Juvenile Bumper Cars

Someone dipped into the Guinness while planning this week’s races for Ireland: the last race on the card is the owner-restricted Twinhollow Appreciation Stakes for juveniles going six furlongs on the dirt for a $75,000 prize.  With seventeen two-year-olds scheduled to start–eight of them unraced–things are likely to get a bit rough on the track.

We’ll run through this field in post position order, which means Ranger’s Ring is first up.  Larrydoyle‘s brown colt is by freshman sire Aragorn, a multiple G1 winner on the turf, and based on stakes winner Ireful, by Danzig. Ireful’s running was done on the dirt and that’s where ‘Ranger started his career, with a professional stalking victory in another Irish owner-restricted stakes.  His 70 speed rating was very credible indeed for a two-year-old at this time of year.

Team Car is a grey son of the underappreciated Waquoit, out of a Giant’s Causeway mare.  He’s shipped over from upstate New York, where his career began in a blowout four and a half furlong MSW.  He raced gamely, hounded through the early fractions by several, including the eventual winner, and finished a hard-trying third, beaten just half a length.  P. Inch hasn’t had a winner yet this year, but Poolshoota shows confidence in picking up this shipping bill.

It seems a little harsh to set any first-timer at 99/1 odds on the morning line, but maybe it’ll make a nice payday for Wish4win, who wins races at a 10% clip.  All’s Well Today‘s pedigree is a bit undistinguished up close, but she’s a grandson of Sadler’s Wells, out of a Seattle Slew granddaughter.  The brown filly is unraced and while recent events in Vermont indicate that the girls may have less of an edge early in the year this time around, anything can happen with lightly-raced two-year-olds.

If not for Team Car, I’d begin to suspect this of being a freshman sires event.  Gaunt is a brown colt from the first crop of Scaredee Cat, a G2 winner by Tale of the Cat, and out of a Mining mare.  Scaredee Cat has no winners from four runners thus far, but one filly out of a Black Tie Affair daughter did come very close.

Keep your peasants and your thatched roof cottages away from The Burninator.  This unraced chestnut son of Hennessy is the first foal from Love Strawberries, a Crafty Prospector mare who did her best work in starter allowance routes.  She did win her second start at two, and Hennessy may add a bit of precocity as well.  Jockey S. Jaeger, though, is another non-winner on the year.

Freshman sire Seeking the Cat (Seeking the Gold) is represented here by Impossible Cat, a brown filly out of Impossiblypossible, a Not Impossible mare; she was a winner, but not in any of her three starts at two.  Impossible Cat made her first start over this track in mid-February in an owner-restricted MSW.  She was shuffled back in that field and finished seventeeth with a 46 speed rating; improvement will be needed.

Sometimes humility is rewarded.  Lacorrone wasn’t willing to commit to the success of their Leporello filly before she hit the track: they called her Might Be Last.  But the filly, out of a winning mare by Sequoia Slew, wasn’t interested in living up to her name.  It’s true, she did hang back in the start of a five-furlong California MSW.  But she didn’t stay there, and romped home a length and a quarter clear of the second-place horse.  Her 73 speed rating is well worth noting, as is the fact that the show horse that day rolled back to win his next start.

The handicapper shows faith in making Pacer‘s Mont Allure the morning line co-favorite with Ranger’s Ring at 5/1.  The Montjeu daughter is well-bred, out of a winning Awesome Again mare.  And maybe it’s not so strange that she be linked to ‘Ranger.  They shared a first race, after all.  Mont Allure was an even-running third in that event and her jockey, the talented Z. Kentucky, hops mounts to ride ‘Ranger in here.

Country-bred tag aside, Blackirish‘s filly Golden Desert doesn’t appear to be on the road to turkey-dom.  The Strike the Gold daughter out of a Green Desert mare made her first start in the same owner-restricted stakes race as favored Ranger’s Ring and set a snappy pace before that one ran her down in the stretch.  She picks up a better jockey in A. Reed and should be tighter for having the race under her belt.

Kingmambo son Dexterity is into just his second crop.  With 37.8% winners in his first, his numbers aren’t brilliant thus far, but I sure wouldn’t kick his stakes winner from that bunch out of my barn.  His entry here is Just My Luck, a filly from a winning Sakhee mare.  Just My Luck made her career bow in an owner-restricted Danish MSW, where she rated kindly and kicked clear to win with a startling 79.  7/1 seems generous on the horse with the best number in the race.

Make it two by Aragon: Eddielegg has entered first-timer So And So, a bright brown daughter of Smart Strike winner Slap Smart.  Slap Smart took ten tries to break her maiden, but she was in the money with regularity up until then.  Unfortunately, those check-earning races came at three; she was twice sixth in two starts at two, and we don’t know Aragorn well enough yet to see what kind of precocity he’ll add.

Frips Harmony brings us another freshman sire in Pomeroy, by Boundary.  He’s had one winner in five starters thus far; that victory came on the turf, but one of his sons ran a strong race for second on the main track and that horse, like ‘Harmony, was out of a Distorted Humor mare.  Pomeroy himself was never off the board in four starts at two.  ‘Harmony’s dam, The Aristocrat, was unraced at two but nearly a winner in her second start and then comfortably victorius in her third.  It would be no surprise to see the Vermillion entry hit the ground running.

Danish Media is indeed a Denmark-bred, from the Green Dancer son Mas Media, who’s not hit the jackpot thus far in the breeding shed.  He has one stakes winner to his credit, G2-placed Nurse Galaxy, and no runners at all in the last few years.  Danish Media is out of a Mt. Livermore mare.

Continuing the string of first-timers is Mortician‘s Jinta, a brown colt by With Distinction, who was himself an allowance winner at two.  Jinta is the fifth foal of Ginny’s Napkin, an Awesome Again mare who was a winner at first asking at three and stakes-placed in her third start.  Her first colt took a while to get going, but two of her three Peintre Celebre foals have been runners right out of the box.

Speaking of Peintre Celebre, he’s the sire of Celticcros‘s Celtic Celebrity, who made his debut on the turf and finished fifth, beaten five lengths.  His dam is Keltic Kross, a Sadler’s Wells mare who broke her maiden on the grass but preferred the dirt, and was a multiple allowance winner there.  Expect this one to show improvement as the races stretch out.

The end of the field is in sight as we move on to Benihime, a Best Minister chestnut.  Best Minister is 0-for-6 so far and himself unplaced in two starts at two.  Benihime is the fourth foal of Leo Castelli mare Miss Erica, who has two winners from her previous offspring.  She did not race at two, but was second in her first start at three and romped by seven in her second (versus claiming company).

And rounding out the field, we’re back to a horse with a race under his belt: Rockin’ N’ Rollin, by one of my own favorites, sophomore stallion Rock Hard Ten, who has six stakes winners, two of them graded, in his first crop.  ‘Rockin’ is the first foal of Distorted Humor daughter Learntolaugh, who was durable (forty-one races, on the board in fully half) and swift (G2 placed).  She didn’t win until her fourth start, but was third and then second at two.  ‘Rockin’ was shuffled way back in a five-furlong affair, but threaded between horses to go from seventeenth to sixth.  Gets a little more distance on Saturday, and the services of the capable C. Shull.