Oddsmakers hit the nail on the head in Smark Stakes

Torcio(JPN) lived up to the oddsmakers’ confidence, confidently going wire to wire to capture a victory in this week’s Smark Stakes. The filly grabbed her first stakes win, and her third win in five starts. She has still yet to finish worse than second in any of her starts and could be one to watch come October. The victory brings her career earnins to the $95315 mark, calculating to a respectable $19063/race. With the travel factor here, she only gained six stakes point, but it was enough to bump her to a 90 rank in the turf sprint division. Pickings were very slim at the betting window this week, with the winning favorite paying $3.60 $2.10 $2.10 across the board. The exoctics were nothing less than abysmal, paying $4.30 in the exacta and $4.80 in the trifecta.

Torcio(JPN) jumped fast from the gate, grabbing an early lead that she would never relinquish. Kitten’s Cover(KY) kept her honest early, but by the halfway mark, she had managed to open up a length and a half on the field. She apparently sensed that it might not be enough, and she really turned it on after they moved into the second half. By the time they headed for home, she had three and a half on the field and was cruising. Gallopiat G(IRE) put on an excellent stretch run, closing from five and a half lengths down at the half, but could only close to one and three quarter lengths as they crossed the wire, settling for second place. Kitten’s Cover held on to third place, fading in the second half, though not too badly, finding herself six and three quarters out at the wire.