Six Furlongs And a Cloud of Dust
With the return of the defending champ, plus two of the best early-speed horses in the game today, plus several of the top closing sprinters, Saturday’s $2,000,000 Grade I Breeders Bowl Sprint stands to be one of the best-contested races on an all-star day of racing. The Sprint, run at 6 furlongs on Kentucky’s dirt course, is a wide-open affair, as gauged by the triple favorites only being 7/1. The starters by Post Position: The oldest and most successful (so far) of the 4 offspring of the majestically bred (though mediocre on the track) mare G-String Gal, Pulling Strings is far and away the most experienced runner in this field. In fact, he’s won more races than anyone else in this field has even started! But he’s still looking like he’s got the goods. I caught up with trainer danknight (15% Wins, 41% ITM) on the backstretch shortly after post positions were drawn, and the gregarious trainer was excited and upbeat about Pulling Strings’ (affectionately referred to by his connections as PS) chances on Saturday. “I was hoping for an inside post, and lo and behold, can’t get much more inside”, danknight chuckled. “We’re trying to get PS to get back to form, and his form has been kind of off lately. Three races back he ran a very odd race. He fell behind quickly, usually the kiss of death for him, but recovered to come charging back for the win. He hasn’t been the same in his last two races, and I’m hoping the ‘wear and tear’ factor of a long career aren’t catching up to him. But he’s training well, and every time I’ve doubted him, he’s won, so I like my chances.” Danknight confirmed that for PS to win, he’s probably going to have to “take the lead from the start or lose.” With this group, he may well be right. As far as his chances here go, I’ll agree, at least in part, with PS’s trainer. If he runs back to his more familiar style, and still has the legs he’s showed earlier in the year, he really does have a legitimate chance to wire this field. But with the wide variety of styles and high speed figures in this crowd, it won’t be easy, even with his best race. The form on this youngster isn’t bad, as his last two outings he hit 104 speed figs, just a tick below his career best. That may indicate some improvement still happening. His last time out, in fact, he lost by a nostril in a Grade II sprint at this exact distance This goodlooking brown colt certainly has the breeding pedigree to be a topnotch sprinter. His Dosage Index is a solid 3.92, and an even more speed-tipping Center of Distribution of 0.96. His mother was a solid although not spectacular runner herself, winning just 3 in 22 starts, but she had 9 ITM, as well as an ungraded stakes win and a couple of ITM finishes at that level too. Crypto Flow has a good chance to be a star, and that time isn’t too far away, but I’m not sure his time is this Saturday yet. I caught up with mainline (15% Win, 38% ITM) stable’s trainer Kevin, who is also saddling the horse in the 13th post, Gathering Momentum (for the rascal stable). I asked him about his two charges, and here’s what he had to say about Sulphur (we’ll get to GM in due course). He admitted that Sulphur’s best distance is probably 6.5 furlongs, where he’s been brilliant, but with the inclusion of a few early flyers, including Gathering Momentum, this race could set up just right for this muscular son of Giant’s Causeway(IRE), especially with Stivers up. One concern here though might be his form. His last time out in the Grade I Count Fleet, Sulphur’s patented rush down the backstretch fell flat mid-stretch, and he finished fourth, behind a wire-to-wire race by Polish Reality, who will be 8 horses to his right on Saturday too. This last race might have been a bounce from his previous outing, a heart-stopping photo affair in the Grade I Tri-City Sprint, that had the first SIX finishers within 2 lengths of each other. Sulphur came out on top of that one, beating no less than four of the competitors in this field. Did that monumental effort sap his form? Or was it the return to 6 furlongs that did Sulphur in at the Count Fleet? This should be the race that tells us. I got the chance to chat briefly with The Rock’s trainer, Given, who heads up the grrm stable (20% Win, 51% ITM), where The Rock is the star attraction. When I mentioned that The Rock has a shot to be the first ever 2-time BB Sprint champion, Given just smiled and said that that’s where The Rock had been pointed since day one of his 4 year old season. “After the Grade I win, (The Rock) started showing some signs of tiredness, so I gave him three months off. I was really hoping that he could come back and show some of his former explosiveness, but did harbor fears that perhaps he was simply over the top. In his first race back, I expected some rust, and