World Cup Ladies Turf Classic
This weekend sees the very first running of the Sim World Cup, an event encompassing runners from all continents as trainers, owners and horses alike, attempt to write themselves into the record books. The As you will notice below, each of the three teams competing in this World Cup have brought a strong squad over to really have a crack at taking home the silverware. Team North/ MEATBALL HERO TREMPOLINO X WOODMAN X RIGHT REASON R W P S Earnings Career 42 14 5 4 $207,220 Turf 38 14 5 4 $207,220 Headlining the North/ Her last 3 runs have been nothing short of incredible and there is no doubt that she is the one to beat here. After being claimed for a mere $10k in March of last year she has progressed beyond all expectations to become the No.12 ranked Mare in the Turf Classic Division and since breaking through for her first graded win 3 starts back in the Grade 2 Empire State Cap, she has managed another Grade 2 win and a 3rd place in the Grade 1 Demona Handicap. She likes to come from mid-pack, a style that should suit this kind of race and the more pace out the front the better. DYNAHIGH (IRE) HIGH CHAPPARAL (IRE) X DYNAFORMER X THUNDER GULCH R W P S Earnings Career 37 13 6 3 $1,367,472 Turf 38 14 5 4 $1,367,472 Another entrant expected to perform well here is the Burnin-trained DYNAHIGH (IRE). More experienced at this level than most of the others in the field, this mare out of HIGH CHAPPARAL (IRE) has been competing in stakes and graded races since this time 3 years ago having had just one allowance race in that period. Her 9/2 odds reflect her recent success as well as her enduring career with 4 career-graded wins including 2 graded wins this year. Her most recent win came in the Grade 1 Queen Cersei and although that race was over an extra furlong, there’s nothing to suggest she can’t produce at this distance as she’s been doing for a long time. Again, the Americans will hoping for lots of pace in the race as DYNAHIGH (IRE) does her best work reeling in fading leaders. PUBLIK ENEMY RAINBOW QUEST X SEEKING THE R W P S Earnings Career 28 10 8 1 $542,080 Turf 24 10 6 1 $542,080 The Pygmalion stable sends out this competent mare to take on the best and her recent form shows exactly why. Failing by just ¾ of a length to reign in MEATBALL HERO in the Grade 2 That Goat Just Fainted Cup, she has had a nice 6 week break and should be fresh to take on the best this weekend. Her last 3 efforts have all been at graded level, and although she still remains without a graded win, it can’t be far away after managing two agonisingly close 2nd places. If her form holds, PUBLIK ENEMY may indeed become the public enemy of all those with runners in this race! Expect her to sit close to her fellow American team-mates mid-pack before she releases in the straight. ULTRA CAT FUSAICHI PEGASUS X STORM CAT X BUCKPASSER R W P S Earnings Career 31 8 7 7 $542,080 Turf 23 7 6 4 $542,080 Coming off just a 2-week break is Pinerivers’ contender ULTRA CAT. Having only had 4 starts in graded company, this brown mare is les experienced than many in this field. She has just the one graded victory and 1 overnight stakes win to her credit however her speed figures are not too far below those of the favourites. Her only truly disappointing performance in the last 6 months came in her last start where she managed a mere 86 SP to finish a distant last in the Grade 1 Demona Handicap. The competition here will be similar to that race so whether or not she can step up to the plate is the big question here. The American team should all be in similar positions when they settle as this mare is another that likes to sit mid-pack in a stalking role. That is the North/ Team Europe/ BOT JEU TETE (IRE) MONTJEU X KINGMAMBO X R W P S Earnings Career 12 6 1 2 $111,241 Turf 11 6 1 2 $111,241 A somewhat unknown as far as the rest of this field is considered, Sabbath5’s 201st ranked mare has had just 12 career starts and has yet to see graded company. Her only 2 efforts at stakes level have resulted in a 3rd and a 5th and her best speed figure of 99 was enough to claim a NW2S allowance race 2 starts back. Her last effort on the dirt was unconvincing and she’ll need to really bounce back to be a threat here. At 15/1, there are many worse than this lightly raced mare but she will definitely need some luck to factor here against the best. SIGN HERE RAINBOW QUEST X DYNAFORMER X VICE REGENT R W P S Earnings Career 34 8 13 4 $492,680 Turf 33 8 13 4 $492,680 Probably Team Europe/ Stats don’t tell the story for this one with only the one stakes win and the lack of a graded win concealing her real talent. She has a lovable front-running style and has only finished out of the top 5 on the turf once in her career. The competition here is definitely as tough as it gets but her last run in the Grade 2 Bird Legs Cup showed she had the talent to go with the best at this distance. She’ll have plenty of closers and stalkers to contend with if she’s to take home the chocolates here but at 4/1 she’s probably the North/ BUNNY RANCH CRYPT (KY) CRYPTOCLEARANCE X R W P S Earnings Career 17 6 3 1 $207,915 Turf 10 5 2 1 $199,380 One of the two 3 year old fillies representing Europe/ Despite her age, her last 3 starts have been wins including 2 at this distance and one