SECRET RIVER Memorial Stakes
This weeks featured race at Vermont is the $150,000 Denied Special. The other stakes race on the card is the $60,000 SECRET RIVER Memorial Stakes for older horses over the one-mile turf course. The eight horses entered in the field in order of postposition, with early betting odds:
DESERT WINGS (16 4-2-3 $52,684)) [14/1] This 4-year-old son of GREEN DESERT is looking for his first stakes win in his fourth attempt at this level. He is coming off a nice performance last time out in allowance company when he won wire-to-wire on the turf at 9 furlongs. Racing for owner/breeder cololynx, he will be ridden by jockey K. Tusten who has not ridden a winner this year. His best efforts come from the front and he could be one of the pacesetters here.
PROTEGE (34 4-7-4 $207,464) [19/1] The betting long shot in the field, this 5-year-old has yet to finish higher than 9th in five outings this year, despite having won the PYE IS PERFECT stakes last year for his only lifetime stakes win. Making only his second lifetime start on the grass, all four of his wins have come from well off the pace. The son of APTITUDE will be ridden by C Wolff (12%) for owner togastable.
TAPIT DANCER (18 4-3-4 $79,743) [5/1] The 4-year-old son of TAPIT makes his second lifetime stakes attempt following a 7th place finish in the OUT TO WIN stakes earlier this year. With a lifetime best turf SP of 101 at this distance, he has shown the ability to win from far off the pace. Owned and bred by rsb, he has responded well to a switch from dirt to turf in the middle of last year. Coming off a 3rd place allowance run, he seems to still be improving and could surprise here with a big finish. The tracks second leading rider, S. Gravina (14%) gets the reins.
RUM N SKITTLES (27 10-2-1 $272,317) [3/1] One of the early co-favorites, this 4-year-old son of JADE HUNTER is a multiple stakes winner, including earlier this year when he won the $45,000 REALITIES OF WAR Stakes in wire-to-wire fashion. All three of the offspring of his dam (BEER N SKITTLES) are stakes winners, including his graded stakes winning full brother ALE N SKITTLES (winner of over $1 million). This versatile runner has won equally well on both dirt and grass. He has an abundance of early speed and is always at or near the front. With a lifetime best SP of 108 on the turf at this distance, he certainly deserves his favoritism among bettors. Owner/breeder bigtime calls on jockey F. Neely (8%), who should have this horse in the mix at the finish on Saturday.
MIRROR IMAGE (37 10-4-6 $359,537) [9/2] After enjoying a banner year as a 3-year-old by winning multiple stakes races, this horse’s performance has fallen off and he hasn’t recorded a stakes win since October ‘05. With a lifetime best SP of 106 on the turf at this distance, he certainly could be a contender here. His first lifetime outing was a restricted stakes win at this track as a 2-year-old. The leading money winner in this field is sired by MT. LIVERMORE and will be ridden by D. Fendlay Jr. (13%) for owner/breeder isittrue.
LOST CAROL (18 5-3-0 $128,288) [5/1] This 4-year-old may benefit from the off track as he won back-to-back allowance races under these conditions earlier this year, including a lifetime best 101 SP. Sired by AWESOME AGAIN, he has enjoyed a successful career at the allowance level and has attempted to step up in class lately. Preferring to come from well off the pace, he seeks his first stakes win in his fourth outing at this level for owner/breeder binky. Jockey B. Langhorne (12%) gets the ride today.
PEDRO’S RAINBOW (25 7-6-3 $274,691) [3/1] The other early co-favorite has a previous win at the stakes level and won an allowance race earlier this year on the turf at this same distance with a 107 SP coming from deep in the field. Sired by SCENIC, he has shown the ability to either press the early lead or come from well off the pace. Owner pedro175 gets the services of Vermont’s leading jockey, W. McClendon (26%)
ADHARA (23 5-4-0 $100,885) [9/2] Sired by ALDEBARAN and a grandson of the great SEATTLE SLEW, this 4-year-old makes his first lifetime start on the turf in search of his first stakes win. He has shown a preference for this distance with a lifetime best SP of 107 earlier this year on the dirt. Difficult to predict how he’ll respond to the switch from dirt to grass, but if he performs equally well as his past he may be in the mix here. Owner tmachine calls on seldom used jockey S. Youngblood (7%).
This prognosticator embarrassed himself last week by first changing a horse’s name during the course of the preview, then condemning the same entry by predicting it the winner, only to see it run fourth. This week RUM N SKITTLES should set the early pace and be looking to see if any of the big closers can catch him. The only other early speed may come from DESERT WINGS. Expect late runs from deep in the field from TAPIT DANCER, PEDRO’S RAINBOW and MIRROR IMAGE. Despite some valiant attempts, none will catch RUM N SKITTLES, with TAPIT DANCER to place and MIRROR IMAGE to show.