there was some, as he finished third in an ungraded stakes. It was the next race where I was hoping to see some of his former self, and he complied, firing off a a career best 112 speed figure to win a G3.” One of The Rock’s advantages in this field is his tactical speed versatility. If he gets a good ride, he can attack effectively from almost anywhere on the track. He can go to the lead, stalk close, or hang back some, with equal aplomb. If he runs his best race, or close to it, the Rock may well roll to consecutive BB Sprint championships. Something that may be an issue though, is Hard To Handle’s running style. When he runs his best, he wants the lead. With such scary-fast early pacers like Polish Reality, Pulling Strings, and Gathering Momentum in this field though, he may be tempted to spit the bit early. But if he’s able to rate, and the others go suicidal on one another, who knows? A shot, but will probably be an all-or-nothing proposition for this guy. “His preparation for the race was planned well in advance after winning 2 G1’s and a G3. He won a stakes with a 109SF in prep for the Smackdown race but unfortunately could only manage 5th. Gave him aproximately 10 weeks off and he prepped in a stakes where he ran a solid 4th with a 102SF which I believe is an ideal preparation, afterall, last time off a break he ran 9th in a Allowance, then ran 2nd in a G2 111SF and then won 2 G1’s in a row.” There are a couple of excellent closers in this race with LFM, but TeeJay looks to have this horse ready and sitting on a good race. I would add him to the exotics for sure, and maybe at the top of them. PP 7 – My Sheba T (Kinshasa x Alysheba x Dynaformer) Looking at the speed figures on past performance lines for this horse is like watching a DoubleMint(c) commercial. His last six SFs in ascending order: 94, 92, 106, 106, 105, 105. If this tsyndicate (10% Win, 25% ITM) charge can hold his form, he might have a shot at a check, but the speed figures will likely have to have another bump for him to contend. Despite My Sheba T’s sire being a Mr. Prospector son, he comes in with a route-ish 2.71 Dosage Index (Alysheba and Dynaformer add lots of stamina), but oddly enough, he also has a speed-tilted Center of Distribution of 0.85. Makes for some nice pedigree balance. He’s got a nice stalking style to his races, but with the early speed and the closers coming fast at the end, the racing gods will have to be in My Sheba T’s corner and he’ll need a perfect trip. Might be generous odds here, even at 12/1. I found Zeco watching DJ in an early morning workout a couple of days ago, and got a bit of background on his star. Zeco, a native of Belgium, is coming back to a 2nd consecutive BB day. Last year Zeco had Wonderboy Cougar(IRE) placing in the Breeder’s Bowl Classic. Zeco talked briefly about DJ’s initial hopes as a classic runner: “Wonderboy DJ looked like a superstar early in his carreer, running a 99SP on only his second outing as a 2yo (that was in the Horsehead Juvenile Gr I). But afterwards things went wrong. But we only have ourselves to blame for that. I was convinced we had a horse for the classic races and thought he would surely stay the mile as a 2yo. But he turned out to be a real sprinter. After some bad races over 8.5 furlongs we gave him some races to get his confidence back and that worked out fine. he got back to graded level on sprinting distance.” Worked out it surely did. I’m not sure I’d bet the house on this guy, but if you have a taste for mid-to-long shots, this one might be a nice saver. He’s a closer, which will probably help, but the inconsistency worries me a bit here. With the unforgiving nature of this field, in this setting, I’d probably have to wait to see if the ‘Cat has the prime time ability to get the race of his life under these conditions before I’d bet too heavily. History, at least the history of many horses involved in this race are concerned, point towards the latter. Most of the horses he beat in that race were coming off of their own super-finish, that Tri-City Sprint, the one with 6 horses within 2 lengths. 