Grade 1 Eddie Haskell Features SWAPSCO KITTY in First Start as HOF Member

This Sunday at New Jersey, twelve 3yo colts and a pair of 3yo fillies will face the starter in the $3,000,000 Eddie Haskell Stakes. The headliner of the bunch is Hall-Of-Fame inductee SWAPSCO KITTY, but there are plenty of strong contenders in the field.

I have special “guests” for this article… So, we go into my Sim Time Machine to call in the cast of Leave It To Beaver! Here they are now…

 

 

“Gee, Wally! I don’t like that Eddie Haskell! He’s always pickin’ on me!”

“Pipe down, Beav! He’s just joking… But if he bugs you anymore, I’ll sock him one!  Besides, he’s at this big horse race and it’s on TV!”

“Gee, that’s good, Wally!”

“Why don’t we get a hunk o’ milk and watch his race?”

“Oh-oh, okay, Wally… I have only one other question… Why does Mom wear a pearl necklace and high heels while she’s vacuuming?”

“I dunno, Beav… Let’s just watch the race, huh?”

“We have some real good horses here, Beav… Let’s tune the racing show in before Dad comes in and messes things up, too late… “Hi, Dad!”

Somehow, despite Ward’s “help”, they manage get a decent signal on the tube after 20 minutes of fiddling with the dials and the rabbit-ears… Just in time! Post parade at New Jersey!

 

PAPA’S GHOST TED won the 2016 Bluegrass Derby while beating the top filly in the process, but things have gone very poorly since, with a 13th In the Middle Jewel and a 10th in the Grade 2 Princess Cup. Was that Bluegrass win a total fluke, or can trainer hijackedii manage to get his colt, by far the top earner for California sire Papa Clem, back on his best game? The cpu odds guys think fluke, apparently, dropping 13/1 on him.

AWESOME INVENTION earned his first graded-stakes badge last time out when he thundered down the lane to get a last-to-first win in the Grade 3 Vinny Barberino Stakes. It was by far the Awesome Again colt’s best performance of his short career, and the mtkfever trainee has a real shot at this at 13/1 if he can duplicate that impressive effort.

KLUJ NAPOCA found his best stride last time out, winning the Grade 2 Flat Land Derby with ease. Earlier, he finished 3rd in a photo finish in the Grade 2 Moises Alou Cap, a solid performance that shows his last was likely no fluke, and he gets 7/1 respect here. The auror trainee has fancy bloodlines, being by Galileo out of a sim-mare by A.P. Indy that has been a very successful producer.

CLASSICAL ART faded badly late in the Grade 1 New Yorker, but the chloedawg1 trainee held on at 10.5 furlongs before that in the Grade 1 Sparks Handicap. This Quality Road colt might be dangerous if he gets free on the lead, but the odds guys don’t seem to think that’ll be the case and make him a 17/1 longshot.

TRAVEL ON has yet to hit the tote board in a graded stakes on a fast track, and no rain is in sight. The ticketman4 trainee has his work cut out for him here. He is by Quality Road out of a Grade 2-winning “shemale”, but hasn’t lived up to his bloodlines as of yet and will have to go some to make the 12/1 odds pay out.

SWAPSCO KITTY is a filly taking on colts for the sixth time in her illustrious career, one that has landed this vegasbuzz trainee in the Sim Hall Of Fame after just fourteen starts. She has snatched $4.5 million in purses in that short time while winning an amazing six grade 1 stakes races including the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Filly, the Movieland Futurity against colts, and her Chestnut Stakes win last time out secured her spot in the Hall. The major drawback here may be today’s 9-furlong distance which appears to be right at the top of her range; the Scat Daddy filly hung on to win a photo in her one other attempt at the distance, and she has fallen a bit short at anything longer. Still, she’s favored at 6/1 here.

VASCULAR faded pretty quickly when he tried Grade 1 racing last time out in the Middle Jewel. The Bernardini colt won the Grade 2 Baggio Special just before that and trainer confessor2 hopes the Grade 1 loss was a fluke. However, the 17/1 shot is likely be involved in an early-pace battle here and will need his very best effort to survive that duel.

WIN FOR LAUREN pulled off a win in the Middle Jewel, her only try vs. colts until now. The Bernardini filly, who had been very close to graded-stakes wins vs. fillies before that, disappointed in the Grade 1 Sister Hen Stakes last time out, but trainer danno4 is confident she can make amends.

MISSION INTHE RAIN won the prestigious Grade 1 New Yorker last time out; a nice first Grade 1 win for any horse. The chloedawg2 trainee’s excellent closing rush will need to kick in quite a bit earlier here; the Malibu Moon colt was about three lengths too far back the last time he raced at today’s distance.

PREACHER’S CAUSE is a Giant’s Causeway colt who was on a long dry spell until he took a turf allowance last time out. The horizons3 trainee’s previous win was the Grade 2 Nashua Special back in November, and that was followed by a string of Grade 1 disappointments. Tries the ol’ dirt-to-turf-to-dirt maneuver here and gets 15/1 odds.

GOLDIKILLER won the Grade 3 The Giant Stakes in fine fashion two starts ago, but the Court Vision colt bombed miserably in the Grade 2 Princess Cup at 10 furlongs last time out. The only other time this waquoit99 trainee self-destructed like that was also at 10 furlongs, so maybe today’s distance will suit the 16/1 shot better. Not impossible, but he’ll have to be on his game, for sure.

TIZ CHIEF has only six starts thus far, but appears to be learning quickly. The Into Mischief colt won the Grade 3 Affirmative Stakes last time out with a strong closing rush, getting a solid speed figure that puts the jastables23 trainee right in with these. If he can repeat that performance, the 10/1 shot may be right in the thick of things.

BLANK SPACE hasn’t won a graded stakes race since September, but he’s been “right there” in several Grade 1 races, such as the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile, the Vermont Is 4 Lovers, the California Derby and the Bluegrass Derby. The deyoto2 trainee disappointed in his last, the Grade 1 Labatts Ontario Oaks, and the Tapit colt looks to make amends for that bad one at 9/1.

CHUTE RIVER started his career out real nice, with 5 wins in a row, all on turf. The last of those was the Grade 3 Adam George Cap, but then after that the Farrh colt ran into some tough fields; so trainer grenoble2 decided to see what kind of strength the dirt influence in his colt’s pedigree had. Well, plenty, it turns out! A runaway allowance win followed by a similar showing in the Grade 2 The Liar Stakes brought him right here, and with a big shot at 8/1.

 

I’ll go with SWAPSCO KITTY to take this one…

CHUTE RIVER is my 2nd choice…

I’ll go with CLASSICAL ART for 3rd.

 

“H-h-hey, Wally…  What horse do ya think Eddie Haskell likes here?”

“Aw, Beav, he’s probably busy buttering up somebosy…  See?

 

 

 

Good luck all!