the $500000 World Cup Ladies Turf 9,Ohio
Its here at last.The biggest racing day of the sim year is just around the corner.36 grade 1 races to be fought over by 3 teams over turf and dirt and distances ranging from 6 furlong to 2 miles.Each team will be represented by 4 runners in each race,giving us a field of 12 for each race.Points will be scored
The race I am going to cover is The World Cup Ladies Turf Nine run at Ohio for a purse of $500000.The weather is fine and the turf firm.Team America.on home soil look to have posted a talented team,and it will be up to Team Europe/Scandinavia and Team FENZA to rise to the stiff looking challenge set for them.
Lets have a look at the runners team by team.
TEAM NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA
DEPUTY HUNTER Barn25dog 111512 T Seals 3/1 Fav Drawn 12
5 yo mare
Deputy Minister x A.P.Indy x Mt Livermore
40 runs 19 wins 4 seconds 6 thirds $1599951
Wow what a career this one has had,and shows no sign of slowing down.She is ranked number 1 in her division and is a 6 time graded winner,having won 1 grade 1,2 grade 2`s and 4 grade 3`s at distances ranging from 8.5 furlongs to 9.5 furlongs.Lto failed by a length to win her second grade 1 in a row,but still put up a good performance against the classy looking High Ransom,who gave that form a boost next time out when winning the grade 1 Princess Di Cap at New York in a scorching time.Previous to that she won her first Grade 1,holding off the fast charging A Perfect Sunday by a head and put to rest the heartbreak of going down by a head herself in the grade 1 Sexy Muffins Classic at New South Wales back in January.As well as her achievements in graded stakes she is also a 6 time ungraded stakes winner.Worthy favourite and she will be very hard to beat I expect.
NORTHERN PULP Theogbarn 115421 T Small 7/2 Drawn 2
4 yo mare
Pulpit x Northern Dancer x Buckpasser
22 runs 13 wins 3 seconds 1 third $771958
Another lovely mare from the Americans.Northern Pulp has won 4 ungraded stakes races,2 grade 3`s and a grade 2`s. 2 runs back she so nearly added a grade 1 to her name when going oh so close in the Money Phone Mile at California,making ground up the straight just failing by 3/4 lengths to catch the talented Cosmos Girl.She ran a 110 in defeat that day and that form gives her a huge chance here.Lto picked up her second career grade 3 when traveling over to Spain and winning the Bird of Prey Stakes on the good ground over 8.5 furlongs.She won well that day by a comfortable 2 3/4 lengths,beating a field of stakes winners and several graded winners.She has won several times at this 9 furlong,although whether it is her best trip is hard to say.Looks to have a rosy future and is one of the leading lights here.
CULINARY CUTIE Buzz 031121 H Harzheim 9/1 Drawn 5
3 yo mare
El Prado x Gone West x Seattle Slew
14 runs 7 wins 3 seconds 2 thirds $764025
I have fallen in love with this cutie and despite the two that have gone before,if I could take any runner home to my own stables this would be my choice.Not for what she has done in her impressive career so far,but what she has the potential to do in the future.From May this year,her last four runs has transformed her career from looking like a run of the mill 3 yo to becoming a grade 1 winner.She had her first taste of graded success at Oklahoma in May when winning the grade 2 the Celine Stakes,for 3 yo mares ran over 8.5 furlongs,and also breaking the magical 3 figure speed figure for the first time.Repeated that frontrunning performance next time out in late June at Sweden when picking up another grade 2 over a mile by a couple of lengths.She ran her fastest ever s.f. with a 108.Her trainer then decided the oppurtunities on the other side of the pond was greater and Cutie was shipped off to North California for a grade 1 debut in Smackdown III.She was also tried over her longest trip to date,a mile and a quarter on the firm lawn.Despite finishing 2nd,in truth it looked like she didnt fully stay and went down by 3 1/2 lengths.She then moved tracks to California and recorded the highlight of her short career so far in the grade 1 Del Webb Oaks,proving she can do it from off the pace as well as frontrun.A easy win by 3 1/4 lengths and a grade 1 winner into the bargain.She probably has to improve again to win this but what a prospect.
THE EDGE Stormboot 222510 Z Kentucky 9/1 Drawn 8
3 yo mare
Pleasantly Perfect x Sadler`s Wells x Mr Prospector
13 runs 3 wins 4 seconds 2 thirds $312088
Another 3 yo from the Americans,although this grade 2 winner looks the weakest of the four.A good horse in his own right but this looks a mighty tough race mainly due to his talented teammates.Curious to see she is priced up at 9/1,the same as the Cutie yet has 6 1/2 lengths to find in their running in the Del Webb Oaks lto with no obvious reason as to how she is going to achieve this.She has repeated her best speed figure of 103 when winning the grade 2 Pioneer Boulevard Stakes at Taiwan in July over 8.5 furlongs but to my mind she still has it to prove over nine.Outside chance only.
