The TALE OF TWO PLACES Challenge

The TALE OF TWO PLACES Challenge
Stakes
One mile
Fast Dirt
$40,000
All horses, 3 years old

A very competitive field of eight three year old colts has gathered for the highlight of today’s card, The Tale Of Two Places Challenge.  It’s always interesting this time of year as you see may three year olds starting to develop and show signs of maturity and that may very well be the case in this one.  Only one of the eight contestants has won at this level before but all have shown good signs of preparation and justification for a run here.  It’s a pretty tightly bunched field but I seem to like the #2 horse CK Native Mesa.  Although he’s lightly raced, he does have some very nice breeding and I think that he should perform well here in his stakes debut.

Good Luck with your picks.

PP 1

10/1 HURRICANE HAUNTING(KY)

(SILVER GHOST x STORM BIRD x SEATTLE SLEW)

Trainer:  muninn240

Hurricane Haunting’s trainer muninn240 is hoping that his colt is ready to go after a seven week layoff.  He’s a winner of two of his three lifetime starts and even with a 79 SP rating in his last race, he could compete here.  He was never really challenged in that last race and a smart ride by his jockey allowed this colt to give just what was needed in order to win.  He did break his maiden with an 86 SP in early January so a good showing here wouldn’t surprise me. 

PP 2

4/1 CK NATIVE MESA(KY)

(SKY MESA x SEATTLE SLEW x ALYDAR)

Trainer:  docoz

CK Native Mesa makes his stakes debut today.  Although he only has three lifetime starts, he has shown some good speed and should compete down to the wire.  His only strike is that he hasn’t made it to the winner’s circle since breaking his maiden at first asking but he did catch a bad trip last time out in an Alw-35200NW2L.  He was caught between horses on the final turn but was closing fast before running out of track.  He’ll need a smarter ride this time but drew bad luck in the jockey selection.

PP 3

7/1 CHEESE DOODLES(NY)

(KELLY KIP x RAFFIE’S MAJESTY x HOSTAGE)

Trainer:  65retired

Cheese Doodles returns to stakes competition for the first time since December.  This colt has been moved along with care but has two strong allowance wins this season to prepare him for his run here.  Although the lacks big name breeding, he certainly runs like he has.  I think you can throw out his only stakes race due to an off track and if his conditioning has helped any he should be a factor in today’s race despite the 7/1 odds.

PP 5

12/1 RED FOREST(ENG)

(RED RANSOM x WOODMAN x DEPUTY MINISTER)

Trainer:  donut

If you’re looking at Red Forest and scratching your head you’re not the only one.  The Red Ransom colt is making a complete 180 degree turn around in this race.  In his three lifetime starts, all of which were on the turf, he has two wins.  He not only makes his debut on the main track today but also his stakes debut.  Add to that the fact that his last win came at 11 furlongs and you have to wonder if he doesn’t show well, which move was the factor?  However, he has shown that he can get the distance so we’ll just have to see how he transitions over to the dirt course. 

PP 6

7/2 XMAS PAST(KY)

(GHOSTZAPPER x GONE WEST x NIJINSKY II)

Trainer:  pbcash

The slight morning line favorite, Xmas Past returns to stakes company again after two allowance prep races.  He makes his second start after a two month layoff and I think he may be ready to show more.  Although he is winless at this level, he has put together a few good rides and seems to have filled out nicely over the layoff period.  Look for him to go to the early lead and try to wire the field. 

PP 7

9/2 MOJAVE COUNTY(KY)

(SAINT LIAM x SEEKING THE GOLD x SECRETARIAT)

Trainer:  roys

It’s been 11 months since Mojave Country has won at this level.  This Saint Liam colt though has progressed steadily as his runs seem to be getting stronger with time.  His two starts this season have both been restricted allowance race where he demolished the competition with little urging and that could prep very nicely coming into today’s race.  He seems well suited for this distance and at 9/2 could pay dividends nicely for you.  On paper, he looks very similar to Cheese Doodles and you could see those two going at head to head.

PP 8

4/1 SON OF A WELLS TED(CAN)

(KINSHASA x SADLER’S WELLS x SUMMER SQUALL)

Trainer:  hijacked

Hoping the 5^th time is the charm, hijacked’s Son Of A Wells Ted may be the most experienced horse at this level in today’s race.  Although his record stands at 1-11 he has shown well in the stake races he has competed in and has hit the board twice with decent ratings.  It would seem that he’s due a break out race as he has had a pattern of stalking the pace but failing to fire when asked.  You’ll need to find a way to box him on your trifecta ticket somehow.