor Boomer

A slightly disappointing field of five greeted your correspondent when he entered the paddock at Newmarket to view the runners for the 7 furlong Senor Boomer Stakes, a listed stakes race on the fast dirt surface here in Suffolk. With $80,000 up for grabs, all of them will be lining their owner’s pockets to a greater or lesser extent, but with perfect conditions, it would have been nice to see a few more face the judge.

The presence of the number twenty rated colt in the division may have scared a few off I suppose, but with the BB coming up fast, you may have been forgiven for thinking that this one could be worth taking on for some of the aspirants a little below him in the rankings. Presumably they are all off trying to pick up some points in group races, so lets have a look at our field for today’s top event on a packed racecard.

Jacobite Outrage comes from the inside berth, and looks a nice colt in the making. His four runs to date have resulted in two wins, one in a listed stakes. Caar’s big brown son of Outflanker, out of an Unreal Zeal mare, has been brought along steadily and definitely gives the impression that he’s going the right way. After winning the Annual Pot Special Stakes comfortably on his second start, he was stepped up in class to attempt the Dell Computer Futurity against some of the top rated horses in the division. Whether he was outclassed or just found the seven furlongs beyond him is open to debate, but he was with the pace rounding the last turn and despite finishing ninth, was only beaten 5 ¼ lengths. There were some very good horses behind him that day, and in his next start back at 5.5 f in the His Rate stakes, he was only 1 ¾ lengths behind the number 10 rated colt when beaten into fourth. His trainer steps him back up in distance here, to 7.5 f, and jockey I Benjamin will be hoping he gets the trip in this short field. Morning line odds of 7/2 reflect the pairs chance, and whatever happens here this is one to watch for the future.

Next up comes the favourite, mrblacktie’s Fourfortysixpack. By St Liam out of a Deputy Minister mare, this was obviously not a cheap breeding conceived in the back of a cowshed. Whilst the owner’s investment has not been fully realised yet, there are definitely signs of credits well spent, in what the horse has achieved to date. Handled sympathetically, the colt made his racecourse bow back in week 2825, easily justifying odds on when winning his maiden. It was a seven week break before his next start saw him contest the Sam’s Truth memorial stakes, once again easily despatching his field and posting an eye catching 86 SF so early in the two year old season. By now his trainer must have been drooling just thinking of the possibilities, but as is so often the case, a setback followed. Of course these things are all relative, and most handlers would look on a close up third in a G3 race as an achievement, especially when the two in front were both very classy. It was the fact that they went past quite easily which may have rung a few alarm bells, although the rest of the very decent field were comfortably held. Dropped back to listed company for the Time of Death Bonanza stakes, the only mourning was from the rest of the field as short odds were again justified with ease. The combination of the best horse and the best jockey, A Craig is tops round here by a long way, should provide joy for the punters and woe for the rest of the field, with the only real danger to the pair making every post a winning one being the extra 1.5 furlongs further than the colt has ever travelled. One other glint of light, however small is the fact that his conqueror in the Midsoil, Best SJ yet, finished ½ length behind Jacobite outrage in the Futurity.

Tour guide mike breaks from stall 3 and W Laird gets the leg up on chapin’s charge. The horse is a nice type, who has won twice from his five starts, including a win in the Elk Bubba memorial stakes on only his second lifetime start. That was a relatively weak four runner affair, however and he has probably shown better form since in defeat.  He was beaten fairly comprehensively in his last start, over today’s trip, and does seem to have shown his best form over 5.5 furlongs, but if the attempt at this trip helped him to mature a little, he could pose a bit of a question to the favourite. His breeding is not flashy, but solid, being by Saarland out of a Ferdinand mare, and he has done well so far this year, but this may be just a step too far. The morning line puts him in at 6/1, so he is fourth best here, and he would need to improve to figure in the shake up here, but with his decent, if unspectacular form, he may just improve past a couple of these and get a place.

The next one could be anything, but would need to be an anything right out of the top draw to win this. Honeylu’s Honey blossom is a son of Roar out of the very useful racemare Alyluck who won over £1.5 million. She has done very little as a broodmare so far however, which means one of two things. Either she is a rubbish broodmare, or it is time, by the law of averages, to throw up a decent one. If the latter proves to be the case, decent local jock B Bentley could find himself in for an armchair ride here, but he will be viewing the prospect with as much doubt as the rest of us till the gates open. No matter what they do at home, you never know what they’ll do on their first racecourse experience. He’s 11/1 outsider here, but definitely represents shrewd placement by his trainer with 5^th place money guaranteed.

Finally, in stall 5 is Wildcat Jones, a classy son of Smarty Jones. Out of  Amorous (Forest wildcat x Personal Flag) who did absolutely nothing on the race track, but has certainly thrown up a decent one in her first foal. He’s been in the first three five times out of six starts and has only been beaten more than a length on one of those occasions, when four lengths third in a NW2L allowance. Binzaman has placed the horse well to pick up over $90,000 so far including a couple of close up finishes in listed stakes. J Bradley certainly knows where the winning post is round here, and if the pair can stay close enough to the favourite going into the dip, they will not be easy to lose down the final furlong. Added to the fact that the horse produced his best SP of  80 when stepped up to 7 furlongs, he could well find a bit more over this extra half a furlong. The market make him 5/2 second best, and he certainly looks the class of the field without the favourite, so it would not be amazing if he stepped up a gear here.

In summary, the race looks like a one horse race, in terms of previous form, and while it is hard to see past the jolly, it would not be the first time a short priced horse has been turned over. I hate to be unoriginal but I have to go for Fourfortysixpack to beat Wildcat Jones with Jacobite Outrage for third. No-one will get rich on that tricast, but lets hope that they all come home sound, and continue to progress towards great careers on the varied tracks around simdom.