G1 United Countries Draws Star Studded Cast

The Jersey Shore is one of the hottest destinations for East Coast weekend vacationers. A stroll down the boardwalk. A leisurely afternoon at the beach. An evening at one of the nightclubs. It’s got everything a summer destination needs.

It also happens that the Jersey shore, which will be hosting the Breeders Bowl later this year, is the location for one of the most prestigious turf races in the Sim. Every year, the United Countries Handicap (G1, 11f turf, all 3yo+) draws a sensational international field of long turf ramblers. Just last year, the just retired Sunnybank Memorial powered his way to a 4-1/2 length victory in the United Countries (UC). Three years ago in 2004, Allied Assault ran a tremendous race in the UC to finish 2^nd, but fell short of the inconsistent yet sometimes brilliant Ebro, who set a still-standing stakes record time of 2:14.6.

There is a certain attraction to this race that horsemen can feel. That attraction has brought arguably the deepest turf field of the year to the Jersey Shore to wage battle. The plotlines are rampant. Can the champion filly Wicked Wench beat the boys for the first time? Can emerging turf star Strong Belwas make it three straight G1 wins? Is Puppet Regime, who broke an eight-race graded losing streak last time out, ready to find consistency? Can Jumpin’ Java, 2^nd in his last three races, flip the tables on Belwas and take home the winner’s share of the purse?

I set out early this morning to try and find out more about some of the top entrants, and also perhaps to find some answers to the above questions. Arriving at the Jersey track around 6 AM, I went straight to the backstretch to watch the final work of the race favorite.

The Top Four

As I was shuffling my papers, trying to get them in order, I caught the morning line favorite, Strong Belwas (4yo colt, 4/1 ML, Post 11, trainer Given) come flying around the far turn and breeze down the stretch. As impressive as he looked galloping, when his work was over and he was walking back to the shedrow, he looked even more impressive. His sire, Empire Maker, was not your prototypical American racehorse. Like his uber dam, Toussaud, Empire Maker had the look of a classy European runner who knows exactly how good they are. That was the feeling I got from Belwas. He knows he was good. And also like his sire, Belwas was a joy to meet. He was very friendly and had a keen eye. As a runner he was a slow developing juvenile, he lost his first three starts on the dirt before switching to the turf. The difference was immediate and obvious. He relished every stride on the green stuff. The eye-catching chestnut colt has only been worse than 2^nd in two of his 15 starts on the turf. His G1 record is 8 (3 4 1), about as consistent as it gets. Despite losing three straight graded races to Otto Oh No last year, Belwas didn’t lose heart. He was given a two-month break and came out breathing fire as a 4yo, winning a listed stakes by nearly six lengths, finishing a good 2^nd to Horseshoe Bay in the G1 Sand Castle Golden Turf Classic, and then winning two G1’s in a row, one at 10f and one at 11f. He’s recently made it onto Mike and Larry’s Top Ten list, a high honor, but to stay there he will have to run well against the deepest field that he has ever seen. Look for him to burst out of the gate and keep running hard until the finish. It will take a big performance to beat him.

One of the horses with a great chance to spring an upset is the beautiful champion filly Wicked Wench (4yo filly, 8/1 ML, Post 6, trainer Galileo). She had finished her morning work by the time I arrived, as she is known to be cranky and hard to deal with. They like to work her when not many horses are out. So I went over to her trainer’s barn. And living up to her name, when I went to give the Wench a pat on the nose she almost took off one of my fingers. The say most of the good fillies have an attitude, and this one certainly isn’t any different. A chestnut daughter of Montjeu, she came out breathing fire on the track, winning the G1 Adelaide Oaks in only her 5^th start and the G1 Oaks de English in her 6^th start. She won one more graded race as a 3yo and won the Sim Eclipse Award for Top 3yo Turf Filly. While she hasn’t shown a whole lot of consistency to this point, she absolutely blew the doors off the G2 Yabba Dabba Doo Handicap last time out, running the 11f in 2:15 flat to demolish the stakes record. She has taken on the boys twice, and been unsuccessful both times, but a repeat of her last effort might just be enough to send the boys home crying.

The third of the big four in this race is regally bred Puppet Regime (5yo horse, 5/1 ML, Post 4, trainer Ledwith). A strapping son of Kingmambo, he has an amazing strike rate of 12 wins from 27 races. He’s coming off a scintillating effort in the G1 Doomben Cup, coming from the clouds with a sweeping move to win with a 110 SF. It’s interesting to note that the horse he passed in the Doomben’s final stages was Balerion, a stablemate of Strong Belwas. Can he do the same thing this week? To this point, Puppet’s biggest flaw has been his inconsistency. He’s never won back-to-back graded races. In fact, of the three graded wins on his resume, the first two were three months apart and the second two were a year apart. He faces a very tough field this week and will need to string together massive efforts for the first time in his career to rate a chance at the top prize.

The final top contender in the race is Jumpin’ Java (6yo horse, 6/1 ML, Post 12, trainer Kiddman). A son of Java Gold, he is coming off three straight very impressive 2^nd-place efforts in graded races on the law. Three back he fell short of Strong Belwas by ¾ lengths with a 107 SF, and two back he ran even bigger to finish second in another G1 by a ¼ length with a 110 SF. Don’t let those bridesmaid finishes fool you though, he’s won four graded races including a G1 in March. With his versatile stalking running style, this horse should get a really good trip this weekend and should be right there at the finish. He’s only been worse than 4^th twice in his career and it will be a shock if he doesn’t once again finish in the top four.

The Potential Upsetters

The depth of this year’s UC is astounding, and while it will take a massive effort to prevent one of the top four from winning, there are many strong contenders who look good enough to spring the upset.

