Classic distance turfers set to battle in the Festive Brook Special

For Breeder’s Bowl week, Virginia hosts the best of the rest turfers in the Festive Brook Special. The race is open to to all horses three years old and older, running over nine and a half furlongs of firm turf. It carries a purse of $50000 to divide amongst the best of this field. Last year’s inaugural edition of the race was won by Barb’s Comfort(IRE), who returns this year to defend his title. It topped off a three win stakes streak, as he came from nowhere to best the field by two lengths after a flawless close. Eleven have opted in for this race, ranging from three to six years old. They vary in experience as well, from first time hopefuls to graded winners. The favorite goes off at a relatively long 3/1, with seven of the eleven contenders weighing in at 9/1 or better. The rest are have odds scattered in the teens, with the longshot going off at 20/1 odds. This field is loaded with talent and doesn’t look like anyone is going to run away with this one.

PP 1) Tinker Toys Sired by Fantastic Light, Trained by calmriver. Tinker Toys is a four year old colt, currently ranked 122 in the division. He makes only his thirteenth career start here, but he is no stranger to stakes competition. In five stakes starts he has one win. He has run ten times this season, earning a 4-2-0-0-1 with two starts breaking the 100+ speed mark. His last run was an eight furlong stakes on a very tough Vermont track where he had to settle for second after leading most of the race. He posted a career best speed of 106.7 in the race. He’s never been off turf in his career, and with six wins in thirteen starts, there hasn’t been much reason to try anything else. The distance may be a question for him here. He started the season reeling off four straight victories at nine furlongs at allowance level, but his one try at this distance at stakes level was somewhat disappointing. He’s put up the best of his speeds in a somewhat shorter race. He’s a faster starter, running at his best with a piece of the early lead. He’s going to have plenty of company here with a field split pretty much down the middle between fast starters and closers. Even when he hasn’t been able to hold onto his leads, he still seems to stay close. The extra distance won’t help him here, but he comes off a career best. I’d bet him shorter, but not at this distance.

PP 2) Barb’s Comfort(IRE) Sired by Theatrical(IRE), Trained by marybarn. Barb’s Comfort(IRE) is running in his four year old season, bringing in a 138 divisional ranking. This is his twenty eight career start, and he has nine stakes wins, one at Grade 2 level. He also won last year’s edition of this race, in one of his best career starts. He has made ten starts this season, running to a 2-1-1-1-1 record, with three 100+ speeds on the books. His last start was a ten and a half furlong stakes in Idaho where he finished a long out fourth in a field of five. In twenty seven starts, his hooves have never touched dirt, and he has seventeen top three finishes to show for it. He’s turned in stakes victories at distances from six and a half to ten and a half furlongs. Has hasn’t displayed a strong preference for any distance, performing equally well in all ranges. He’s a deep closer, but his close has been on somewhat of a rollercoaster this year. When he’s on, he looks like a runaway train in the second half, but this year he has seemed to have trouble picking up the longer distances he did earlier in his career. There’s going to be a lot of speed out in front of him in this one, and some other good closers. If he holds to the cycle he’s been showing this year so far, he has another start or two before his next peak.

PP 3) Hollow Candy(ARG) Sired by Candy Ride(ARG), Trained by flagdown2. Hollow Candy(ARG) is the sole three year old to take up this challenge. He’s making his twentieth career start. He has eight career stakes starts, but he is still seeking that elusive first win at this level. In eleven starts this season, he has posted a 2-1-2-2-2 record, with a best speed of 98.7 earned earlier this year. His last run was a nine furlong stakes in Mexico where he finished fourth in a tight field. He tried dirt once as a two year old, and it was emough to convince his trainer that this colt’s future lay on turf. He’s performed reasonably well at nine furlongs, but he seems to prefer something a bit shorter. His best seems to be at around a mile. He typically starts at a pace that should put him right in the mid pack. His close has been somewhat spotty this year. His optimal distance at the half seem to be about four or five lengths off the lead. There’s enough early speed here to give him the spot he needs. He will need to step up his game here to be a factor late in this field.