4 of those 6 bounced hard in their next race, and the two that didn’t, Casterly Rock and My Sheba T, both dropped down to ungraded stakes for their followups. Sprinters seem to have a hard time with a tough race like that, and they don’t come much tougher than that Scottsdale BB, where Fly’s Motivator won by a nose. Does this stalker have the ability to win here? Absolutely. Will he? Probably not, unless he shows a resiliency that’s quite rare in top-notch sprinters. The race here could well hinge on 2 things: 1) If Gathering Momentum and Polish Reality get locked into a speed battle early, and 2) if one of them is forced to spit the bit and gives it up. This is shaping up to be a battle between a couple of the games best short closers, and it’s two best early-lead sprinters. To be honest, I can’t separate Polish Reality from Gathering Momentum at the front of the pack, except POSSIBLY with the fact that Gathering Mo’ seems to like longer sprints just a bit better. Should be exciting to watch. If he’s able to run back to his 3rd race back, a 112 SF win in the Grade II Booker T Handicap, AND he’s able to do it at 6 furlongs (the Booker T was 7.5f), he’ll definitely be a factor here. Might be squeezed out by the early and late speed though. Tough call. When I spoke to Kevin, the trainer for the rascal stable, as well as Sulphur’s mainline barn, he was excited and optimistic about Gathering Mo’s chances: “Gathering Momentum is ready to do something big! On his day he can run rivals off their legs completely. If he shapes that way on the day nobody will touch him. He is more than capable of doing this and it would not be a surprise.” Wouldn’t be a surprise to me either, nor the oddsmakers, who have accorded him co-favorite status. The only issue, as I mentioned above, might be Gathering Mo’s penchant for running a bit longer. He’s every bit as capable of huge races from the front as Polish Reality is, but perhaps not as consistent. Kevin himself may have summed it up best when he told me: “Mood on the day will well decide this race.” PP 14 – Moneygrowsontrees (Forestry x Mr. Prospector x I Am The Game) The cheadle stable (22% Win, 52% ITM) brings in the 2nd ranked dirt sprinter. However, he is the 2nd ranked dirt sprinter among 3 year olds. This young chestnut colt is a huge closer, and that’ll help here, but he (like Crypto Flow), sure picked a tough place to debut against older horses. Perhaps because he likes to close, he has seemed more effective at slightly longer distances. He’ll need to make a move earlier this time to be a factor. We ran into cheadle’s trainer, Rob, on the backstretch early in the morning, watching his colt work. This is Rob’s 2nd visit to the BB, coincidentally enough, in the same race, when he had last year’s 4th place finisher, One In A Million II. When I asked him about when he thought he had a Breeder’s Bowl horse, he gave me a surprising answer: “Early in the year I started aiming for the Prince’s Knight (sim version of King’s Bishop) the top race for 3yr old sprinters. It is a race I love to follow, so I defintely wanted to win it. Plus, it fit my horse much better (7f). So the plan all along was to win that – a win or a 2nd would push me to the BB, but the goal all along was the Prince Knight.” In a slight, but twisted little irony, Money’s jockey on Saturday will be D. Givins, the namesake of Casterly Rock’s trainer. Think there might be some family squabbling in the Given/Givins households? My Picks 1) Polish Reality – Wins the battle of the front-runners, barely holds on. 2) Casterly Rock – Defeding champ gets close enough to gnaw on the winner’s neck, but not quite enough. 3) Looking For More – Flying down the stretch, outcloses the closers, but can’t get there.
PP 1 – Pulling Strings (Bestyoucanbe x Gone West x Storm Cat) The horse starting in the number one post position is also starting the day as the number one ranked dirt sprinter in the game. Much like the nursery rhyme, when he is good, he is VERY VERY good, but when he’s bad…well, you know the rest.
PP 2 – Crypto Flow (Cryptoclearance x Carson City x Sunday Silence) One of three 3 yr olds in the field, as well as the longest shot according to oddsmakers (at 17/1), he sure picked a tough place to debut against older horses. Crypto Flow has shown he can run with the best 3 yr olds in the game, as witnessed by a 1-2-1 record in 7 Graded races this year, and he’s got a nice versatile style that should, in theory, let him stalk off of the early speedsters here. That said, trainer kyclocker (14% Win, 37% ITM) will need the race of this young colt’s life, as well as a lot of luck for him to get a piece of this action.
PP 3 – Sulphur(IRE) (Giant’s Causeway(IRE) x Forty Niner x Lyphard) One of the three co-2nd choices in the tightly bunched morning line at 8/1, this closer comes in with some great credentials. Winner of more than half his lifetime races (15 wins in 29 starts), the 4th ranked dirt sprinter among older horses, though he’s only 4, and he’s got one of the game’s best jockeys on his back, as well as one known for riding closers to the winner’s circle. 
PP 4 – Casterly Rock(IRE) (Giant’s Causeway(IRE) x Gone West x Sadler’s Wells) The first of the three co-favorites here at a very lukewarm 7/1 is the defending champ. Casterly Rock (affectionately known as The Rock) won the game’s biggest sprint race as a 3 year old. The Rock has been fairly lightly raced this year (relative to last year), and is 3-1-1 in his 8 starts this year, all but 2 of which were Grade I quality.
