Top 3 year old sprinters face off in the Prince’s Knight

It’s forecast to be a beautiful day in upstate New York as some of the best young sprinters take to the track in the Grade 1 Prince’s Knight Stakes. The track is fast and we have a solid field of 14 headed to the post, so we should be in for a barn burner of a race.

 

#1 Timber Cadet – Cadet is one of the top trainers in the game with no shortage of quality horse flesh, so I was taken by surprise to see Timber Country is still getting it done in the breeding shed. The 1994 BC Juvenile and 1995 Preakness winner has sired one exceptional horse outside of the SIM in his career, the talented gelding Eremein won 5 group 1 races in Australia and over $4M in earnings. In the SIM he has sired only 1 stakes winner in the last decade it seems and you are looking at him. He has 3 wins in listed competition at 6.5 to 7.5 furlongs, all with a late rush to win by open ground. Don’t let the odds and pedigree fool you, this horse can run.

 

#2 Forty Is Golden – ddstables, which everyone thinks is me for some reason, no it’s actually Stockswami. This colt by Carpe Diem was well on his way to a possible shot at the Bluegrass Derby with 3 consecutive listed and graded wins late in his 2 year old season. Early results in his 3yo season have been disappointing when facing Grade 1 competition. A cut back in class and distance has yielded a couple nice sprint wins leading up to this race. I’d like to see more recent success against better to use him on my tickets.

 

#3 Destiny is Written – trained by the guru of the silks himself gcliffo, When you think dirt sprinter it’s hard not to think Speightstown, and this one has backend to compliment that speed. he has 2 listed wins at the distance and his last start was impressive. Drawing off to win by over a length and putting up a solid 113sf against a salty field of runners. He is rounding into shape nicely at just the right time.

 

#4 Iron Laker – trained by Iron Mike, the greatest tight end ever to play the game. Iron Laker is by Honorable Dillon, a son of the great Tapit and from a stakes winning Tobasco Cat mare. Looking at the past performances, I can’t decide if he has bad luck or is an over achiever. 2nd twice in Grade 1 competition and 2nd 2 starts back at today’s 7F distance against graded company. He just seems to come up a little bit late and short at this level. He stretched out his last start and didn’t show that late turn of foot he had in sprint races. He’s 14/1 and has multiple 2nd place finishes at this level, you absolutely cannot leave him off your tickets.

 

#5 Auditorium – cvbear sends this son of Flatter to the post coming in on a bit of a hot streak. 3 straight wins and the last 2 are listed stakes wins. The odds in those wins would make any degenerate gambler smile. He likes a good stalking trip and should get one in this race where most want to pick up the pieces late. Steadily improving colt with only 6 starts and that means we may not have seen his best yet and he has the potential to pop a huge number here of he gets the right trip.

 

#6 Undereya – trained by rfrankel, this some of Eskenderaya by an Unbridled’s Song mare will give you a headache trying to figure his form. What I see is if he gets close to the front early he is dangerous and can run away with the race. What I also see is a horse that struggles to be close early in races less than 7.5 furlongs. His form 3 back says he can jump on you quick and put it away against graded company and his last race he stalked the pace and drew off late. This is a sprint race with only a couple burners that will want the lead, so he may be forwardly placed early and that could spell trouble for the rest of the field.

 

#7 Royal Engagement – I remember not long ago talking to Gooddude in chat when he was brand new, and look at him now going after the big boys. This son of Gio Ponti is a true burner that will be after the lead right out of the gate. He comes out of a grade 1 race against older horses where he was 61/1 and was still pressing the early pace and did not embarrass himself finishing only 3 lengths back. I think he can get the lead in this race, but I am concerned with him coming back from such a tough outing in less than a month and he will have a tough group of stalkers pressing him all the way. I think he may be a bit short today.

 

#8 He’s In Shape – Noted Caravan travelling enthusiast, statistician, and website guru for ASR Jacklad sends his prized son of Tapit to post. It’s really quite simple when you look at this horse, Tapit from End of Year champion mare Out of Shape. Those facts simply cannot be ignored. However I can poke holes in his performances, he has shown a little bit of vulnerability at 7F and will most likely need to be close to the lead in this race.  There are solid closers here and He’s In Shape can’t afford to give up too much ground early. His class and pedigree and 116 SF last out make him an obvious favorite but he will need to be on his game today to become a Grade 1 winner.

 

#9 City At Nite – I’ll have to thank simonizer for getting LA Woman stuck in my head for the next week with that name. This son on Espoir City is coming in after a couple walkover allowance wins in New Mexico, and has a listed win at the 7F distance. He is very consistent only finishing off the board twice. That’s the good news, the bad news for City At Nite is that this isn’t New Mexico and this is his 9th start of the year and 4th start in about 7 weeks. He likes to come from the clouds with a thrilling late rush to win his races but I think he will be hard pressed to look as impressive against this Grade 1 field of runners.

 

#10 Whoa Nelly – jmac sends his colt to the post as the voice of Keith Jackson rings in my ears from so long ago, This son of up and coming sire Quality Road has been facing tough customers since his 3rd start, so the crowds and attention won’t be anything new to this veteran of 9 listed and graded races, and to his credit he has performed pretty solidly in races under a mile. I have concerns though that he’s been facing a bit too stiff of competition and no wins since October of last year doesn’t give me much confidence. I’d like to see him drop down and get a couple allowance wins under his belt to build his confidence back up. Very solid horse that may just be in a little too deep today.

 

#11 Corredor De Poder – Selurnivek sends this grade 2 winning son of Power Broker to the big show coming in off some tough loses. He showed a lot of early promise as a 2 year old winning 5 straight including the Grade 2 Saint Vincent going 7F.  He led the All Saints Derby lock into the stretch, backed up and hasn’t looked the same since. He looks to be well rested but just hasn’t been the same horse in recent starts and I can’t use him based on recent form.

 

#12 Tappan Z – tyedye brings in his multiple stakes winning son of Tapizar from a Sea the Stars mare. This colt shows some good early speed and has been solid in his 3 year old season, he potentially can contend for the lead early and has shown that he hold on down the stretch. I suspect this horse needs to be in the lead to run his best race and it’s going to be tough for him to beat the #7 horse to the turn. I’m going to look elsewhere for my money.

 

#13 Buzzing Quality – gipper brings his son of Quality Road in on a bit of a hot streak  in his last 7 starts, he has 5 listed stakes wins and a grade 2 win. If that doesn’t say class I don’t know what does. I can forgive his last start as it looks like he simply missed the break and shuffled back early off a bit of a layoff. 2nd race back now and I don’t think a horse with multiple stakes wins at 5 furlongs is going to have trouble staying close in this race. His last race is a throw away and he is a must play in this race.

 

#14 Haverty – Babers brings his son of Awesome Again to the spa coming off an impressive 111 SF win in listed company. In 2 other starts in New York the colt has led each race into the stretch and been run down late. I’m not sure if he wants longer or shorter but I do know he wants the lead, and he has some speed inside to contend with. He’s hard to use in this race but he is steadily improving with every race, so I wouldn’t be shocked if he hits the board.

 

My selections 8-13-3-1

Good luck to all the competitors