Sand Castle Golden Turf Classic

What an exciting day of racing in store for us at the Dubai track today.  It is warm and sunny, with a clear blue sky – there is no better place to watch some of the top horses in action than this!  The Sand Castle Golden Turf Classic Grade I event over 12F on Turf has attracted some of the top horses in the sim.

Looking back at the winners of this great race over the past few years is like taking a walk through the Sim Hall of Fame (current and future…….).  In 2001 this race went to Cecil Roo,  in 2002 the great Joe Cayenne took this event.  In 2004 Bristol Rovers took this race and in 2005 Rain God triumphed.  Today’s race has every possibility of finding a winner worthy of adding to this list of champions!

Lets take a look at the runners in order of preference……….

Leading the runners, with over $8 million in earnings, is future Hall of Famer Horseshoe Bay (32-19-4-3).  This 5YO son of Red Ransom, magnificently trained by Texasace, is the 5/2 morning line favorite out of gate #12.  Horseshoe Bay  has struggled somewhat in his last three races.  (If you can call hitting the frame in three G1 races struggling……..).  Three races back he was third in The Penn Marathon/Allied Assault Stakes with a 105 SP, two races back he was second in The Who Cares Anymore Stakes with a 105 SP and last time out he finished third in The Open to all Older Horses Special Stakes with a 104SP.  Prior to that Horseshoe Bay had won the Breeders Bowl Turf with a 117SP and The Ark De Triumph with a 113SP.  He was also fourth in this race last year.  I fully expect this champion to be flying down the stretch and to win this one!

Strong Belwas (15-6-4-2), out of gate #4 at 5/1 is the second favorite here.  He is a 4YO son of Empire Maker, trained by asoiaf, was third in last year’s English Derby and second in the Irish Derby behind Cortez.  Since then Strong Belwas has continued to run well winning a Grade 1 in CA and finishing second in two other G1’s, before winning his last start, a Stakes race over 10.5T.  I think Strong Belwas might struggle to stay 12F in this top G1 race, but his class could be good enough to still hit the board.

Puppet Regime (24-11-3-3) is a 5YO son of Kingmambo trained by wrecks2.  He will start out of gate #11 at 7/1.  Another consistent horse, third in the Japan Classic over 12F on turf three starts back; fourth in the Penn Marathon/Allied Assault Stakes two starts back, just a length behind Horseshoe Bay; he recorded a win over 14F on turf in his last start.  A serious contender on his best form, Puppet Regime can hit the board here.

Kool Thing (18-8-4-1), a 4YO son of Black Sam Bellamy from the Eddieatc stable, has been on fire of late with five wins from his last eight races.  Kool Thing will start at 14/1 out of gate #2.  His last two wins were Grade 1 races over 16F in which he led or was close to the lead.  It’ll be interesting to see if he can handle the finishers over this shorter distance in what is probably the toughest race of his career so far.  I think he will get caught close home, but could hold on for one of the minor honors.

Confederacy (27-10-6-6), 9/1 in the early line out of gate #6, is a 5YO son of High Chapparal ably trained by Dawgpound.  Confederacy has a win two races back over Horseshoe Bay in the The Penn Marathon/Allied Assault Stakes.  This horse is a serious contender here.  He was third in this race last year ahead of Horseshoe Bay.  It’ll be interesting to see if racing on three weeks rest will impact his ability to force the pace here.

Good To Be King (19-3-7-5), a 4YO son of Smarty Jones representing the Super stables conglomerate, has been extremely consistent of late, with seven top three finishes in his last eight races.  He’ll be starting out of gate # 9 at odds of 10/1.  In has last race, Good To Be King was second in the G1 – Open to all Older Horses Special Stakes finishing ½ a length in front of Horseshoe Bay.  I think 12F on turf should be ideal for this good-looking horse.  Another strong contender for a top three spot.

Next in line is Cortez (21-9-1-4), a 4YO son of High Chapparal, trained by Slipknot22, is 13/1 for this event out of gate #3.  Last year’s Irish Derby winner has been off form of late failing to reach the frame in his last three races.  With SP’s  of 86, 96 & 92 he’s going to have to bounce back to his Breeders Bowl form, where he was third behind Horseshoe, to be able to contend here.

Director (11-4-4-1), starting on the rail at 14/1, is a 4YO son of Empire Maker from the snappa4 stable, is a lightly raced consistent sort that could spring a surprise in this race.  He finished 5^th in the Penn Marathon/Allied Assault Stakes just two lengths behind Horseshoe Bay (3^rd).  He then ran again a week later in The Realistic Bert Stakes over 12FT were he finished second after leading for a long way.  Another front-runner who should assure a strong pace for this marquee event.

Kiss of Betrayal (16-5-5-0), a 4YO mare out of Rock of Gibraltar, is trained by pm.  She has a G1 win in  the Canada Turf and a second in the Breeders Bowl Distaff on her resume.  Starting at 23/1 on the wide outside, Kiss of Betrayal will be running from well off the pace and if she can reproduce her electrifying finish in the Canada Turf it would not be a complete surprise to see her hit the board.

Darkdoun (18-4-5-3) is a 4YO son of Galileo, starting from gate # 7 trained by peepsclaim.  Another front runner, this horse has been running well over 10 – 12F on grass.  He was third in last years Irish Derby and fifth in the California Turf classic.  I think the fast pace of this race could see this one fade over the final two furlongs.

Stronghold (26-9-2-8) a 5YO son of Point Given trained by jonsnow, will start from gate #10 at 18/1.  This horse has been running consistently of late and includes a third place finish in the Canada Turf behind Kiss of Betrayal.  His last outing was an easy win in a 12F stakes race, but this is a big step up in class and he will need the race of his life to hit the board here.

Thrill is Gone (35-18-7-3) is a 6YO son of Red Ransom starting out of gate #5 at 18/1. trained by mano2.  This horse has been running in bid allowance races of late and while very consistent will struggle in this grade.

Total Chaos (12-5-4-0) a 4YO son of Rahy from the bentfree stable starts out of gate #8 at 15/1.  Another horse that appears to like small field bid allowance races.  He did make the jump to a G2 last time out and ran a nice race to finish second with a 98SP   Total Chaos likes to run just behind the pace, but I think he will struggle to contend down the stretch.

Stop the Groom T (40-12-7-10) trained by priceless, starts from gate # 13 at 24/1.  She is a 5YO mare out of Runaway Groom and is the outsider in this race.  She has been running consistently in stakes races and ran the race of her life to finish second in a G2 over 13F on grass two races back.  I think the jump to a top class  G1 is just too much for her.