Speed stands out in the Kcusrocek Stakes field
Ireland’s feature for this weekend is the Kcusrocek Stakes Grade III, which will be run at a mile distance over the green grass. There is a full field of three year olds to dispute this race and the group looks evenly matched. Let’s take a look at them:
La Dolce Vita has shown great affinity to the mile distance. In both of his tries at the mile, this son of Kingmambo has obtained his best SFs, winning the Hulk Car Special in his most recent effort. He comes from the middle of the pack, draws the nice rail post and he is one of the top contenders for the biggest chunk of the purse. Trainer martialis hopes for a clean trip on the rail to attack on the late stages.
Political Village (IRE) is lightly raced, with only five races lifetime. However, in that short career, he has demonstrated great talent, winning four and placing in the other one, and he is already a stakes winner. This colt out of Montjeu (IRE) likes to ride on the first flight, and that same strategy will be the same employed by his trainer iant. If he is able to have an easy lead without exerting too much energy, he will be a tough catch in this race.
Grand Prospects maybe the speed of the speed in this field, coming from running sprints in all his last tries. Trainer togasarasa will send his colt right to the front and he hopes for a firm ground that enables him to go gate to wire. The colt out of Grand Slam is already a listed stakes winner, the biggest problem for him is that he is not proven at this distance, and will be a long shot to win here.
Contribute (IRE) is another one who started his career late and now is starting to blossom on maybe a future star. The colt, a son of Generous (IRE), is already a stakes winner and graded placed horse. In his last start, he was returning from a sixteen week layoff, coming in third in the Rio Bravo Challenge. He should be much fitter for this race and trainer 1stsamurai is telling us he is eating the track in the mornings. He is my pick to win here.
Dixieland Wells (IRE) is trying the turf for the first time after doing very nicely over the main course. The Dixieland Band colt looked for a spot in the Bluegrass Derby in his last race, being beaten seven lengths by the winner. Trainer pedroza plays a wild card here, but he is telling us his colt has worked great over the lawn. The class of this horse is not in doubt; he was a graded winner at two. But I prefer to see a race over the turf before recommending him.
Japans New Hope (JPN) is the hope for his trainer lodog20 for a graded win. This horse is out of the obscure sire Sakura Laurel (JPN), and he has consistently been beaten by horses of lesser quality than this field. Furthermore, he had to drop to the $40,000 claiming level to win his last race. He will be part of the early pace here, but he will have to improve a lot to be able to be in the Top 5 here.
Motor City Madman (JPN) is another one coming from the Land of the Rising Sun. Very lightly raced, with only four lifetime starts, this horse out of Fantastic Light has shown nice talent so far, improving his SF each race after the other. His trainer is good friend sdmfclaims, who understands his colt is up against it for this race, but after this race is over, he will have a much better feeling on what he has in his barn. At 16-1, is a pretty interesting betting proposition.
Magnificent Hero (GB) is maybe the most accomplished horse in this field, with three stakes wins over his short career, including a Grade I score in the Duetoburst Stakes in late November. His trainer is ildottore, which is also the breeder of this Footstepinthesand (GB) offspring. The colt likes to come from the middle of the pack and the cutback in distance for today should serve him well. He should be a part of every exotic wager.
License to Win (GB) is another colt who should be part of the early flight of this race. This Doyen (IRE) son is a very consistent colt, bringing a check in every race he has run so far. He is coming off a stakes win, a wire to wire score in the Raise Pump Challenge. It will be interesting to see what kind of strategy trainer redfish has in store, because there are very fast horses here which will compromise the chances of his game colt. We can not overlook him in his first graded try, but I would have preferred to see him in a little easier spot.
Paycheck (IRE) was bred to be a quality miler, and he has proven his breeder and trainer deyoto right so far. The son of Montjeu (IRE) has been a graded winner already and placed in the prestigious Breeders Bowl Juvenile Turf. He is listed at #5 in the Turf Classic ranks, and, as a bunch of horses in here, will be fighting for an early tactical position to attack from the three sixteenths pole on. The post is somewhat compromising for his running style, but anyway he is a top contender in here.
The King’s Son (IRE) has been a nice sprinter so far in his career, and now he will take his game to the routing distances. The colt, out of Azamour (IRE), will be part of the early frey who should develop for the lead. Trainer bandinni tells us he will try to retain his colt in the midst of the pack to try to get a run out of him. From post 11, I think this is his only chance to win. Let’s see how this transpires for this speedy colt.
Mr. Inconspicuous is the kind of horse I like. Six wins in ten starts tell the story for him, and much better than this, his last race was his best lifetime, winning the Deputy Hippos Memorial at 7.5 furlongs, posting his lifetime best SF, a 94. Trainer foxon4 is extremely confident about the chances of this royally bred Aptitude colt. He has been working lights out in the mornings and I like him a lot to be part of the exotics here.
Mull of Glanoich had a string of three stakes wins and four of five late in his two year old season, and he has continued to perform brilliantly for trainer stallcori. The problem I see with this son of Mull of Kintyre is that his best races have come when he is on the lead from the gitgo, and that will be a dauntling task for him from post #13 and with all the quality speedsters in this field. Anyway the class is undeniable, but I will pass on him for this one.
Sisson’s Niner will be the last one to enter the gate. This colt is a blue blood, a son of Forty Niner in a Storm Cat mare. He has done his best running in allowances and listed stakes, and in his lonely graded try, he failed drastically, losing by a seven length margin. His last race gave his trainer taztiger some hope, but he will need to improve that best career effort to win in this race.
My Picks: Contribute (IRE), Mr. Inconspicuous, Magnificent Hero (GB)