WHO WILL SWALLOW THE SWORD AND GO 11/2 MILES ON THE TURF

There are 3 Graded stakes races at New York this weekend and they are hilited by The Grade I Sword Swallower Stakes for all horses 3 year old and up. A field of 8 are entered to go 11/2 miles on the turf course and will be chasing top prize from the $500,000 purse.

Let’s take a look at today’s field:

1)BLAZING LIGHTS—5/1—kjracing sends this 4 year old colt out of SADLER’S WELLS with a record of 13-4-3-3 and lifetime earnings of $319,769. This 23rd divisional ranked colt races for the GR Simsters division of the Topicount stables. This colt has 1 stakes win in 5 lifetime black type starts which have been his latest starts in his career. His win came in the 16 furlong The R. I. P. Saddie(AUS) Stakes in Mississippi earlier this year. In his last race he cut back to today’s 12 furlong distance from the 14 and 16 furlong’s he had been running in his previous stakes starts and posted a lifetime best 108 speed rating in The Grade II Dawn To Dusk Cap in Longchamp. That figure topped his previous best rating by almost 10 points prompting his connections to try the same distance today. While he was closing at the wire in that last race he was still a couple of lengths back at the finish and will probably have to start his move a little earlier in order to get up here today. He has previously won at the 8-9 furlong distance in his career. The rider for today’s race will be Dirks (16.6%).

2)SIMULATION KING(IRE)—3/1—legends2 sends this 4 year old colt out of DESERT KING(IRE) with a record of 11-8-2-0 and lifetime earnings of $660,275. This 16th divisional ranked colt races for the Stoners stables that have recently move to the barns of the new Global Racing Residency. This 3 time stakes winning colt enters this race on a 2 Graded race win streak. He won the Grade II The Longstickgoboom stakes in NewMarket and then came back to win last time out in The Grade I Lots of Luck in Ireland, which is the 3rd jewell of Ireland’s triple crown. Those 2 victories made him a perfect 2/2 at today’s 12 furlong distance. His lifetime best speed rating of 106 was posted earlier this year in the 10 furlong The Mine Senor Handicap Stakes in Wisconsin. This colt is a closer who will be looking for a clear path for the stretch drive. He has only missed the top 2 one in his short career. The rider for today’s race will be Lawton (22%).

3)INVIERNO—7/1—hornfrog2 sends this 5 year old horse out of MILWAUKEE BREW with a record of 32-7-9-5 and lifetime earnings of $286,930. This 42nd divisional ranked horse runs for the hornedfrog stables based in Kentucky. After going 0/10 in stakes races last year this horse has won 3 added money events this year in 7 tries. Today will be the Graded stakes debut for this horse. He posted his lifetime best 101 speed rating last time out while finishing 2nd in The Calder Tabasco Stakes in Oregon. Except for his maiden win all of his victories have come in the 12-16 furlong range and is another who best results come from a closing running style. The jockey for today’s race will be Davis (10.5%).

4)GUTT ROCK—22/1—deeprock15 sends this 4 year old filly out of TREMPOLINO with a record of 35-4-5-1 and lifetime earnings of $143,867. This 66th divisional ranked filly runs for the Deep Rock stables based in Ohio. This filly is 0/19 in races against the boys and it is quite a surprise that she has had that many starts in open company races. Her record against the girls is much better and her only stakes win, which came 2 starts ago, was in The 16 furlong The Glory Blue Memorial Stakes in Epsom in a filly and mare 3YO+ overnite stakes. She posted her lifetime best 92 speed rating last time out while finishing 2nd in The Amazing Sky Stakes over 16 furlongs in Ostend. She will need to vastly improve on that rating to be competitive here today. She has previously won at today’s 12 furlong distance and is another closer who settles at the back of the pack early and then makes her big closing move in the stretch drive. The jockey for today’s race will be Tool (7.1%).

