THE 2ND MINNESOTA OAKS
Minnesota– It’s the 5th annual Festival day for the Minnesota Downs residency and a full and spectacular racecard awaits us all.
Big **HUGS** go out to all Minnesota residents. Many of them are longtime Sim players like Brentuk, Desperado, Rcdlogan, Chuckrock and game helper Supertoy7. Johnno, Pazjazz, Rharfo, Bigrick, and Fabman check in with their wild-n-wacky Simplay. Gosh, many familiar faces on the Minny members page too like Goody, Dundey, Silverny99, Mig, Richgins, Wassie and Tbgifted. And most of all, webmaster Teddy!!! Ha! Teddy gets **BEARHUGS** and a kiss from me. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
We’ve got the $500,000 Minnesota Oaks carded as Race #13. Tenpin2’s Yield On Yellow won the inaugural edition of this race last year with a 102 SP#. Let’s see which sophomore starlet shall join her as a Festival Oaks champion…………………
1 132521 BOWL BOUND estreet D Geddes 45/1 DUNDEY
A.P. Indy starlet broke her maiden likety-split for Dundey. The pacesetter dominated the 7.5f race, getting the distance with an 87 SP#.
Pretty good! Two weeks later here and she leaps up to the black type level in her 2nd career outing. Flip a coin as to whether or not she’s ready or being a bit rushed. Will be challenged and tested for the lead. Going to school and we’ll see if she passes her first big test.
2 110752 PHOO PHOO svdstables Wa Adams 23/1 FRED
Fred sends out a bargain baby by Dream Run. Phoo Phoo probably doesn’t have a heap of a chance with that pedigree and those 80ish speed figures. However, she’s won a couple times over the main track sprinting and should probably be in the stalker group behind the lead.
Phoo Phoo was unplaced in her sole career route effort. Hey, at least she’ll enjoy the post parade and maybe give Teddy’s Queen or Bowl Bound a shove or two. Never know how these longshots will affect the race! Go, Phoo Phoo, GO!!!!!
3 100764 TEDDY’S QUEEN ets3 T Thome 10/1 TEDDY
Woo! Teddy’s Queen recently broke through the 100 SP# barrier at the ALW level. The Tale Of The Cat lassie hit the board in that flat mile effort and she’s been competitive through and through this season.
Prefers to launch a late bid from midpack or thereabouts. Good speed figures of late for this gal — love that marked improvement after 15 starts or so. Maybe that Affirmed blood in her signals that she’s gonna get better at age 4. Contender and possible for the win. I’d keep her for a board placing though.
4 99418 THE FOREST CAT minnow S Merwitz 76/1 DENNIS
Yoicks! We’ll, Dennis has been race-spotting this gal in short field stakes races. The Forestry filly has three stakes placing too, so wow! Great job, Dennis. 🙂
Unfortunately, The Forest Cat’s speeed figures continue to dwell in the 70s and it’s like, yeek! Only through six lifetime starts though. shemakes her initital route try here. In the future, you can always Forestrys on the grass. Pace setter/presser has the black type on paper…… but can she elevate her game to run the numbers that it will take here? Dark horse. Not to be discounted because she has so many unknowns!!!
5 103065 SPEIGHT THE ALY traschel S Wabbington 16/1 CHUCKROCK
Chuckrock sends out two runners in this race. His first one is by Speightstown. Toss out a pair of off track outings, and this filly’s been in the hunt of late.
She won over 10f in the summertime. Looks like she absolutely needs the pace in order to be truly effective to the finish line. Milder speed figures, but if she can better her best 95 SP# mark, then that puts her in with the winner’s circle hunt. Agree that there’s not a lot of grass in her pedigree, but could always give it a try. A tad bit of an outsider, but could surprise. Regardless, she’ll be fighting for the lead.
6 100757 SOMEKINDAWONDERFUL staceylg K Friar 8/1 RICHGINS
Ah Ha! Richgins has the handicapper’s favorite. Lemon Drop Kid filly didn’t get the oddsmakers favor due to her Birmingham Stakes(G1) debacle. But toss out that race and she’s been impressive.
