Future Stars Series – Grab a Beignet and Watch 9 Run in a 8f Louisiana NW2L (Part 2)

The BTB suddenly has a word count issue, so see Part 1 here.

#6 – A Ghost For Gold (Ghostzapper x Belle of Broadway [A.P. Indy x Mr. Prospector]) – Owned by zkingab9 – 5/2 (f)

Race Record: 3:1-0-1; $36,054

Capsule: A Ghost for Gold made his debut on May 8 in a 6f MSW and had no trouble dispatching the competition as the even money favorite.  After stalking the pace early, the drew off to win by 1-1/2 lengths, with a 73 SP.  He hasn’t been quite as successful in 2 NW2L allowance attempts since then, but he showed promise in his most recent race.  There, his first try at today’s 8f distance, he sat last of the field of 4 early but showed a bit of a closing kick in the stretch, finishing 3^rd and earning a career high 82 SP.  He’ll try to improve on that performance today.  A Ghost For Gold is the 12^th foal from 17yo mare Belle of Broadway, and is by sire Ghostzapper.  Ghostzapper ($85,000), the 2004 US Horse of the Year, was the #14 ranked US sire in 2018. His 2018 sim crop currently ranks #15 overall, with 131 winners from 165 runners to date, and his 2019 crop has 44 winners from 126 runners, ranking #41 overall.  11 of his 2018 crop and 2 of his 2019 crop have earned stakes victories, with 3 and 1 graded stakes winner, respectively. Ghostzapper’s sim foals are typically dirt runners (66% of earnings on dirt), with a pretty even balance between routing and sprinting (57% of earnings in routes, but a 51-49 split in wins), and his sim AWD of 7.65 isn’t too far off his real world AWD of 7.23.  Belle of Broadway was an excellent runner on the track, having won 12 of her 30 career races.  She was a dirt sprinter who won 3 stakes races, including a win in the Scary Carrie The Blueberry-G2 (6f) in 2006.  Her foals have all been dirt runners, but with a mix of distance preferences, and some have been top quality runners.  7 of her previous 11 foals are stakes winners, and among them are 6yo Belladonte (Sea The Stars), winner of The Humane Distaff-G1 (7f), and Future Stars Series graduate American Belle (American Pharoah).  The Ghostzapper x A.P. Indy cross has been used 58 times in the past 5 years, producing 51 winners, 15 stakes winners and a staggering 8 graded stakes winners (16% of the foals are graded stakes winners).  The runners have a strong dirt preference, but are pretty evenly split between routing and sprinting.  A Ghost of Gold (DI: 3.25, CD: 0.76) looks like he should get today’s distance, and he’ll try to become the latest in his family’s line to achieve sim success.

Watch Level: High

#7 – Severe Turbulence (Broken Vow x Cyberwarfare [Declaration of War x Smart Strike]) – Owned by plano10 – 4/1

Race Record: 1:1-0-0; $20,220

Capsule: Severe Turbulence comes into this race as one of the lightest raced horses in the field, with only 1 career race under his belt.  That race came back on August 13, when he debuted in a 6.5f MSW.  In that race, he went off as the 6/1 4^th choice in a field of 13.  After stalking the pace early, he made his move in at the top of the stretch and dominated the field, drawing off to win by 1-1/2 lengths and earning an 82 SP.  He’ll stretch out today as he takes on winners for the first time.  Severe Turbulence is the 2^nd foal from 5yo mare Cyberwarfare, and is by Broken Vow.  Cyberwarfare won 5 of her 21 career races, all in dirt sprints.  She spent most of her career at the allowance level.  Her first foal, Build A Hideout (Animal Kingdom), has won 2 of 11 races thus far, both in dirt sprints, though he has shown that his best racing is as a turf router.  Broken Vow ($25,000), a multiple graded stakes winner at 8.5-9f on the dirt, was the #44 ranked US sire in 2018.  His sim crops aren’t quite as good, and his 2018 currently ranks #123 overall, with 74 runners and 53 winners to date (the 2019 crop has 17 winners from 51 runners).  Of those, 2 of the 2018 crop and 1 of the 2019 crop have found their way to a stakes winner’s circle, with 2 of those 3 being graded stakes winning dirt sprinters. His sim foals have shown a strong preference for the dirt (72% of earnings on dirt), with a slight preference for sprinting (58% of wins in sprints, though 56% of earnings are in routes), and his 7.2 sim AWD nearly matches his real life 7.26 AWD.  The Broken Vow x Declaration of War cross has only been used one other time in the past 5 years, producing a dirt sprinter.  Severe Turbulence (DI: 2.37, CD: 0.59) doesn’t look like he’ll have much trouble with today’s distance, and he’s a top contender in this race.

