Fourteen Wishing for a Tail Wind in Hunt for City Cup

The Windy City Gold Cup has a drawn a pretty diverse field of fourteen to the old Illinois track. We have old horses and young, colts and older males as well as a darn good mare. We have two horses making start #13, and a horse making start #49. We have a horse representing a stable with under 250 starts, and two from an 1100+ start stables. Aside from those stats, this really is an impressive group of horses. Quite fitting, as this race is a special one. The 10f G2 carries a $300k purse, and has been won by some great horses over the years. Multiple graded winner and Breeders Bowl Classic runnerup Oliver Plus Pit win the Gold Cup in 2000 when it was elevated to a g2 (it was a G3 in the 1999 running). Tuff Enuff prepped for his Breeders Bowl Classic win with nearly five length score at the Gold Cup in 2004. heady company indeed for the winner of this ninth renewal of the GoldCup.

 

Cofavored at 7-1 are Myledes and Safety Zone. Myledes, trained out of the ets9 barn, drew the rail post. That’s pretty much perfect for the 5yo son of Grand Lodge. He’s a stalker type who will love being able to save ground yet he has the speed to ensure that he’s not boxed in. Myledes has just one graded win to his credit (the G3 Smart School in March), but he’s been twice graded-placed since and has been speed figures more than competitive with the best of the handicap division. The major question for me is the distance and class combination. Myledes is a 10f winner twice, but in three tries at 10 in stakes company his best effort was a third in a Minnesota -Vermont interresidency restricted stake.

 

Safety Zone, running for the catahoula2 barn, drew post 4. The 4yo Spinning World colt beat Myledes in that Minnesota/Vermont race, and like Myledes has just one G3 win in his record, though the Zone’s win came in the Peach State Classic in June. Zone is a confirmed 10f horse with six wins from nine tries. Zone loves to be either on or close to the lead, so he’ll try to clear the gate fast and slip in ahead of Myledes if he can. He’s pretty inexperienced in graded company, but a horse with one grade from two tries, the solidly consistent SPs and the clear preference for this distance very much deserves to be here.

 

Mcjonny4 starts Biting Insects from post 6. The 6yo, ranked #22 in the older classic division, needs a win to have any hope of slipping into the Breeders Bowl Classic field, though even that might not be enough for the son of Fusaichi Pegasus to make the field. Insects is o stranger to big races,and if he’s fully recovered from his poor Woodward showing two weeks ago could make a big splash. The horse’s career has been a wildly varied one. At 3, he was a multiple stakes winner sprinting, and finished second in the 12f New Yorker. At 4, he had just three starts, not doing much of anything. The following year, he won a pair of sprint graded stakes. This year, he’s been hot in the routes despite just four starts. The 9f G1 Oaktree was his first graded route win, but the 111SP was a beautiful one indeed. Insects obviously is capable of routing, especially given that New Yorker second, but he’s struggled at 10f, faltering badly in the Bluegrass Derby and LA Derby. However, he hasn’t gone 10 in over two years, so perhaps with maturity he’s developed into a horse capable of the classic distance. The big angle here is that this is his second race off layoff – lots of quality horses throw huge races in this scenario. 8-1.

 

Otto Causes runs for the verona stable from gate 12. The 4yo Giant’s Causeway colt won the G1 Glenn at 9f in February, and since then has placed third in a 9f listed stake and the 9.5f G1 Gotta Fix The Sprinklers. He’s a speedy horse that can’t win unless he keeps the lead the whole way round. Causes especially is known for making big leads, but has an unfortunate tendency to be run down by late closers. Still, he’s closing in on a million in earnings and finishes top three 60 percent of the time.Even if he does tire in the stretch, a placing may well happen. Since I’m the one responsible for putting this horse in this race, I rather hope he wins. 8-1.

 

Here For The Party still hasn’t been able to hold an after-graded-win party, but he won a 10f listed stake so impressively last time out that his time in the limelight can’t be far off. The 5yo son of Hansel runs for the babyfarm barn. He’s closing in on $500k in earnings with a pair of stakes wins on his record. That graded W was just a nose away in the G3 Mohammad Ali in April 2006, so the Party has been close. Maybe he’ll get it done now? He’s got a lovely sweeping stride that helps him move from midpack to the front steadily. Should fit well in with this bunch of good speed horses. 9-1.

 

The #8 horse is a bit of a Twist on the usual type of entrant in this kind of race. Theaxell’s 5yo horse earned his only graded win to date with an impressive victory in the G1 Movieland Shiny in 2006 against several top classic runners including Wonderboy Cougar.he followed that up with a strong third in the CA Classic, but for the last ear or so he just hasn’t ben on his best game. Dropping back to allowances over the summer worked wonders for Twist Of Lemon. He got an easy win to prep for a really nice second in the G2 Abraham Lincoln, then went third in a listed. Last time out he took went in an allowance and won by 3 to jump earnings over the million mark. The 106SP he earned was his highest in more than a year. Sure looks to me like the Twist is back. Loves to come from midpack, watch for him to rocket down the stretch. 10-1.