Grade 3-placed over 9.5f in the late springtime and stakes winner over 9f too. Two straight victories here in late autumn including a 104 SP# ALW score over a flat mile. Beautiful effort by this closer in that race to win in a photo finish. Granted, she was the heavy fave, but that’s the type of stuff you like to see. Gotta dominate the lesser level first. Great jockey works with 4 weeks rest. She’s got the experience and class level. Here’s your winner.
7 108471 TETE MAIDEN(IRE) bedford J Ritorto 21/1 COTHILL
Cothill’s first entry is a recent $10k claim pickup. The Refuse To Bend(IRE) daughter won that mile main track event and then added an ALW score over the same distance afterwards for Cothill.
The filly tired over 9f LTO and the shortening up here should be just the ticket on a month’s rest. Stalker is a bit of an outsider, but not to be discounted for a minor share.
8 4350 CONDOLESA unshaded99 A Beasley 18/1 DUNDEY
Entry #2 for Dundey. Empire Maker daughter makes her 7th career start. She broke her maiden on her 2nd try, then appeared lackluster in dirt ALWs.
Dundey then switched this filly to the grass and she responded splendidly with a win and a runner-up effort. Boy, I bet Dundey wishes this race was over the inner course. Very green filly, but has obvious talent. Lots of question marks though. Kind of a dark horse that can go either way. Possible for a great-priced upset, but cross your fingers!
9 102239 SILENT RUSH rman O Stinson 26/1 RANDY
First half of Randy’s entry is by Cat Thief. This gal’s been all over the board of late. She can be effective at this distnace, but could not step up to the stakes level.
Hasn’t raced much recently and perhaps due to an injury suffered after a turf experiment a ways back. The stalker just hasn’t found her best groove since. Bred for main track speed. Perhaps return to sprints after this. Top jockey aboard needs to turn Silent Rush’s season around. I think she should go back to one-turn.
10 76464 DAIQUIRI TIMEOUT(IRE) alba3 G Hardinger 99/1 THE PICT
Yoicks! Well, The Pict has one for the post parade here in this yicky-icky Rock Of Gibraltar(IRE). This is a prayer, but too bad. Look at that royal bred pedigree! Oh well, we all get Sim stinkies every now and then. 🙁 OK, I see this is a claim pickup. Whew! Glad you didn’t have to spend the points on this one, The Pict. LOL!
11 120534 BUST MY CHOPS rharfo6 B Craver 9/1 RHARFO
Wooo! Rharfo has a Housebuster x Nureyev and she’s pretty good so far too. Main track sprinter won her NW3x a few starts ago. 90+ SP#s for this speedster/pace presser.
This gal lost both of her attempts at 7f. Saturday is her first attempt at a route. Should be in the hunt early. Litmus test whether or not she can stretch her speed. Possible, but you’d guess the latter with Hoursebuster on top. Still, would be a nice surprise for Rharfo if Bust My Chops can get the flat mile. Interesting. One to watch.
12 123147 SOUGHT AND FOUND jimj2 Sa Jackson 6/1 JIMJ
Helloooo, Jimj! Woo! Seeking the Gold x Dixieland Band blueblood in her big coming-out party. She’s on target here, stepping up to the stakes ranks in her 10th career call to the post. Five victories so far, and she adored the flat mile two back with a gorgeous 106 SP#. Extremely versatile behind the pace or from far back.
Just how good is this gal? Will we be hearing from Sought And Found in the graded ranks next year? Patiently handled textbook-fashion by Jimj. Love her name! Kind of a green-jean jockey though, yick. 🙁 Wheeling back on 3 weeks rest. We’ll see what happens.
13 107337 MONGOL HORDE manapace G Osborn 57/1 ? AGGHH! NOT ON THE MEMBERS PAGE 🙁 ?
Manapace stable sounds so familiar, but I can’t quite place a player to it. Sorry! 🙁 This War Chant gal is a rock-bottom CL pickup. Improving 80 SP#s for the filly when she went to the CL level.
Ran a good 3rd in just her 2nd career dirt try LTO. Manapace put her in a 6.5f Starter ALW, and, actually, she’s won over a turf mile. Bit of a way-out prayer, but you never know. Worth a shot.