5)SEATTLE HABITAT—9/1—amist sends this 8 year old horse out of SEATTLE SLEW with a record of 57-10-16-12 and lifetime earnings of $758,580. This 103rd divisional ranked horse runs for the Spartan Racing Stables that are supporters of The State Bred Racing Series. This 3 time stakes winning horse has also recorded a Graded stakes win in his career to date. While this horses best season speed rating wise was in 2004 he has still been a good money earner for his connections thanks due to the sharp entries made by the trainer in finding short field long turf route stakes. While his winning percentage may not be very high any more his ability to finish in the top 3 in the latter stages of his career have turned out to be very profitable for his connections. None the less there are 8 entered in today’s field and his current speed rating form tends to find him a little behind others in this field but should he somehow find one last big race he would reward his backers with a nice price. While usually running as a closer he did wire an allowance field last year. The rider for today’s race will be Haffner (8.2%).

6)DESERT JOKER—5/1—landen4 sends this 4 year old colt out of JOKER with a record of 23-5-4-1 and lifetime earnings of $148,487. This 244th divisional ranked colt races for the Landen stables based at Benelux. This colt has won 1 stakes race in his career but will be looking for his first Grades stakes win here today. His last attempt at Graded stakes were last year in the Ontario Turf Classics, a pair of 12 furlongs Grade I Turf routes where he posted back to back 11 place finishes. While usually posting mid to upper 90 speed ratings he broke out last time out posting a 105 speed rating in The 11 furlong The I Need Food Special Stakes in Virginia where he ended up 2nd on a turf listed as good. It remains to be seen whether that figure was a result of the slightly off turf course that day. While usually running as a closer he did try the front end in a race earlier this year and had the lead to the stretch before tiring in the 13 furlong race. With a lack of true speed in this race he may just try that tactic again today. The rider for today’s race will be Gunn (10.9%).

7)CELEBRITY SWAIN(IRE)—6/1—boldrule99 sends this 4 year old colt out of SWAIN(IRE) with a record of 23-3-2-6 and lifetime earnings of $118,756. He is out of the mare VALDIVIA who was 3/26 at the track and who has 5 foals on record of which 4 are winners including 1 stakes winner. This 605th divisional ranked colt runs for the Goody stables that are based in the backstretch at Minnesota Downs. This colt became a stakes winner in his 2nd last outing when he won The Pleasant Body Handicap Stakes in Washington over 10 furlongs on the turf course. He came back last time out trying the top turf routers in the business in The Grade I United Cou8)ntries Handicap where he rallied around tired horses to end up in 5th place, but in the process posted his lifetime best speed rating of 106. This will be his first foray at the 12 furlong distance and he will have to prove that he has the stamina for this extra long route. He has displayed both a closing and stalking style of run but would probably be better not to fall to far behind these early in the race. The jockey for today’s race will be Dundey (10.1%).

8)FREEZE(NZ)—2/1—aggots sends this 4 year old colt out of ZABEEL(NZ) with a record of 16-4-2-2 and lifetime earnings of $714,240. This 28th divisional ranked colt runs for Ladofmanor’s Brian Breeding and Racing Empire that just recently moved to the EAAA racing association after the shutdown at DUR. This colt is a 2 times stake winner who was one of the shining stars in DUR’s last stand in the Smackdown III competition against the GR Simsters and NWRC. He won the 12 furlong turf route matching his lifetime best 109 speed rating in the process. In his previous 2 races to that one he had top 3 finished in Grade I events at Epsom establishing himself as one of the top colts in this division. While he is another closer in the race he tends to sit midpack in races and has shown some early speed in previous starts. The rider for today’s race will be Child (13.2%).

While only 8 are entered in this Grade I contest it is truly a difficult race to handicap due to the lack of any real speed so I am going to go with the hot horse in #2 SIMULATION KING(IRE) to extend his winning streak to 3 today.

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD RACING

THEO