Desert Stamina Cup

The men step up and will race a distance of 14 furlongs in the Desert Stamina Cup, however, one lady will be crashing this party.  Four year olds and up are eligible for the race and six of the entrants competed in the Equinics.  Weather could be a factor in the race as rain is in the forecast and it looks like we’ll see the dirt race competed on a good surface.

1  DE LONRO  6/1,   9 WINS, 24 STARTS

Trainer Mrenforcer has gained the inside post for this five year old out of Lonhro.  He comes off a very tough second in the 12f Equinics, a race where he maneuvered from 7th to take the lead for a furlong or so in the stretch to be over taken in the last wrung.  This fine effort followed a pair of wins in listed stakes.   De Lonro took a run at a cup in the Breeders’ Bowl Dirt Marathon and was the third choice in betting but fared poorly finishing in the back half of the field.   He’s got good form going at present and while he has only one grade win (TV Stakes), he’s looking like he’ll be competitive here.

 

2  SLIP OF THE TONGUE  7/1,  12 WINS,  27 STARTS

This frequent winning seven year old, son of Unbridled’s Song,  has done well on the offtrack setting, hitting the board with a win and second in his two appearances on the off going conditions for trainer MTK76.  Since the start of 2017, he has been winless in G1 races (6 starts) but has won the three races in allowance and listed stakes that he took on.   He’s had a tough time over the past year with G1 races picking up some minor purses for 4th/5th place finishes in three of the races but he does enter this race with some hope as he finished 2nd in the California Handicap which followed an off-track win in an allowance race.  He sticks with the Kelly family of jockeys going with MJ Kelly who rode him to a fourth place finish in the 2017 running of the California Handicap.  His struggles with G1 racing can’t be ignored but the recent second is promising and the good performance on the wet surface could work for him.

 

3  ROYAL POTATO  8/1,  10 WINS,  28 STARTS

Trainer Marmac brings this five year old back to the grade level for the first time since last summer.  He’s only raced in two graded races finishing double digit lengths behind the winner with a third place finish being the best outcome in the Dying Breath (G3).  This Awesome Again bred looks ready to make the move up the chain after running four times in listed stakes and hitting the board each time with a pair of wins.  The most recent race was a win at 11 furlongs which he won by three strides with a sizzling 114 speed.  This may be a make-or-break opportunity for Royal Potato to show if he can truly compete at this level or not.

 

4  LOOKING GOOD CADET  12/1,   5 WINS,  12 STARTS

Finishing with a win (North Country Derby, B3), second and third in a trio of Grade level races last year were extremely good performances for this son out of Lookin for Lucky.  He took a break after the last run and returned in late December and proceeded to win a pair of reconditioning allowance races.  After those sharp efforts he ran in the G1 California Derby last month  and ran a competitive third early on before taken a battering and finishing last.  He has not finished off the board since his first career start and hopefully his last outing is just a race he wasn’t feeling good and will make a quick recovery for trainer Cadet.

 

5  HATEFUL  ENTITY  5/1,  10 WINS,  20 STARTS

Trainer Canyongate is putting a five race win streak of Hateful Entity on the line.  This son of Tapit has won half of his career starts and this includes all four of his appearances in off-weather conditions.   The five year old gelding started the win streak with a pair of listed stake wins which was followed by his first grade appearance in the G2 Grey Fox, winning solidly by 6 lengths.  Another solid win in a softer allowance race kicked off the 2018 season.  His most recent victory was in the Equnics where he rallied from nearly 20 strides back in the 12 furlong race and in last to win by three strides and a career best speed of 119.   The one to beat.

 

6  DARK HAYMAKER  19/1,  4 WINS,  25 STARTS

It’s difficult to tell what you will get from this five year old out of Stay Thirsty.   His speed figures fluctuate considerably and can be in the 90’s one time and up in the 100’s another.   He’s been in six grade races and has been on the board once and that came last November in the G2 Hamburg Hall which he charged home to win by a stride at 16/1.   He ran in the Equinics this past February and gained some minor spoils by finishing fifth but 11 strides behind the winner who is starting in the gate next to him.    Trainer Lightng99 has had a tough time figuring this guy out and he tends to strike like lightning when he feels like it.

 

7  AND IN HELL  21/1,  5 WINS,  14 STARTS

This eight time turf grade racer has picked up three wins in races such as Queen Izzy Cap (G3),  Sydney Derby (G1) and Owner’s Stake (G1) with the last happening this past July.   He’s been off the board in the following three starts, two in G1 races and another in an allowance races.  Trainer Spinround made a big move in early March and tossed this grass bred child of Sea the Stars into an allowance dirt race.   The move paid off as he won the 12 furlong race by a nice three strides and a career best speed of 108.   In this race he also ran on the front end for the first time.   These changes seem to have worked and now he returns to the grade level on the new surfaces.  The betting public doesn’t think much of the move sending And In Hell off as a longshot but the comfortable winning margin may mean that 108 speed could be far better than it was if the horse was pressed more.