14 108262 BLUR desperado3 K Bowen 11/1 ROB
Desperado brings two starters and they have solid shots. Aldebaran daughter out of a royal bred female family is the weaker half. Still, she’s won over the mile a couple times this season and near always runs a money position race at the ALW level.
Needs to elevate the speed figures though. Stalker piloted by a top jockey. May go for the pace fray. Maybe in the hunt for some minor money.
15 111841 DESPERADO WISH desperado4 P Green 9/1 ROB
Gone West filly was a stakes winner over 8.5f earlier this year. Stronger half of Rob’s co-entry recently broke through the 100 SP# barrier for two straight efforts.
Midpacker/closer very much suited to this distance and warrants respect. Comes off a long seven week layoff, so should be terribly fresh. Defintely a factor for the board. Good filly — just needs to find some consistency after 11 starts.
16 102777 CLASSIC HOME ryry B Pickel 25/1 COTHILL
Another recent claim pickup for Cothill. This Came Home filly was purchased for $25k two starts ago. A useful stalker who seemed to enjoy a furlong or so more than a flat mile.
Cothill placed Classic Home in a miler ALW LTO and the filly floundered a tad, finishing far back of the winner. Needs to put it all together to factor for at least a minor share. Gorgeously bred. Just needs to find her best distance and level.
17 98723 HOME ON THE RANGE sunshine83 J Napper 37/1 SILVERNY99
Another Came home daughter here — this one’s from Silverny99. Agree that she’s pretty much bred for speed, but wow! Makes her first route try after 17 starts!
Speed figures around one turn weren’t much to sneeze at by this frontrunner. We’ll see if she can take to two-turns. Litmus test, but could be a sleeper.
18 19771 PLAYING WITH HEART(IRE) wally456 S Foster 19/1 BIGRICK
Hmmm….. Swain(IRE) daughter predominantly a turf specialist of course. Not very impressive over the green stuff, but she won 4 times over the surface.
However, Bigrick placed this gal back on the main track and she won a sprint ALW handily LTO. It was a 95 SP# for the pace presser. Three weeks rest here and we’ll see if she can ride that winning form around two-turns. No reason to suspect that she’s just a sprinter. 0-for-4 though lifetime in routes. A bit of a stretch, but not to be discounted. Possible longshot.
19 107651 POINTED SLEW cardinal10 K Ritterspauch 12/1 CHUCKROCK
Up on the pace for Chuckrock’s co-entry, a blueblooded daughter of Point Given. She’s 3-for-15 so far, stepping up to the stakes ranks for the first time this year.
Loves the mile, specializing in 8 panels or thereabouts of late. Throws the kind of speed figures comparable to this group’s favorites too. Gosh, that’s an awful lot of stamina in female family with Seattle Slew x Nothern Dancer. You’d think she’d want to go at least 10f. With a little luck, Pointed Slew should run a great race after a little 4 week breather. Possible.
20 100676 WAKIWILD turfsurf S Upertoy 6/1 RANDY
Randy brings in a sprint specialist as the stronger half of his entry. Forest Wildcat daughter stakes-placed a lot of late, but 0-for-6 lifetime around two-turns. Very grassy female family — should try this one on the green stuff soon. 🙂
This filly’s got a lot of heart. Pretty much a midpacker, but, boy, she can grit out the stretch drive. Unfortunately, she needs some extra push to seize the wire. Questionable stamina, but she can get 7.5 panels — you’d think she can nab the extra sixteenth. S Upertoy, the wonderschon rider, has to guide her from the nightmare 20-hole. That’s a difficult assignment.
Snowchief’s Picks:
There’s not a ton of true blue speed in this group. But there’s enough to make a fight of it. I like Desperado Wish and Teddy’s Queen each to get a piece of the purse. Positively love Sought And Found and she’s one to watch. But I’m gonna go with experience here in Somekindawonderful. I’d box those two for a decent exacta. 🙂
Win: Somekindawonderful
Place: Sought And Found
Show: Teddy’s Queen or Desperado Wish
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Minnesotans! Happy Festival Day!