10 GIRLS LOOKING TO MAKE THE BIG TIME IN NEW YORK GRADE II FEATURE
This week’s feature race in New York is The Grade II Big Time Handicap for Fillies and Mares 3 YO+. They will run 10 furlongs on the turf and chase the winners share of the $200,000 purse.
Let’s take a look at today’s field:
1)HIGH RANSOM—3/1—batesy sends this 4 year old mare out of RED RANSOM with a record of 18-9-5-3 and lifetime earnings of $1,115,047. This 3rd divisional ranked mare races for Pedro’s Racing Empire which is based at the EAAA residency. This mare was unraced as a 2 year old and broker her maiden at 3 on the dirt. She was switched to the turf in her last start last year and has been a big runner this season. She has picked up 5 stakes wins so far this year including back to back Grade I’s earlier this year in The Cedora D Stakes and The Princess Di Cap where she posted her lifetime best speed rating of 115 over the 9 furlong turf race. She enters this race on a 2 race win streak and has won 4 of her last 5 starts. While she usually runs at the 9-9.5 furlong distance she is sharp and should have no problem with the extra ground in today’s race. She is a stalker who sits a few lengths back of the frontrunners and then makes her bid in the far turn. The rider for today’s race will be Lawton (23.1%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—106.
2)K’S MASTERPIECE(KY)—8/1—sledwith2 sends this 3 year old filly out of GHOSTZAPPER with a record of 10-8-2-0 and lifetime earnings of $415,240. This 25th divisional ranked filly races for The Pompeya Thoroughbred Racing Corporation based at the Hisapano Parlante racing residency. This filly won her first 5 lifetime races, all on the dirt and was switched to the turf 4 starts ago. She won her first 3 starts after the switch to the turf including her first stakes race in Norway where she posted her lifetime best 106 speed rating for the 9.5 furlong race. She tried Graded company for the first time last time out where she finished 2nd in the 9 furlong Grade II QE2 Challenge Stakes right here in New York. She is another stalker who must time her big move at the right time or else she could come up short as was the case last time out. This will be her first start at 10 furlongs in her career and will also be her debut against older competition. The rider for today’s race will be Williams (13.3%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—103.
3)XTRA SMART(NY)—10/1—ejdstable sends this 3 year old filly out of SMART STRIKE with a record of 10-4-3-1 and lifetime earnings of $232,205. This 88th divisional ranked filly races for the unafilliated ejdstables. This filly was unraced as a 2 year old and broker her maiden in her lifetime debut race. She became a stakes winner in her 3rd stakes start last time out in The Grade III Panhandle Oaks in Florida where she posted her lifetime best 110 speed rating over the 9 furlong turf race. She has changed her racing tactics in her last 2 starts by closing from the back of the field whereas before she was usually running up front with a speed style. The new style has suited her well and she has already ran at the long turf races in her career so distance should not be a problem. This will be her debut against older company in today’s race. The rider for today’s race will be Painter (11%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—103.
4)TARA(IRE)—13/1—bredtosell sends this 3 year old filly out of GENEROUS(IRE) with a record of 9-3-1-2 and lifetime earnings of $312,900. She is out of the mare SIREN SONG(IRE) who was 3/27 at the track and who has 2 foals on record with this filly the only winner to date. This 81st divisional ranked filly races for the Tulloch stables that are members in the new Rash residency. This filly won her first 2 lifetime starts in her 2 year old season and has added a Graded stakes win to her record in her last start. She won The Grade III Freiermuth in Longchamp where she posted her lifetime best 108 speed rating over the 10 furlong turf race en route to crushing her opponents by a 6 length margin. While she was racing from the back of the field early in her career she now sits a little bit closer in mid pack and that has suited her very well. Her last race showed that she loves the distance and this will also be her first start against older company today. The rider for today’s race will be Michaels (11.4%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—102.
5)GETTIN’ IT—8/1—peter12 sends this 4 year old mare out of DYNAFORMER with a record of 32-10-3-7 and lifetime earnings of 576,358. This 106th divisional ranked mare is a stablemate of #1 HIGH RANSOM at Pedro’s Racing Empire. This mare won 2 allowance races in her 2 year old season and added 5 wins last year including 3 Graded stakes races. This year she has picked up 3 more wins including an overnite stakes race 2 starts back in The Woodchip Stakes in Connecticut where she posted her lifetime best 104 speed rating over the 10.5 furlong turf race. She has shows some versatiltiy in running styles and is able to run at the front or stalk the early pace. She is a multi winner at the distance and her experience will come in handy against some of her younger foes today. Her stablemate is the early favorite so it will be interesting to see if this one helps set up the other one for the win today. The rider for today’s race will be Hafner (7.5%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—101.
