Ten In Dodge This

The highlight race in Queensland this week will be the Grade III mile and a quarter Dodge This Stakes. The prestigious race open for fillies and mares is run over a mile and one quarter over the turf track with a purse prize this year of $150,000. The weather here in Queensland for the early part of the week has been nothing but pleasant and this pattern is expected to hold throughout the week; expect the turf track to be listed as firm at post time for the Dodge This Stakes. A medium field of ten has drawn into the filed for this year’s running, let’s take a look at each of the competitors individually.

Drawing the rail post we will have Closing Costs (Awesome Again x Rahy x Relaunch) and is owned and trained by cheadle. This gorgeous four year old homebred has been light raced in her career with a total of nineteen lifetime starts including seven wins. The fillies most recent start came overseas in the United States during the ungraded The Sky Execute (GB) Stakes where she held back behind the front runners in third and pounced upon the front runners at the stretch, winning the race by two and one-fourth lengths and posting a speed figure of ninety-six in 2:03. This Saturday’s running in the Dodge This Stakes will be this fillies first attempt at graded stakes competition.

In the two slot is Basic Instinct (Empire Maker x Deputy Minister x Mr. Prospector) and is trained and owned by lenny29. This four year old chestnut has also been lightly raced with a total of seventeen lifetime starts, fourteen of these resulting in finishes on the board. The fillies most recent start came in Norway during the ungraded The Mammoth Fuzz Special where she stalked behind in fifth but never fired, finishing fifth, back by six and a half lengths. Her most recent win was just the start prior and came the month before in the ungraded The Queen Deputy Stakes where she held further back in the field in seventh and began to pick off the tiring leaders once they reached the turn. The filly won the race by two lengths in which she set a speed figure of one hundred one, a lifetime best for the filly. The chestnut has had one graded start, in the Canary Stakes on an off track late last year, in which she finished a well-beaten fourth.

Next is The Winner Isn’t (Opening Verse x Prized x Miswaki) and is out of the race-winning dam Freek’s Prize. This four year old striking light gray filly is trained by cjjonesz and has a total of twenty-four lifetime starts with ten finishes on the board including four wins. The fillies most recent start was in Portugal during the ungraded The Big Project Special where she sat in fourth the entire race, finishing nine and a half lengths off the pace. The fillies most recent win came in late January of this year during an allowance caliber race in Denmark in which the gray filly went wire to wire, winning by a length and a half and posting a speed figure of ninety-five under jockey L. Edens.

Favorite Spooky Ballet (Silver Ghost x Nureyev x Rainbow Quest) and out of the stakes-running dam Uncharted Waters, is next. This six year old light gray mare is owned by apmccoy and has been fairly lightly raced with forty-four starts in her five-year long racing career. Out of these forty-four starts an impressive twenty-one have resulted in wins for the mare and have lended her career earnings of over one million dollars. The mare’s most recent start came overseas in the United states during the ten furlong ungraded Minnesota vs Pastures of Green Restricted where she came from far off the pace in tenth and rallied to finish third, three and three-fourths of a length back from the winner, but posting an impressive speed figure of one hundred five for her effort. Her most recent win was just the race before, coming in late January on an off turf track during the ungraded CR Racers Happy Australia Day Restricted where she came from mid pack in seventh and began picking off other horses early on in the race to win by three and three-fourth lengths and put up an effortless speed figure of ninety-five.

Following will be Junk Collector (IRE) (Perfect Soul (IRE) x Spinning World x Dynaformer) and is owned and trained by rushilohb. This four year old chestnut has been lightly raced with a total of sixteen lifetime starts including three wins, eight places and two shows to her credit. The most recent start came in the Grade III Good Vista Handicap in Ohio where she came from far off the pace in thirteenth and began to pick off faltering horses as the race progressed, her valiant effort leading her to a second place finish, four lengths off the winner. Her most recent win came in late November of last year during the ungraded Unbridled State Challenge, where she rated herself back in mid-pack and poured on the steam in the stretch overtaking the rest of the filed like they were holding still to win by a narrow half a length with a speed figure of ninety-seven.

Longshot Lucky’s Whisperer (Strategic Mission x Dust Commander x Quadratic), trained by congaree2 is next. This four year old bay filly has been very lightly raced and is the most inexperienced horse in the filed with only a total of four lifetime starts. After two starts, the filly finally broke her maiden in France on an off turf track, sitting just behind the leaders in fourth and catching them at the wire to win by three and one-fourth lengths and to post a speed figure of seventy-four for the seven and a half furlong race. Her next, and most recent race, and her first and only attempt at any stakes race, was the ungraded The Deadline Challenge where she went straight to the very back of the field and stayed there for the entire race, finishing a lackluster fourteenth and posing a speed figure of sixty-seven. This coming Saturday will be the fillies first start over a distance this long and will also be her first start in graded company.

Ninerdust owned and trained Norse Princess (Sadler’s Wells x Miswaki x Nijinsky II) is next. This five year old bay mare has had a total of twenty-seven lifetime starts, twelve of these have resulted in wins for the impressive mare. Her most recent start came in an allowance caliber race in Ascot where she was held off the pace stalking in fourth and went on to win the nine furlong race by one and three-fourth lengths over the rest of the field. She’s no stranger to stakes races, with her last run being in the ungraded Groom Dixie Special where she finished second, just a half length behind the winner. However, this Saturday will be the mare’s first start at graded competition.

La Pata Daisy (Sadler’s Wells x Jules x Vice Regent), owned and trained by usoz is next in the line up. This five year old homebred mare has had a total of thirty-five lifetime starts including ten wins and ten places. The mare’s most recent start came in North Florida during the Grade III Shawnee River Handicap where she started out chasing the front running horses in fifth but began to fade early and finished a disappointing tenth, twelve and one-fourth length back. Her most recent victory came in April of last year during the ungraded Little Riz Handicap, where she was held off the pace in seventh and gradually began to pick off stragglers as they neared the turn, eventually winning by four lengths and posting a speed figure of ninety-three over the fourteen furlong race.

In the nine post is Generous Jewel (IRE) (Generous (IRE) x Theatrical (IRE) x Roberto) and is owned and trained by superfecta. This four year old bay mare has had a total of twenty-one lifetime starts to date, winning almost half of her starts with a recorded ten wins in her racing career. Her most recent start was her first and only start on the dirt, during the ungraded Senorita Brooke Challenge where she stalked the leaders from back in third but faded further on in the race and finished fourth, twenty-one and one-fourth lengths back, posting an uncharacteristic speed figure of sixty-six on the unfamiliar surface. Her most recent win was just the race before and came on a yielding turf track during the ungraded North Abdul Stakes where she again sat back in third chasing the front runners but rallied in the stretch to win by one and one-fourth lengths and posting a speed figure of eighty-seven. This mare has also had graded starts, in the Grade II Ferdichenko Cup and the Grade III Eloquent Lady Handicap, in which she finished sixth and first respectively.

Drawing the far outside post position will be Semi Spectacular (IRE) (Barathea (IRE) x Spectacular Bid x Stage Door Johnny) and is trained by steelewolf. This light gray four year old filly has been lightly raced so far in her racing career with a total of seventeen lifetime starts including six wins, four places and four shows to her credit. The striking fillies most recent start was in the Grade II Petunia Handicap in Sweden where she took off out the the gates fourth, made a bid for the lead in stretch, but was overtaken by closers and finished third, seven and three-fourths lengths back. Her most recent win was just the start before in the ten furlong ungraded Queen Car Handicap where she again settled back in fourth and made her bid for the lead later in the race, winning convincingly by three lengths with a speed figure posted of ninety-seven.