 

8  TAKE THE KID  12/1,   7 WINS,  21 STARTS

Seconditis is a disease no trainer likes and this son of Take Charge Indy had it.  At the start of 2017 he engaged in four grade level races and finished second each time.   To break out of this fungus, trainer Gowans dropped down to a listed stake, only to see this five year old finish fourth.  The disease finally cleared with a win in the allowance level.  Take the Kid has since made appearances in two big G1 races, the Breeders’ Bowl Dirt Marathon (finished 7th) and the more recent Equinics where he concluded in 6th.   Seconditis may not be looking too bad now and he’s facing some foes from the Equinic race in this event and it looks like a tough undertaking.

 

9  HASHTAG PYE  28/1,  7 WINS,  16 STARTS

The only mare in the field, Hashtag Pye, will be competing with the boys for her first time.  She has three career starts in graded competition which were all run since December.  The Deep Impact bred mare stole a win in the slop in the Saturday Night Girl after building a huge lead and coasting to the wire as the field closed to win by a stride and a career best speed of 113.   Success did not follow her into the Pittsburgh Stayer (G2, 6th) nor the female 12f Equinics race where she led and tired to eleventh.   Trainer Tyedye is hoping to take advantage of what looks like an ability to run on the off track by entering her in this field but taking on the boys may be a tough thing to overcome.

 

10  NEW KING IN TOWN  8/1,  4 WINS,  21 STARTS

Returning to grade racing in August quickly showed that this son of New Approach was ready as he’s fired off speeds above 110 in four straight races.  Trainer Frankster has to be pleased with the win in the G3, Europe Stayer which has been followed by a trio of second place finishes in G1 races that include the Monster Mash, Breeders’ Bowl Dirt Marathon and the year end Hit Man.   He’s been sitting the sidelines and this will be his first start of the year and he may need a race to sharpen up.  But he’s in good hands and I’m thinking he’ll be ready to go but he’s never raced on an off-track surface before so that is a concern, but minor in my opinion.

 

11  SERGEANT YORK  13/1,  5 WINS,  17 STARTS

Current race form has to be a concern for trainer Pointblank.   His last three races have had awful outcomes in graded competition where he has finished 7th on two occasions and 10th in his last start.   On the offtrack, he has had nice success.  In 2017, he won all three of his offtrack races and sliced out his career best speeds of 118 and 114 with the later coming in a G3 sponsored race and the former in a listed stake.     One of the problems at hand is that one of his last three starts that was previously mentioned was a 7th place finish for this child out of War Front.   He definitely likes the offtrack setting but he has not shown good conditioning in a few months.

 

12  GOLFING  11/1,  6 WINS,  17 STARTS

A six year old out of Dubawi has raced three times in grade level races and they were all in his last three starts.  The first came over a year ago where he did not fare well, finishing 7th in the G2 Old Man.  Trainer Balata opted to sideline the horse for an extensive 9 month rest.  He returned and re-entered the graded competition in the G2 Hamburg Hall where he moved from 10 off the lead to take second place and only a stride off the winner with a 111 speed which is not bad after that long layoff.  He was sidelined for another three months and came back to race in this years running of the G3 Old Man where Golfing was looking to make amends for his poor performance in the same race a year back.  He came through with a solid win by  four lengths and a 114 speed figure.   He makes his first visit with the G1 group as well as going on the off-track for the first time.  He looks well slotted for this event but is the second oldest runner in the field and the off track may be a factor but I think the old timer could show the  younger runners a thing or two.

 

13  DARK INDIAN  11/1,   5 WINS,  20 STARTS

The top purse winner in this field, Dark Indian has over $3 million earned and the 2016 turf Vicky Derby delivered $1.8 million of this for Trainer Lightng99.   This son of Arch made the conversion to Dirt in early 2017 and each of his 7 dirt starts have been in graded races with three wins coming in the G1 Cayuga Lake Special, G2 Baltimore Special and his most recent race, the G3 New Orleans Stayer.   His speeds have been in a tight 106 to 111 range which makes him consistent and you know what you are getting.   This race will most likely top a speed of 110, probably 115 and perhaps better so Dark Indian will need to push his game a bit harder as he tests the off track surface for the first time.

 

14  LIMESTONE  7/1,   10 WINS,  21 STARTS

Trainer Newmarket has had luck with this horse out of Malibu Moon and over the past 15 months he has collected 4 grade wins.  The first kicked in last February in the G2 Old Man with a fine 115 speed.  Limestone then wrangled a win streak of three straight with G1 wins in the Monster Mash, an impressive victory in the Breeders’ Bowl Dirt Marathon (117 sp, career best) and the G2 Buckeye Stayer where he wired the field by 4 strides.  He enters off a fourth place finish in the Equinics and squares off with some of his foes from that race once again.  He’s trying the off track for the first time which may be the only negative facing him other than the tight competition in this field.  He looks like he’ll get some purse money.

 

MY PICKS

Hateful Entity is in top notch form and beat several of these in his last start.  Extends win streak.

De Lonhro took lead in Equinics before top pick took over, should be there again.

New King In Town, second in last three with impressive close in Breeders’ Bowl, worth watching.

Limestone won Breeders Bowl and wore out to 4th in Equinics, looks to take home a piece.

And In Hell could be spoiler of bunch, won on dirt with impressive effort in last, could ascend to heaven.