PP 5 – Hard To Handle (Miswaki x Green Desert x Riverman) Trainer zwylde (17% Win, 47% ITM) brings in a bit of an enigma to the party. He’s got plenty of back class (multiple Graded winner), but can be prone to bouncing some after a high speed figure. His last few races haven’t been bad at all, hanging in tough to finish 3rd then 4th in his last two, Grade II and Grade I races, respectively. But his last three races (including an allowance win 3 back) he’s averaged 102. Certainly not bad, but probably not going to be a winning speed number in this race.
PP 6 – Looking For More (Brahms x Pentelicus x Distant View) Another Jekyll and Hyde contender is this sleek chestnut 4 year old. He’s capable of back-to-back 110+ speed figure outings in winning 2 Graded stakes, and he’s capable of a 90 SF and 9th place in an allowance race, all of which he’s done this year. The difference here is that Looking For More (LFM) is a stone closer, and with the afore mentioned suicidal speed tendencies that may occur in front of him, LFM may find incentive to unleash a big charge down the stretch. LFM’s trainer in the gene barn (15% Win, 38% ITM), is the young prodigy and popular Aussie, TeeJay. This will be TeeJay’s first trip to the BC, and he definitely has a contender with him. He had this to say about LFM’s prep for this race:
PP 8 – Wonderboy DJ (Carson City x Seattle Slew x Mr. Prospector) Still another contender here with box-car prices (10/1 odds on the morning line), this regally-bred 4 year old may offer the best value for the double-digit crowd. He’s capable of 110+ speed figures, he’s done it at the Graded level, and he likes to stalk from just off the pace, and had a race to help sharpen up after a heartbreaking loss by a nostril in the above-mentioned Tri-City Sprint . Wonderboy DJ’s trainer Zeco, who heads up the wonder2 barn (21% Win, 46% ITM) might have him sitting on a big race, as he gave DJ a prep race just 3 weeks ago.
PP 9 – Pequin Cat (Tabasco Cat x Spinning World x Nonoalco) From the 9th gate comes the 9th ranked older dirt sprinter. Fate? Kismet? Karma? Perhaps, but this guy will have to find some form he hasn’t seen in a while. Not that he’s not capable. He definitely is. His back-class suggests that on his best day he can run very well with these. He’s hit as high as a 111 speed figure, and in a Grade I victory as well, but not in his last 7 races. And in those last 7, he’s broken triple digits twice. The 3rd place finisher in the Tri-City, he too has had a race to bounce back from.
PP 10 – Fly’s Motivator(IRE) (Montjeu(IRE) x Gone West x Sharpen Up) Well, here’s one of those ‘nature or nurture – evolution or creationism – plain or peanut’ arguments. Coming off of a spectacular Grade I Scottsdale BB Stakes, where he beat 5 of today’s competitors, with a sharp-as-a-tack 110 speed figure, is Fly’s Motivator THE hot horse, or is he going to bounce like a superball?
PP 11 – Polish Reality (Polish Navy x Gulch x Known Fact) This co-favorite may never fully escape the shadow of his famous stablemate in the champions4 barn (21% Win, 47% ITM), Anticosti, but this race can go a long ways towards that. This is a horse that runs fast. All the time. From the first bell to the wire. In his last outing, the Grade I Count Fleet, I picked Sulphur to run him down at the very end. Polish Reality held the closers off, including Sulphur, and ran a 113 speed figure to do it. He ran against some good early speed horses in that race, but this race steps that up many times over. 
PP 12 – Scoobs Connection (Danzig Connection x Rubiano x Nearctic) Another highly rated sprinter who likes to mile (in fact, he has more Dirt Classic points than he does Dirt Sprint), this versatile stalker/closer can do a lot of things well. Finishing 3rd his last time out in the Scottsdale BB by just a length and a half, Scoobs’ form may be rounding into top shape. Trainer lilscoobi (16% Win, 43% ITM) has the pump primed here, but this is an awfully tough place to run your second or third favorite distance. PP 13 – Gathering Momentum (Storm Cat x Gone West x Caerleon) Yet another sprinter/miler, this compact brown 4 year old dynamo from the rascal barn (16% Win, 39% ITM) can wire any field he comes across, when he’s on his game. He does, however, tend to be an all-or-nothing proposition. Witness his record: 13 wins, and only 2 places and 3 shows in 23 starts.