Wishfully Pedal bonanza stakes draws a short field
Hello race fans, yet another 4 horse field at
So lets see what these assembled ladies have brought to the party for the Wishfully Pedal bonanza stakes, a 9 furlong clash for $80,000 prize money for fillies and mares aged 3yo and older. The course is in pristine condition, with the clerk of the course, Sir Hilary Swinston, reporting perfect firm turf going despite the first frost of the year having descended upon
First up in stall 1 is the market leader at 6/5. Liberty Tree is a beautiful home bred four year old daughter of Java Gold out of the very useful race mare Brigadoon(GB) (Dubai Millennium x Secretariat). Her owner-breeder, kelsobarn, must be delighted with the first foal of his great mare as the horse has won 11 times from 31 starts. She has picked up over $750,000 in prize money, and amazingly, has never run below listed stakes level since her first two runs as a two year old. She has looked as good as ever this year, winning three listed stakes on the bounce and finishing third in the GI Cedora stakes over half a furlong further than today’s trip four back. She’s been a little below that in her last three runs placing in listed stakes on all occasions and running consistent SP# of 99 each time. She is being steered by top local jockey A Craig this time and your reporter managed to catch a quick word with him in the Queen’s Arms last night. As I slurped a few pints of lager and Craig sipped a mineral water, he confided that if his mount could recapture her 107 sp from earlier in the year, the race would be a formality. I doubt it will be that easy personally, but with no confirmed front runners in the field to take her on, having the best jock on board will be a big advantage in terms of judging the pace. No formality, but definitely hard to beat is this hacks opinion.
Ninerdust’s Norse princess occupies stall 2 and this is the second best according to the morning line at 2/1. The 4yo homebred daughter of Sadler’s wells out of a Miswaki mare comes here in the sort of sparkling form that owners must dream about, with 5 wins and 3 seconds from her last 8 starts. She has amassed over $400,000 in earnings from her 10 wins from 24 starts and has only been off the board in four of those runs. Only one of those wins has come at stakes level however, which could be a slight minus, but the balance of her allowance form boasts some pretty decent scalps including group winners. While she doesn’t have the flashy SP# of some of these she is regularly around the 98 to 100 mark and her consistency is likely to be her biggest asset here. Her latest two starts have both been in stakes company and she won the penultimate one before finishing second in the last behind one of today’s rivals Tintoretta(IRE). She has nearly four lengths to make up on that run, but the punters must feel that she has a chance. L Sullivan is not the most accomplished jockey round here, but certainly knows where the winning post is and will hope to time the run to perfection.
Tintoretta(IRE) is housed in stall 3 and is the outsider of the field at 3/1. Stormborn’s 4yo daughter of Gallileo(IRE) out of a Green desert mare is certainly no back marker here, however as that defeat of the runner inside her last time out proves. She was lightly raced as a 2yo and took a while to find her feet at three before recording a couple of wins at allowance level, along with some nice placed efforts in stakes races. This year has seen her form step up to another level though, and she has won 4 listed stakes over trips around about 9 furlongs or just over. Her speeds have been increasing steadily and most of her wins have been pretty comprehensive. She usually sits just on the pace in her races and if she can track the favourite her jock J Bradley could find himself with plenty of horse beneath him as they hit the dip. The 102 SP# she posted when winning the Pot capote challenge stakes show’s that she comes here in fine form and I’m sure connections will be hopeful of a big race from this likeable filly. Whether or not she wins, she seems certain to run her usual honest race and will make them all work to record a victory.
Last but by no means least is leesnyder’s Dynamin, the only 3yo in the race. By Dynaformer out of a Deputy Minister mare, this beautifully bred filly has done everything her owner has asked of her in her relatively short career. She raced fout times as a two year old recording a couple of wins, then rattled off four straight allowance wins at the beginning of this year over trips around a mile. Her first foray into stakes resulted in a decent second place again over a mile, before a facile victory in the Senorita K bonanza stakes over half a furlong further than today’s trip, again against her own age group. A creditable third place in a GIII was enough to persuade her owner to have a try against the older fillies and she comfortably won the Ruby shoe memorial stakes claiming some notable scalps and posting her second 102 sp# on the bounce. Some of the horses behind her on that day may be on their way down the scale however, and it’s arguable that the field today, while smaller is made up of horses who are all going the right way, so this could be her toughest test to date. Bo Edwards is a more than capable jock in the big races round here and will be hoping to steer this lovely filly to her ninth career win in only her 13th start. Hopefully it won’t prove an unlucky number here.
With only four runners this should be an easy pick, but it is possible to make a strong case for each of them and I will tentatively recommend