Meatball Hero No Fainting Goat
Hilarity goes a long way in the sim, and maybe that’s why the Grade 2 That Goat Just Fainted Cup–one of three fainting goat stakes run every year–tends to draw sim stars. This year’s edition of the $250,000 affair has drawn just eight fillies and mares to race the turfy mile and a quarter, and there’s not an A.P. Form or Ice Princess in the field, but the eventual winner won’t be able to treat the competition as a laughing matter.
Even if the favorite’s name is a bit of a joke. Meatball Hero is a daughter of Trempolino, out of a winning Woodman mare, and she sits twenty-ninth in her division. Bigted Stables claimed her for $10,000 during her four-year-old season and she earned her keep almost immediately, reeling off five wins in her first six races for the barn. She’s strongly on form as of late; she’s been on the board in each of her last six races and has won the last two, including the Empire State Cap at this distance with a stalking trip and a 104 speed rating. Perenial leading rider Z. Kentucky takes the mount.
Pedigrees don’t come a whole lot nicer than Publik Enemy’s: by Rainbow Quest and out of a Seeking the Gold mare. As one might except, she’s done her best work in the marathon ranks, starting with a nearly eight-length stakes win as a three-year-old. Now five, she’s never won a graded stakes, but was beaten just a head in the Sheepherder Beach Handicap and picked up a minor check in the Flounder Turf Distaff. 10 furlongs is not her best distance, but she’s a classy horse and this is a good spot for her to give it a try.
She’ll have to get by Futuristic, though. The four-year-old daughter of Vindication and Sadler’s Wells mare Amy’s Future is another marathon horse. Her claim to fame is a pair of on-the-board finishes in the Adelaide Oaks and the Oaks de English. She’s been on a tear lately, winning her last four in a row; three of those were time-restricted allowance races, but the last was a 10-furlong stakes and she took the victory in commanding fashion, with a sharp 100 speed rating.
Eaaaxmasgift is the baby of the field: a three-year-old with just eight races under her belt. She’s by King of Kings, out of a Seattle Slew daughter, and she’s gotten good real quick, winning a stakes race in her third start and a Grade 3 in her fifth. She ran 9.5 furlongs last time out and led most of the way around before giving way to Grade 2 winner Regatta in the final strides. She finished in front of a few older horses that day, and jockey A. Reed does know the way home.
Joshua Tree Stables enters the fray with a horse named in a bit of reverse psychology: The Winner Isn’t (Opening Verse x Freek’s Prize – Prized). They aren’t to blame or credit for it, though; she was a $13,500 claim as a juvenile. She’s won just twice for her current connections, once for a $50,000 tag and another time in with NW4L claimers, both at this distance, and she’s multiply stakes-placed to boot. She was second to Futuristic last out, but may find herself in a little deep.
Follow that trend with A Snowball’s Chance, a modestly-bred sophomore by Just Plain Joe and out of a Weekend Guest daughter. $200,000 in earnings isn’t too shabby for a daughter of a 12-point stallion. She was a stakes winner at two and again this year, and she’s finished off the board just twice, picking up a minor check both times. This will be her first foray past 8.5 furlongs and she runs like she’ll appreciate the stretch, though speed numbers will need a bump to put her in serious contention.
Danehill Road has the pedigree for the distance or beyond: Last Tycoon x Strawberry Road mare. She’s an allowance winner, but never on the board in stakes company and not at all so far this year. She’s been running hard for two years now; it may be time for a break and/or a drop in class.
And rounding out the field is sophomore Bernabeau, by Alberto Giacometti, out of a Western Cat mare. She won a restricted stakes at two to break her maiden and came within a nose of winning an open event. This will be her longest race so far and though her tactical speed may put her in the picture early on, she, too, is likely in a bit over her head.