TEAM FENZA
INDY ROCK SENIOR Eddieleg 114312 M Grunhard 7/1 Drawn 6
4 yo mare
Rock of Gibralter x A.P.Indy x El Gran Senor
16 runs 7 wins 3 seconds 4 thirds $290228
First try at grade 1 level foe Fenza`s leading chance,and only 2nd ever run in graded level.4 times stakes winner at 9-10 furlongs and all coming this year.3 of them came in a rapid fire burst between February and April this year.Lto finished 2nd in a 10 furlong grade 2 in Greece,staying on up the straight to go under by half a length.Her speed figure that day of 99 would have been slightly disappointing considering her run previous to that,a 9.5 furlongs stakes in New Hampshire which she won by 1 1/4 lengths and recorded a pb 107.The step back down in trip to 9 furlongs should be in her favour,but to do anything in this race she is going to have to be at the very top of her game.
TOP DOLLAR Rapier2 211125 O Ridenour 8/1 Drawn 9
4 yo mare
Woodman x Blushing Groom x Caerleon
27 runs 10 wins 7 seconds 5 thirds $266405
Looks like an allowance class mare masquerading in a grade 1.Big doubt about class of race and distance.She has never won a stakes in 6 attempts and in all reality is impossible to see her winning this one.Top Dollar is rated shorter than Americas Culinary Cutie by the sim oddsmakers but I cant see her beating the Cutie and she may not even be Americas strongest entry. Needs to find something she has never shown before if she is to improve on her lone stakes placing of third from February 2006.
TIME THIEF Platinum 512132 F Mac 25/1 Drawn 11
3 yo mare
Forestry x Nijinksy II x Buckpasser
13 runs 3 wins 3 seconds 2 thirds $78340
Massive task ahead for the Thief as she tries to steal the pot in her first ever stakes run.Question marks about the trip and never having broke the magical 100 speed figure in her 13 race career,it looks too much to ask.She has run her best race over 8.5 furlongs,but her winning speed figure in that nw3l allowance of 99 still leaves her well short of the number that will be required to get competitive in this.Good enough mare in her own class,I doubt if it is this class.
FUDDY DUDDY Mrlucky220 013321 N Gardner 45/1
3 yo mare
Pleasant Tap x Danehill x Tom Rolfe
15 runs 4 wins 2 seconds 3 thirds $57931
Picked up in a $5000 claim 3 runs back,I think this tells you Fuddy is a Fenza filler horse.No real chance even though she has been showing a little improvement of late. Her pb of 94,set 2 runs back in a s.a. leaves her well short of what the Americas has to offer.
TEAM EUROPE/SCANDINAVIA
ULTEGRA Maruxa 011262 C Wyatt 8/1 Drawn 7
5 yo mare
Woodman x Dynaformer x Caerleon
36 runs 9 wins 14 seconds 1 third $460095
Leading European entry and winner of 4 ungraded stakes.Her last 3 runs have been over 10 furlongs twice and 10.5 furlongs, she drops down in trip to what looks to best her favoured distance.Her fastest speed figure of 105,set over this 9 furlong trip suggests she may be playing for a place only and that is bad news for the Euro`s as she is their brightest star.Ultegra will try to get to the front and stay there,but its a big ask.Needs everything to go her way.
BLING Safrace2 000002 M Zeus 9/1 Drawn 1
5 yo mare
Horse Chestnut x Pentelicus x Sovereign Dancer
20 runs 8 wins 1 second 1 third $366755
In and out performer has pieces of form that could see her steal a place here,but she never seems to run 2 races the same.Bling has won a grade 2 in June last year,coming with a late run to get up by 1/4 length to win the Mrs Cleaver Stakes in Kentucky over 8.5 furlongs. Her best run came in a grade 3 in North Florida over 9 furlongs back in February this year,once again her late closing style coming to the fore and winning by an easy 2 3/4 lengths. Her speed figure of 106 was a lifetime best and she will need that sort of figure here to sneak a place.She hasn`t managed to reproduce that run in 6 subsequent outings.
MENDELA Bossross 450111 B Gulch 21/1 Drawn 10
3 yo mare
Alberto Giacometti x Dubai Millenium x Nashua
15 runs 8 wins 4 thirds $385966
In the form of her life at present having won her last 3 and running a lifetime best speed figure of 101 lto,it looks a difficult task for this grade 2 stakes winner. She was a real hot 2 yo, picking up 3 ungraded stakes as well as that grade 2,but as what happens to so many good 2 yo`s she appeared not to have trained on. Started showing signs of a recovery 2 runs back when winning a 7 furlong allowance in Tazmania before winning her first stakes race since her 2 yo days at Ascot over 8.5 furlongs with that lifetime best speed figure.Rated an outsider on the book and another that looks to have a huge ask.Ranked 18th in her 3 yo Division.
BRACARA AUGUSTA Galicia 425100 H McCoy 24/1 Drawn 3
3 yo mare
Desert King x Barathea x Shirley Heights
14 runs 3 wins 4 seconds $167890
Yet another 3 yo with a difficult job here.She is a stakes winner over 8 furlongs but has never broke the 100 barrier.Placed 2nd in a grade 2 over this 9 furlongs,but I can see her being outclassed by the Americans here.Im not sure this trip would be her favoured one and a deficit in overall form,I can see this being a huge struggle for this one.
POGO PREDICTS
Lol this race looks easy from a pundits point of view,an American clean sweep.All I`ve got to do is to work out in what order the Americans will finish and I think im going to go with Northern Pulp to beat Culinary Cutie with Deputy Hunter back in third.