Spotlight Race of the Day 9/13 Iowa Claiming
Only two races on the card for the day and that was the result of a race being over-carded and spun off into two races. The coverage contained herein is on the race that includes the race sponsor who has set this as a $15,000 claiming race for horses age 3 and older which are local breds. It is a 6.5 furlong race and placed on the turf course.
1 FORT LOGAN 9/2-Rough times of late competing in allowance class and most recent in local stakes race. Speeds have decelerated below 90 range of late and connections are looking for wake-up call by sending into this claiming race and giving up the dirt for the turf. Horse needs something and not sure if this strategy will work, but worth a try.
2 JOHN FROM TULSA 7/2-Race sponsor looks for repeat results of a win going for very similar conditions as he had in last race. Hit season best speed of 97 in last which was a notch higher than the 96 the race previous over this raceway. Another win is not out of the question for this one who just dropped into claimers in his last race and only off board once in turf events.
3 CRUISIN’ TELEGRAPH 5/2-Rocked with a 98 speed on yielding track in last but finished fourth, however, with tougher allowance field. Front runner gets back to more competitive claim group and is very dependable, only off the board once in 25 career starts which was his last race. Hits board again in this one.
4 REKNOWNED 102/1-Took a two year layoff before returning to track with new connections back in July. This is third start of the season and the first two were in similar claiming races and this runner was not a factor in either race. It doesn’t look like things will bet much better in this race and a drop in claiming ranks may be in the future.
5 IN THE MIDDLE 6/1-After finishing sixth in a $75k claiming race at a mile, things are being rolled back as this entrant drops in claiming levels and spills back in distance. He’s done well in both routes and sprints so the change in distance won’t be upsetting. Has a shot to gain something in this one.
6 TALKING NUMBERS 142/1-Makes first start since last August and hard to support in this race. When last seen, was chalking up speeds in the 60-range, a far cry from others in this field and with one win in 14 starts, it’s hard to see a turn around. However, with a few starts, he may find some leg later in this season but I don’t foresee an immediate change in his first race back to the track.
7 OF NO TRACE 2/1-The only mare in the field has the burden of being the favorite. She’s got limited experience on the turf with this being her fourth start. She last ran on the grass in July where she was a well-back third going 8.5furlongs with the high-end starter allowance group. She nose dives to the lowest claim level of her career and returns to sprints where she has won four of nine. A shot here, but I think the supporters have run her odds down a bit too much.
8 RUN ST. CRUZ 6/1-An 11 time winner in 22 grass starts for this six year old looks good on paper but he’s been absent from the winner’s circle for the past year and a half. He’s finished third twice this year in seven races, her best seasonal performance. He’s best in routes and cuts back to the sprint hoping to find a working formula. Doesn’t look promising in this field, but has won 8 times on this track in 10 races.
Looks like a two horse race to me and John From Tulsa gets my vote as he benefited with the drop in class in last and positioned to repeat.
Cruisin’ Telegraph rejoins claim ranks and only missed board for first time in last when elevating to allowance. Back to the board!
Of No Trace gets third pick based on win record, just edging out In the Middle for this selection.