PP 4) Get More Minutes Sired by Sakhee, Trained by ldstable. Get More Minutes is a four year old colt, and he make his thirteenth career run in this race. Though lightly raced, half of his starts have been in stakes competition, including three graded outings. Though he’s come close a number of times, he’s still looking for his first stakes win. All twelve of his runs have been this season, and he sports a 5-1-0-2-2 record with one 100+ speed. His last outing was a Grade I at eight and a half furlongs in Pennsylvania where he finished seventh. His career debut was on dirt, but since switching to turf in his second start, he has never been back. Could be the three straight wins after the switch that convinced his trainer. The distance is right up his midrange, with his five wins split between the eight furlong range and the ten furlong range. He should have any problem with the distance here. He runs as a midpack to deep closer, but his close has been less than consistent in his recent starts. He seems to be suffering a stakes jinx, running quite well in high end allowances, but seeming to falter at stakes level. His two recent open stakes tries were longer distances, and those more in his distance range were graded efforts, so he might be more comfortable in this one. Could surprise a few here under the right circumstances.

PP 5) Jet Boy Sired by Gold Carat, Trained by toppa1. Jet Boy is a five year old horse, and brings a divisional ranking of 89 to the table here in his twenty fourth career start. He has three stakes runs to his credit, with two of them coming this year. He’s been lightly raced this season, running only four times, with a record of 2-1-0-1-0 and two of the four breaking the 100+ speed barrier. His last start was a Grade 2 on a tough Florida track, where he finished second in a high powered field. He’s tried his hand at dirt, but it is clear that turf is where he is most comfortable. He loves the distance here. It’s a perfect median for him, and he has excelled in this range. He’s a stalker type runner, but he’s not afraid of taking the lead if it’s given to him, and he knows how to hold it. He has some of the best speed in this field, breaking the 100 speed mark in eight of his last ten starts. Dropping in class and moving back to his preferred distance, I agree with the oddsmakers that he is the one to beat in this race.

PP 6) Piefly’s Stormer Sired by Storm Cat, Trained by piefly. This regally bred four year old colt makes his eighteenth career start here. He comes in sporting a 129 divisional ranking. He has three career stakes wins on his resume. He’s made eleven starts for the 2006 season, sporting a record of 4-2-2-0-1 with one 100+ speed run. His last run was a stakes at this distance in Argentina where he finished third as he faded down the stretch. After spending his first eleven on dirt, he switched to turf in his last six, and has finished out of the top three only once. His dirt and turf speeds are comparable and he seems comfortable on either surface. Four of five wins, as well as his best speed has been in longer races, where he outlasts a lot of fields. This one may be a bit short for him, though he is no slouch at this distance. He seems to bounce back and forth between a fast start and more of a midpack break, and has had some success at both. One of his last two wins came in wire to wire fashion, while the other saw him close four lengths in the second half. Thikn is best bet here would be to stay out of the early speed duel and pick them off late.

PP 7) Monkidle Sired by Turkoman, Trained by socalsipe. Monkidle is a veteran six year old horse who makes his fifty ninth start here. He has a 93 divisional ranking and two stakes wins in his ledger. This seen him has seen him run eight times, earning a 0-1-1-1-1 record with a best speed of 99.4 earned early this year. His last start was a ten furlong A1y in Tennessee where he finished fourth in a field of fourteen, just outlasting the rest of the field without really threatening. He is surface versatile, not really displaying a solid preference for either surface. Nine of eleven wins have come in shorter races, though the other two came in the ten furlong range. He has shown good speed at this distance, and also has the stamina to hang in there in tough fields. He tends to play a stalker role, but has had limited success this year. Most of those starts have been graded but he didn’t fare much better in allowance company last out. Looks like wear and tear is starting to take its toll, but he is still showing enough speed to run with the field he’s in here. He will have to show a lot more than he has recently to bring this one home.

