Equinics Older Fillies Mile Turf – “The Darley Arabian” – Tremendous Field

Here we are in Rio, for the Equinics mile race for older fillies and mares, named after one of the foundation sires of the Thoroughbred horse breed, The Darley Arabian.

A great field has been assembled, one that should easily outrun any mosquito hanging around with ideas of planting the Zika virus in anyone…

 

NEVER WIN THESE (East-West Connection – trained by 77)

This 4yo filly has been 1st or 2nd in five of seven turf starts, and lived up to her name is “just missing” in her last pair, both grade 1 stakes. Both winners of those races are in this field, so the Tiznow filly will need to dig a little deeper in order to hold ’em off and turn the tables at 10/1.

 

LEETA (Elite Racing Club – trained by amir1612)

a 4yo filly by French sire Motivator, this is another who has been 1st or 2nd in nearly all her starts. However, these were allowances and one minor stakes, so she has a lot to prove here. The odds guys see she has talent, though, and give her mid-level odds of 14/1.

 

RIVER ROAD RUNNER (Megalopolis – trained by 5wide)

Going off at 36/1, this 4yo Street Cry filly comes out of a pair of dirt-allowance losses, and hasn’t won a race since last June. She will need to run right out her skin to deal with these.

 

VIVITA Y COLEANDO (Hispano Parlante – trained by haackmania)

This 4yo Curlin filly comes off a pair of allowance wins, the last being an extremely easy hot-race warmup. She won the Grade 2 Coolmore Stakes in March, and missed all the money by just a length in the Grade 1 Irish 1000 Guineas last year. Going off at 13/1, she is fast and consistent, and not without a look at this.

 

BORRELLY (The “Eh” Team – trained by vkstables)

The 4yo Sea The Stars filly looked like she was well on the way to stardom after taking the Grade 3 Shawnee River Handicap a few months ago, but her next two starts left her connections wondering what went wrong. She has gotten a brief freshening for this one, but still goes at 22/1.

 

FASTNET TWIST (Blazing Saddles – trained by blazingsad)

On a tremendous roll right now with three impressive wins in a row, the 4yo Fastnet Rock filly’s most notable win was two starts ago when she came roaring from off the pace to notch a powerful victory in the Grade 1 Breeders Bowl Game Stakes at today’s distance, which she appears to love. Sometimes the ol’ one-race surface switch works wonders, and sure seems to have done so here. 13/1 on a supersharp filly with upside…

 

INVINCIBLE CADET (Empire State Racing – trained by litde)

After she zipped through her allowance conditions in fine fashion, this 4yo Invincible Spirit filly won her first stakes race and then her first three graded stakes races (including the Grade 1 Weedy Establishment Stakes) quite nicely. However, she “bounced” in her last, getting a 5th in the Grade 1 Foul Mouth Stakes. Going off at 8/1 here, she’ll be hard to stop if she returns to top form.

 

HAHA DIX (Comedy Central – trained by psyduck133)

A 28/1 outsider, this 4yo Galileo filly has not yet lived up to her lofty pedigree, but in her last two, she raced strongly with solid speed figs in a pair of allowances. In this tough spot, she will need to find a good bit more oomph.

 

BAY OF ROCKS (DelPenn National – trained by checkmate1)

The only 5yo in the race, this Rock Hard Ten mare will be looking for the Fountain of Youth, trying to return to the form she showed when she won the Grade 1 Ugly Breeders Distaff in May of 2015. Lately, this 12/1 shot has been competitive in allowance races. Hasn’t exactly “fallen off the cliff”, but she has slipped a bit.

 

SOOPERNATURAL (Universal Racing Club – trained by derekcarlson)

This 4yo Candy Ride filly has tried the graded-stakes wars only once, and responded with her highest firm-course speed rating and a 3rd-place finish in the Grade 2 Winter Forest Stakes. Goes off at 12/1 here and could have a very good look at it.

 

THE DEVIL DECIDES (Minnesota Testbarn – trained by shadyrest3)

Winner of Grade1’s by open lengths in her last two, this champ of the Foul Mouth Stakes and the Breeders Bowl Distaff is ranked #2 in the Older Female Route division and looks super-tough here as the 6/1 favorite. A 4yo filly, she is the top active runner by the excellent English sire Dubawi. The one to beat.

 

STORM WATCH (GR Simsters – trained by spqr6th)

4yo Stormy Atlantic filly took another shot at graded company after having done poorly in that class several months back, and it paid off with a victorious run in the Grade 3 Statue Stakes. Maybe she’s going to be around these top runners for awhile this time around… Goes off at 12/1.

 

SILVANOBERTO (All-Stars Racing – trained by baff2014saf)

This 4yo filly by South African sire Silvano warmed up for this 12/1 chance with an easy hot-race win after taking a win and a 2nd in two local-bred stakes. There are class questions here to be sure, but the 112 she fired two races back shows she has plenty of quality.

 

FABLED ILIYABUREN (MIDAS – trained by weedman)

Going off at 14/1, this Sea The Stars filly has placed in minor-stakes company but will be hard-pressed to threaten the top ones here, though she did fire off a 112 speed three starts ago. If she can duplicate that kind of speed here, she’ll at least have a shot.

 

AUSTRALIAN RAHY (Northwest Racing Circuit – trained by blackace)

This 56/1 shot hasn’t won since her maiden trip, though she has three allowance-race 2nd’s. By the excellent sire High Chaparral, she hasn’t quite lived up to the bloodlines yet, having not broken into triple figures on the speed gun. She’ll need a miracle here.

 

LYNDA JEUMONT (Racing HQ – trained by vaguy4)

Winner of a pair of Grade 2’s and a pair of Grade 3’s, this Dylan Thomas filly is hot, with two of those graded wins in her last two starts. Until those last two, she had never run in a race this short; obviously she adapted well. Going at 8/1, she is a major threat here.

 

HERBATA ZIOLAWA (European Union Racing Association – trained by zacehold)

This 4yo daughter of Turkish sire Dehere is looking in a tough spot for her first stakes win. She did run a pretty solid 4th in the Grade 2 Winter Forest Stakes in June, but it looks like she’ll need to find quite a bit more oomph to compete well in this spot at 23/1.

 

DEFENDING SCIENCE (Vermont Pastures Of Green – trained by dixiedotco)

This daughter of Galileo out of Hall-Of-Fame she-mare Title Defense has yet to live up to what had to have been extremely high expectations; trained by one of the top conditioners in the game, it’s hard to completely ignore this one. Still the oddsmakers have pretty much done just that, dropping a 15/1 price on her. She’s been fairly close up in her last two, both graded stakes… Can’t ignore one from this trainer in a big race.

 

THE DEVIL DECIDES looks like the top runner in this race and possibly even in the whole Equinics event… I think I’ll go right ahead and pick her to win.

INVINCIBLE CADET is my 2nd choice.

I’ll go with LYNDA JEUMONT for 3rd.

Longshot special – FASTNET TWIST

Good luck to all!