6)FUTURISTIC—5/1—shades sends this 4 year old mare out of VINDICATION with a record of 30-10-8-5 and lifetime earnings of $621,341. She is out of the mare AMY’S FUTURE who was 6/30 at the track and who has 4 foals on record of which 3 are winners including 1 Graded stakes winner. This 46th divisional ranked mare races for the Coolk stables who are the managing directors of the EAAA residency. This mare was winless in 5 starts as a 2 year old and then broke her maiden in her 3 year old debut. She added 4 more allowance wins last year and has added 6 wins this year including 3 stakes victories. Her hilited win came in The Grade II Bird Legs Cup in NSW where she posted her lifetime best 109 speed rating in the 10 furlong turf race. While she has shown success at the 10 furlong distance she has usually been running in the long turf routes this year. She is another who has some speed but can also lay back and stalk the early pace if need be. The rider for today’s race will be Israel (12.4%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—103.
7)A PERFECT SUNDAY—10/1—unshaded99 sends this 5 year old mare out of SADLER’S WELLS with a record of 29-7-10-0 and lifetime earnings of $1,151,268. She is out of the he mare A PERFECT CIRCLE who was 11/62 at the track. This 15th divisional ranked mare races for Dundey Acres who are based over at the Minnesota Downs residency. This mare was unraced as a 2 year old and broker her maiden in her debut race on the dirt. She was switched to the turf last year and promptly won her first 3 starts on the lawn. She added 3 more wins including 2 Graded stakes wins last year hilited by the Grade I Flower Pot Stakes right here in New York. This year she won her first 3 starts of the season including a pair of Grade III contests but has not found the winners circle since albeit she has had to settle for 2nd place money a few times in that span. She posted her lifetime best 109 speed rating this year when racing in the Minnesota vs Vermont resident challenge over 10 furlongs on the turf. She is a close who sits near the back of the pack and makes her big move in the far turn and down the stretch, and she is already established at today’s distance. The rider for today’s race will be Dundey (9.3%) who will keep the business in the family today. PROJECTED SPEED RATING—94.
8)CHOCOLATE PIGEON(FR)—18/1—2ofus sends this 4 year old mare out of MARKELLA(FR) with a record of 28-8-4-6 and lifetime earnings of $153,738. This 1127th divisional ranked mare races for the GR Simsters division of the Twoofus Stables. This mare was a dirt racer and has had several owners in her past as she has raced in the claiming ranks. Her current owners picked her up for $1,410,002 in the auction this past summer and after a distappointing Grade III dirt run switched her to the turf last time out where she finished a far back 3rd in an allowance race. She will be in pretty tough here today. She posted her lifetime best 103 speed rating in May while winning The Grade III Poor Mona Lisa Handicap in Arkansas over 9 furlongs on the dirt where she surprised them at 12/1 odds. She is usually a closer who sits back early but will have to prove that she can compete against this top company on the grass in only her third lifetime start on the surface today. The rider for today’s race will be Dirks (12%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—92.
9)SKULLCRUSHER(KY)—6/1—given2 sends this 3 year old filly out of AWESOME AGAIN with a record of 11-6-1-2 and lifetime earnings of $679,504. This 5th divisional ranked filly races for Given’s Fire And Blood Stables based over at The GR Simsters. After starting her career with a pair of dirt races she has established herself as one of the best turf runners of her class. She has only missed the board once in her 9 starts on the lawn but the bad news is that was her only start at today’s 10 furlong distance so she will have to prove today that she can go that far in a race. She comes into today’s race off back to back Grade I win in The Demona Handicap where she posted her lifetime best 112 speed rating and in The QE2 Challenge, both 9 furlong turf races. She is another closer in a race that seems to have not drawn any true front speed so hopefully the pace will be live enough for her to take a run at it. She does have a leg up on the other 3YO fillies in the race in that she has beaten older already in her Demona win. The rider for today’s race will be Child (13.5%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING–105.
10)INDY ROCK SENOR(IRE)—9/2—eddielegg sends this 4 year old mare out of ROCK OF GIBRALTER(IRE) with a record of 17-8-3-4 and lifetime earnings of $590,228. This 10th divisional ranked mare races for the Alpine Turf division of The Eddie Empire stables. This mare was unraced as a 2 year old and picked up 3 allowance wins last year in her 3 year old season. This year she has picked up 5 wins including 4 stakes races. In her last start she won the innaugural Grade I World Cup Ladies Turf Nines where she posted her lifetime best 111 speed rating over the 9 furlong turf race. She is a stalker who sits just a few lengths behind the frontrunners and has won at the 10 furlong distance before. She has been off for 7 weeks so it will have to be seen if she has been kept fit on the training track to perpare her for this race. The rider for today’s race will be Davis (12.5%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—105.
It is alway’s interesting when the 3 year old crop of horses starts to compete against the older divisions and this race looks to be a very interesting race indeed. With the lack of any true speed it remains to be seen which stalker will take the bit and break out on top when the gate opens. While there are many who are close here I am still leaning towards #1 HIGH RANSOM to come thru as she is super sharp and may hold the edge over her 3 year old counterparts.
GOOD LUCK AND GOOD RACING
THEO