PP 8) Leaky Tap Sired by Pleassant Tap, Trained by carolover. Leaky Tap is a six year old horse, who takes to the track for for the thirty sixth time here. He has five stakes wins, two of them at graded level. He has made fourteen starts this season, laying claim to a 2-1-1-1-0 record with five 100+ starts. His last start was a dirt stakes at eight and a half furlongs on dirt, where he finished eighth in a strong field. This will be his first career turf start. His breeding does have a slight turf upside, but tends strongly to dirt especially at higher levels of competition. It is hard to gauge by his off track perfomance, as both runs were quite a bit longer than his norm. Eight to nine furlongs is his bread and butter distance, though he has shown good speed out to ten furlongs. He’s a fast starter, and he needs a piece of that early lead to have success. He had a couple very strong runs early this year, but hasn’t been at his best recently. The softer surface and the early speed here aren’t going to help him. The biggest question here is how he will take to the turf, and I’ll have to take a pass on him here until I see him run on the grass.

PP 9) Preferred Power Sired by Pulpit, Trained by dshock. Preferred Power is a five year old horse, boasting a number 17 divisional rank coming into his thirty ninth start here. He has twelve career stakes wins, including five graded wins. Eight starts this year have seen him go 1-0-3-2-0 with three 100+ speeds to his credit. His last start was a stakes at this distance in Oklahoma, where he finished fourth with too little close too late. He started his career with two dirt starts, before switching to turf. His first two on turf were right in line with his dirt starts, but then he had a breakout run in an A2L right here in Virginia, and he never looked back. He’s right at his distance of choice here, and in fifteen starts in this distance range, he has twelve top three finishes, ten of those in the top two. He typically runs as a midpack closer, though he has shown he can run with an early lead. His close has been fairly consistent this year, though he’s been finding himself falling short more often than not. He should find it easier to close this one, with plenty of early speed to set him up, but none of it blazing enough to open up an insurmountable cushion for him. He’s capable of running a breakout race, and his cycle says he’s about due. He’s one to watch here.

PP 10) Under A Libran Sky(IRE) Sired by El Prado(IRE), Trained by stars1. Under A Libran Sky(IRE) is a four year old colt making his twenty sixth career start in this race. This will be his fourth try at stakes and he is still seeking his first stakes victory. Nine starts this season have seen him run to a 3-1-2-1-1 record, with a best speed of 99.6 earned in his first outing of the year. His last run was a stakes at this distance in New Jersey, where he finished fifth in a field of seven. After starting his career with a turf run, he switched to dirt for a bit, but it took the switch back to turf to get him his first win, and he hasn’t ever gone back. He runs well anywhere from the eight to ten range, so distance shouldn’t be an issue for him here. He runs as a deep closer and his close has been fairly consistent, though he seems to have trouble making his move at stakes level. He has shown the ability to make up big distances in the second half and this is a good field for his running style. Might be worth a show bet here if he can bloster his speed a bit.

PP 11) X Pounds Sterling Sired by Dynaformer, Trained by jester13. X Pounds Sterling is a four year old colt making his thirty first start. This will be his first career stakes start. He’s split this year between the claiming and allowance ranks, running eleven times for a record of 2-2-1-2-2 with a best speed of 93.7 which he earned in his last start. That run was an open allowance here in Virginia at ten furlongs, where he finished fourth, not threatening, but hold on to a money spot in a field of nine. His turf performance has definitely been better than his outings on dirt, and he’s stayed on grass since early last year. All three of his wins have come in this distance range, and he has shown good form into the ten furlong range. He’s a deep closer, but his optimum striking range is four to five lengths at the half. He could probably benefit from a faster start. He comes off two career best speeds, but he will need more speed than he has mustered so far to be a factor here.