against her elders. After being claimed for a mere $5k last year she has done everything right in her sophomore year and deserves her spot in the team. At 16/1, she is not without hope and if she can run back to her career-best performance 2 starts back, she’ll be right there at the finish. Her early speed could set her up as a rabbit here but she’s well capable of causing a boil over if the others let her get an easy lead. WACKY NORTH (IRE) R W P S Earnings Career 18 5 7 2 $256,784 Turf 18 5 7 2 $256,784 Very similar to BUNNY RANCH CRYPT, this 3 year old filly is yet to win against her elders yet and with only one stakes win to her name, she looks to be the weakest of the Europe/ She has just the one stakes win to her credit but has managed 5 places at that level including a 2nd place finish against her elders two starts back in The Fast Slew Stakes where she produced a career best 97 SP. She’ll need to improve on that figure if she’s to be in the finish here but she’s definitely got talent even though it might be a bit too soon for her to make the step-up to Grade 1 company. Either way, owner An out and out pace horse that will need to be right there from the word go to pose any kind of threat to the more favoured horses. Team FENZA (Far East/ THINGS NEED DONE SHADEED X SWAIN (IRE) X MAJESTIC PRINCE R W P S Earnings Career 24 10 7 2 $648,085 Turf 20 10 5 2 $639,010 The best of team FENZA’s chances look to be held by the impressive filly THINGS NEED DONE owned by Sunrunners. With 4 stakes wins and 2 very solid performances in Grade 1 races at this distance, connections have every right to be confident in a good effort here. Her best runs in her career have come at stakes and allowance level so she’ll need to step up and produce at the highest level to be any chance. Her best effort of a 101 SP would probably be enough to be top 5 at the least and with a little luck, a top 3 finish is not out of the question. She generally sits up close to the pace early but has dropped back 3 lengths or so from the leader with success in past races. At 11/1, her odds are surprisingly juicy. TWO UP (KY) VINDICATION X LEAR FAN X DANEHILL R W P S Earnings Career 16 3 3 5 $83,799 Turf 15 3 3 5 $83,799 The next representative for the FENZA team is TWO UP from Thebandit stable. With just 3 wins to her name, she is the least experienced and least credentialed of the runners here but don’t discount her chances completely. Her last 4 efforts have shown vast improvement and this seems to be her preferred distance where she posted a 96 SP 2 starts back. Even though her chances of hitting triple digits this weekend are small at best, she certainly has the ability to beat home more than a few of the other runners if she runs at her best and they do not. Fortune often favours the brave and her nomination is certainly that when you consider the fact that she’s If she doesn’t jump close to the lead then she probably won’t factor all that much but considering she’s paying 20/1 she has a reasonable chance of a top 5 finish here. CREDIT SAINTRESS (KY) GRAND REWARD X SAINT BALLADO X GREEN DANCER R W P S Earnings Career 16 3 1 2 $55,810 Turf 5 2 0 1 $30,788 With just 3 wins from 16 starts the statistics might make you wonder how this horse got to be nominated for the World Cup at all. Sometimes stats just don’t tell the story though as the Meguire3rd stable might tell you. After spending the first year of her career on the dirt, CREDIT SAINTRESS has turned it all around in just 5 starts with a simple surface change. Since her move to the turf and the longer classic/ long route races, she has produced 2 solid allowance wins as well as a very respectable 3rd place in The Iron Axe Special stakes where she recorded a 100 SP for the first time in her short career. If she can run back to that form she’ll do very well here and may upset the bookies at 25/1. Her first taste of graded company and her first test against the older mares will certainly be a great ask of this little chestnut filly but if things go her way she is capable of being right there at the finish. STYLISH MANOEUVRE STORM R W P S Earnings Career 25 4 3 7 $87,715 Turf 19 4 3 5 $83,435 Last (and probably least) is STYLISH MANOEUVRE, a horse with the unfortunate tag of being the favourite to finish last in this race. It’s always an honour to be nominated for a race like this and hopefully this brown mare, which is yet to win a NMCOS race, can pull off something special to be competitive this weekend. Her best effort of a 92 is not too bad and the fact that it was just 2 starts back suggests she could be in some reasonable form, however, she will struggle against some of the top fillies in the division this week and any improvement will be a positive for the connections. If everything goes perfectly this weekend, the Rharfo3 stable might look to beat home a few horses but really this mare has little chance come race day. If she’s not within striking distance at the halfway point then expect her to tail off as she generally likes to stalk the leaders. And that rounds out a very interesting field for the Inaugural World Cup Ladies Turf Classic. As for a winner, I’ll have my money on MEATBALL HERO to beat any combination of SIGN HERE, DYNAHIGH, and THINGS NEED DONE. Here’s to a great day of racing!