Stunning Blow (4yo colt, 12/1 ML, Post 5, trainer Toplight) is one of those horses who looks ready to burst out of his shell at any moment. A strapping son of Theatrical, he’s one of the more lightly raced horses in the field with only 15 starts. Last time out he ran a career top SF of 104 to finish 2^nd in a G2 at 10f, and he’s an undefeated two for two at the UC’s 11f distance. His form charts do indicate that he might bounce of his career best effort, but you never know with an improving colt like this. A monster effort would be no surprise to this handicapper.

Socrates LL (5yo horse, 9/1 ML, Post 2, trainer Nawbo) is one of those rare animals that proves top class on both the turf and the dirt. That’s not surprising, given War Chant as his sire, and he’s won five stakes on the turf and two stakes on the dirt. In his last race he ran a monster 104 SF to win a 14f dirt stakes and as he is an undefeated two for two going from dirt to turf, it’s highly possible that he is ready to run a new career top this weekend. His lone remaining issue is class as he’s only run in one graded race, but he sure appears to have talent in spades.

Barb’s Rosebud (4yo colt, 14/1 ML, Post 14, trainer Jakematt) is yet another impressive looking stakes winner in this overwhelming field of turf stars. The regally bred son of A.P. Indy out of a Sadler’s Wells mare has won four turf stakes going 10f, including a 3-length romp last time out. The questions surrounding him are that he’s never won two races in a row and his top career SF of 103 doesn’t look quite in line with some of the runners here. That being said, this horse certainly has a chance at a minor award if he can put together two big efforts in a row!

Lemon Lily Affair (4yo colt, 16/1 ML, Post 8, trainer Chuckrock) ran his top career SF at the 11f UC distance three races back with a 104 SF to finish 2^nd in a stakes. This large son of Lemon Drop Kid has really come into his own of late, winning the first two stakes races of his career in the last five races, including a 3-1/2 length romp two back at 12f. The distance this weekend is clearly no problem and he could get a clear stalking trip for most of the race. He’ll need to take a step forward for a top three finish, but the talent is certainly there.

Flushing Waters (4yo colt, 12/1 ML, Post 10, trainer PM) is the baby of the group with only 14 starts, but this son of High Chaparral has made them count. He won a 9.5f turf stakes in his 4^th start and ran a bang-up 2^nd last time out in a G1 at 10f with a 104 SF. That was a new career top SF for him and he will look to improve off of that. That was good to see as he’d been off the board in his previous six starts. He’s still winless in his last nine races and it might do him good to get a confidence booster at some point. That being said, he’s clearly on the improve and another step forward could put him in the mix as they come down the stretch!

St. Agur (4yo colt, 10/1 ML, Post 7, trainer Lenny) was a very nice claim made by the noted attention whore Lennbrenner. Rumors flying around the Sim have also put Lenny in the middle of the vicious battle between Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump, but nothing has been confirmed. In any event, if nothing else this horse shows that Lenny has a keen eye for talent, as he claimed this Theatrical colt for $75,000 last August. Since the claim the horse’s career has taken off, and last time out he ran a very nice 106 SF to finish 3^rd in a G1 at 10f. He’s still looking for his first stakes win, and this will be a pretty tough spot to find it, but who knows what kind of juice will be flying around his owner’s stables on Friday morning.

Strikingly G (4yo colt, 21/1 ML, Post 9, trainer pgpg) lives up to his name as he is a strikingly beautiful son of Cat Thief out of a Kingmambo mare. He is one of the lone non-stakes winners in the field, but he is coming off a very nice confidence-building allowance win at 12f and has run a very nice 104 SF at 9.5f. While it certainly I shard to envision him making a dent in the superfecta this weekend, he seems to be a hard knocking type who makes his owners proud every time he goes out there. He could surprise some people with a nice run.

Celebrity Swain (4yo colt, 23/1 ML, Post 1, trainer Goody) only has three wins in 22 starts, but he looked very confident this morning, which is understandable as he crushed a 10f stakes last time out by 3+ lengths with a 96 SF. That win put him over $100,000 for his career, very nice for this son of Swain. He’s yet to run a 100+ SF yet, and that makes it very unlikely he will finish in the first group, but it’s possible that he turned the corner last time out and could be ready to run a career top.

Nureyburg (4yo colt, 23/1 ML, Post 3, trainer Goody) is a stablemate of Celebrity Swain, but unlike his stablemate he has not yet broken his stakes cherry. That being said, this handsome son of Johannesburg ran a monster 107 SF four back in a G3 at 9f to finish 2^nd by less than a length. He’s never seen 11f, and his two 10f efforts resulted in off the board finishes, so he might not have the stamina for this test. But even if he runs out of stamina this weekend around the far turn, I am confident that with a return to distances closer to a mile he will turn into a stakes winner.

Cozy Ghost (4yo colt, 21/1 ML, Post 14, trainer Slewsback) has to deal with the outside post and also with the fact that he’s looking for his first career stakes win. The striking dark grey son of Cozzene did run a really impressive allowance race four back, winning by a length with a career best 102 SF. However, he lost to Belwas by 18 lengths last time out and will have a tough time reversing that form. But hey, his owners got a free trip to the fantastic Jersey shore!

Conclusion: The United Countries Handicap shakes out as one of the toughest turf races so far this year, and it’s hard to see anything less than a 110 SF winning it. The favorite Strong Belwas looks very strong and will be hard to catch, but you can be sure that come stretch time, there will be a slew of challengers coming at him. The filly Wicked Wench along with Jumpin’ Java and Puppet Regime will all look to run down the favorite in the stretch, and it could turn into a stretch run for the ages. You won’t want to miss it!