 

Also at 10-1 is Boomtown Boy, stuck in the far outside post. The 6yo son of Sadler’s Wells long ago earned his first million, and he’s almost to a quarter of the way to the second. Running for the leestroyer barn, Boomtown Boy won three grades in 2004 and 2005, but spent most of 2006 languishing in allowance company. Still, it turned out the break was a good thing, as over the winter he started running well again earlier this year won a pair of listed stakes. Through careful spotting, Boomtown has been coaxed back to run fifth in the G2 Abraham Lincoln two back and fourth in the G2 Insulin last out. Might this race see him run third? It’s his first start at 10f in over 2.5 years, but the midclosing style makes a bit of extra ground very attractive for this colt.

 

Smubs has Prebola in at 11-1.The 4yo colt is E.W.Cat’s only graded winner from 263 runners, and by over $200k Prebola is that sire’s highest earner. The horse just earned his first G1 win (and first graded win in his first attempt at that rank) in the College Gameday. The 107SP is not bad at all for a horse making his first 10f start. I expect Prebola to continue making his mark in the classic grades, and this could really be his breakout race if he performs on par with the Gameday win. Loves to come from midpack, and starts his move fairly early. If he’s within a length or two at the head of the stretch, watch out.

 

Unstoppable so far has proven to be stoppable in big races. Trained by reallycute, the 4yo Noactor colt was a brilliant claim for a mere $7500. he’s returned seven wins from 13 starts since being claimed, including a nice 9f listed stake win, but two grades races haven’t ended in his favor. The first, the G2 Insulin Cap, finished with Unstoppable denied his place in the spotlight by an agonizing quarter-length. The trainer then shortened the colt up to a mile but had to settle for an eighth place finish. Going back up to ten is a great move, and if Unstoppable can duplicate his Insulin Cap form he might just live up to his name. 11-1.

 

The old man of the field by races run, Like An Arrow, is perhaps dipping into the tail end of his career after 48 starts. He’s been multiply-stakes-placed since cjjonesz bought the 5yo from a $35k claimer a year ago. The Green Desert son hasn’t won since March, but five consecutive stakes placings over the late spring and summer were enough to merit starts in the G1 CA Classic and G1 End Of Summer Special in his last two races. Both graded tries were disappointing enough that one wonders why Arrow showed up here. A minor placing isn’t out of the question, but he’s unlikely to win. 12-1.

 

Ms Thirteen breaks from post 13 at 12-1. Despite the name, the 4yo by Perfect Soul is actually a colt. Trained by runabout, Thirteen just scored a nice listed win at 10f for a 109SP. It was the colt’s first stakes win, fifth win overall, and highest SP to date. Nice accomplishments for a colt making start #13. Extremely versatile horse, solid jockey, and stars aligning all at once could spell aa 113SP and a 1.3 length win in the colt’s first start in graded company.

 

Tresstable starts the 13-1 U Boat Commander. Making his 20th start, the Deputy Commander colt is very lightly raced in comparison to some of his peers. He’s not slacked off, however, with 5 stakes to his credit. This will be his first go at 10, but when a horse has won at 9.5 and 10.5, the distance isn’t a huge worry. The class, however, is. U Boat tried three grades over the spring and finished no better than seventh. He may be one those 4yos that doesn’t really get good until late in the year, but his graded record is still cause for concern. Then again, that 105SP he earned two back in winning a 10.5f listed is a darn good sign for near-future success.

 

Deajai13 has the baby of the field entered at 16-1. Nowhere Road, a son of Came Home, has responded very well to the usual boost in performance granted 3yos this time of year. He’s gone from multiply-stakes-placed horse to to a stakes winner in his first start against elders last time out. The 110SP he earned at 10.5 was basically icing. This is his first graded start, and first go at 10, but if ever a 3yo was going to beat up on the older boys, this colt is capable of it. Likes to be close to the pace, and has the speed to make a real go at it. Luckily he is also quite capable of closing from the back of the pack, so it really shouldn’t matter how fast a pace is set.

 

Hard to believe that Intenttodistribute is the 17-1 longshot. After all, the 5yo Red Ransom mare is among rare company. she’s the only mare to ever win the G1 Movieland Shiny Cup, and was the first horse to beat Ermington Pegusus this year. She’s ranked #3 in the older mare dirt classic division, and generally beats up on the boys when she’s facing them. Her odds are depressed due to a very poor performance in the G1 Go For The Gold three back, but Intent is a mare who hates the rain. At 17-1, betting this mare could turn out to be an excellent investment. She adores being on the lead, but isn’t as flashy as some of the sim’s other frontrunners tend to be – she does just what she needs to do in very workmanlike fashion.

 

I’ve got a soft spot for Intenttodistribute.This mare is truly a fine 10f horse. If Intent wins, however, that means Otto Causes won’t, and I’d sure like for him to win. But wouldn’t it be a great story if Twist Of Lemon won? You can’t count out Nowhere Road – the youngsters have a way of beating up on their elders this time of year. Maybe Here For the Party will finally get his photo taken at a big race. Karma calls the race for Ms Thirteen. Odds call it for either Myledes or Safety Zone. The rest of the field aren’t slouches either. This is a wide-open race.