Watch Level: High

#8 – Bo De Lago (Bodemeister x Quintada [Encosta De Lago (AUS) x Easy Goer]) – Owned by gcliffo21 – 6/1

Race Record: 3:1-0-1; $34,306

Capsule: Bo De Lago began his racing career on May 4 in a 6f MSW.  After stalking the pace early in the race, he was outrun to the finish and had to settle for 3^rd.  His next try, again at 6f against a 5 horse field, saw Bo De Lago try a new pacesetting strategy that failed, as he tired and finished 4^th.  His most recent race was a step forward though, as he finally broke his maiden in a 7f MSW, dueling for the lead early and then opening up a huge lead in the stretch before gearing down and winning by 1-3/4 lengths, with an 80 SP.  This will be his first routing attempt.  Bo De Lago is the son of Bodemeister, and is the 4^th foal out of 8yo mare Quintada.  Bodemeister ($25,000), second in the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, was the #49 ranked US sire of 2018.  In the sim, his 2018 crop currently ranks #61, with 85 winners from 124 runners to date, and his 2019 crop has 26 winners from 70 runners thus far.  3 of the 2018 crop and 1 of the 2019 have won stakes races, though none have graded stakes victories just yet.  Bodemeister’s sim foals strongly prefer dirt (76% of earnings on dirt) and are pretty evenly split between routes and sprints (56% of earnings and 53% of wins in routes), though his sim AWD of 7.78 is slightly longer than his real world AWD of 7.17.  Quintada won 7 of her 21 career races, with a single stakes win and multiple graded stakes placingson her resume.  Most of her running came in the 8-8.5f dirt range, which is perfect for today’s race.  Of her first 3 foals, however, only one has had any real on the track, and that foal is a stakes placed dirt router.  The Bodemeister x Encosta De Lago cross has occurred 4 times in the past 5 years, with 3 winners but only 1 allowance winner thus far.  Most of the wins have come in dirt routes.  Bo De Lago (DI: 3.67, CD: 0.79) seems like this might be his ideal distance, but he’ll need to show that he’s got the stamina to get these routes to really excel in the future.

Watch Level: Medium

#9 – Quietoljunk (Stonesider x Category Five x End Sweep) – Owned by quietjohn – 44/1

Race Record: 5:1-4-0; $83,415

Capsule: Quietoljunk is both the most experienced and most profitable of the horses in this race.  He made his debut all the way back on January 2 in a 5f hot MSW where he had only 1 non-CPU opponent, but he finished 2^nd.  From there, the Texas-bred found a $150,000 local claimer and took his shot there, but again finished 2^nd.  His first and only win came in his 3^rd race, a $150,000 Local Starter Allowance, where he again faced only 1 non-CPU horse and wired the field.  His 4^th race was his fastest, as Quietoljunk tried another $150,000 Local Starter, where he sat 2^nd early in the field of 4 and stayed there the entire race, earning a career high 66 SP.  His most recent race was a turf try where he missed by a head at 4.5f.  He’ll take a big leap stretching out to 8f for the first time.  Quietoljunk is the scratch-bred son of Stonesider, out of a Category Five mare.  Stonesider ($2,000), a son of Giant’s Causeway and the #8 ranked sire in Texas in 2018, was 1 for 1 in his career on the track, in a dirt sprint. His 2019 sim crop currently has 8 runners (his most since 2016), and 6 have already won, ranking #712 overall.  Among his 111 lifetime foals are 2 stakes winners, with one recent winner coming on non-restricted company at 6.5f on the dirt.  His sim foals are largely dirt sprinters (67% of earnings on dirt, 66% in sprints), which aligns with his 6.84 real world AWD and 6.58 sim AWD..  Somewhat surprisingly, even though Stonesider has had only 8 runners this year, 2 of them have been featured in this Future Stars Series!  Quietoljunk (DI: 0.82, CD: -0.20) might be able to get the distance, but he seems out of his depth here as he takes on real competition for the first time.

Watch Level: Low

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Who to pick in this race?  Who knows?  I’m gonna go against the favorite, and instead go with (1) Severe Turbulence, (2) Who’s Da Boss, and (3) Home Town City.  Good luck everyone!

Other Races to Watch This Weekend:

1)      Kentucky – Alw NW2L @ 8f-T (Fillies) (Division 1) (Division 2)

2)      Florida – NW2L @ 7f (Fillies)

3)      California – Alw NW2L @ 8.5f-T

4)      Kentucky – Alw NW2L @ 8.5f-T

5)      New York – Alw NW2L @ 8f (Fillies)