Fall For the Colts in the Autumn Run
A dozen promising young colts will zip by the Vermont stands this weekend in the 5.5-panel Grade III Vermont Autumn Run.
Here they are:
Arse2007’s Avenger Unbridled will break from the rail at odds of 6/1. The Unbridled’s Song son looked pretty good running only 2 ¼ lengths behind the winner of the Del Penn Hopeful last time out. He’ll need to improve on that race a bit to be really competitive here, but he looks like a horse who’s maturing. It’ll be interesting to see what he does down the road when he stretches out to a mile.
Bmr004 sends Soul Kinda Feelin, a Perfect Soul colt who just broke his maiden with an impressive 84 fig. That was a big step up from his previous three starts. He could be competitive if he speeds up just a hair more, but given that it took him four tries to break his maiden, I’d like to see him work his way up a bit more before I’d back him in a graded race.
Jetster’s Gone For Royal is the 4/1 co second-favorite in this race and has already won the Grade III Midsoil. Most recently he just missed out on a win in the Grade III Little Tree. He’s proved himself in dirt sprints and in graded runs, so there’s no reason to believe he won’t do extremely well this weekend. Watch for him to go straight to the front and quite possibly run away with the whole thing.
A.P. Citizen looks better than his 23/1 odds would suggest, though I don’t really expect him to get a piece of the pie this weekend. He debuted with an uninspiring 69 fig, but it was enough to get the job done. He followed up with a close second in an overnight stakes. Looks like he’s developing very well. An interesting colt to keep an eye on.
Mattbarn sends the 17/1 Barb’s French, another horse who doesn’t really deserve long odds. His speed figures haven’t been spectacular so far, but he has won 3 of 4 races, including an overnight stakes. He’s hasn’t proved yet that he’s ready for graded fields – he’s run mediocre figs against small fields – but it’s hard to argue with his record. It’ll be fun to see what he can do against a tougher crowd.
The six hole will feature Xixa’s Brazilian Jack, a 99/1 longshot. He won his debut, but has floundered since then with speed figs in the 40s and low 50s. This is an awfully tough situation for him and he shouldn’t be expected to have his best run here.
Next is Racinqueen’s Shackin’ Up, who sits at 21/1. After a mediocre first two outings, he broke his maiden with style in his third race. That was a really nice showing, but he’ll need to step it up from there to be a factor in this race. Probably in a little deep here, but looks like a promising colt.
Sansanfarm’s Legend is Born is 4/1 co-second favorite for this race. He’s a beautifully-bred son of Ghostzapper who broke his maiden in his second try with an 83 fig. This will be his first stakes race. He’s overrated at these odds, but with some seasoning could turn into a really nice horse. He’ll probably be even happier as he stretches out. Hard to say how he’ll do this weekend, especially with a mediocre jock, but watch for him to make his run in the stretch.
Infringement is a nice stakes-winning colt who will be starting for the Enforced stable. By Grand Slam out of a Storm Cat mare, he’s won three of five starts. The real catch with him is that he has flopped twice in graded company. So despite having some of the higher speed figs in the field, he’s shown that he may not be ready for prime time. Still, this is a relatively soft field for a graded race, so maybe he’ll find his way a little better this time out.
Hey Haus has won two of three starts for the Forsale barn and finished a respectable fourth in the Grade III Little Tree. He’s a solid runner and improving steadily, which is good – he’ll need to step it up again to compete here. I’d like him better with a jock that wasn’t winning at a 4% clip – that might be just enough to keep him from being competitive here.
The favorite, sitting at 9/2, will be Hihosilver’s Red Monster, a talented Vindication colt with six races under his belt. He’s won only once, though, and that was in his debut. He’s fared pretty well in stakes company, though, finishing third in the Montana Futurity and second in an overnight stakes. He ran pretty badly in the Smackdown, but came back with a solid second in allowance company. He has the biggest speed figs in the field, so he’s very likely to be competitive, but he hasn’t shown much will to win as yet. He may need a little more ground to really get going.
Last is Magicflute’s Magical Danz, a solid little juvenile who has won three of five starts (and he just missed out on a fourth win by a nose). This will be his first graded race, but he just ran a very competitive second in an overnight stakes. He’ll want to be at or near the front, and will need to kick it up just a bit to be competitive here. Fortunately for him, he’ll have the terrific W McClendon aboard. The jock may give him the edge he needs to see his number on the board this weekend.
Good luck, everyone!