The Greatest Show On Turf

It’s called The Greatest Show on Turf and it is a grade one race with a purse of $1,500,000 but the name is arguable. The race is run in South Africa at a mile and three eighths over a firm turf and has attracted a well matched field of ten, only one of whom has a previous grade one win and only four others have graded wins. One thing I do like about these horses is that two of them traded hands in claiming races (a third was an auction buy). It’s always refreshing to know that with the right luck any player can grab a horse with a shot at a graded win. Anyhow let’s take a look at these runners.

Courtyard LV 5/1

A horse that really loves this distance is Courtyard LV. He’s five years old but only has twenty one career starts. He enters off a grade two win at this distance in the M-Class Stakes. That race was about six weeks ago and he ran a 114 speed. That was his second grade two win, the previous one came in the eleven and a half furlong Shinko Classic last August. He really drops well back in the field early on and his late charge doesn’t always get to the finish first. If there is one knock on his resume it is that he has only one third in three grade one tries. He is making his third start off a layoff which is always a positive move. He’s a son of Camelot out of a Fastnet Rock x Cozzene mare. He is the second graded winner for the mare who has seven foals to race including an allowance winning two year old of 2020.

Finke Daimler 4/1

Making his third appearance in The Greatest Show on Turf is Finke Daimler. He won the race two years ago and was fifth last year. The six year old gelding also has two other graded wins on his resume, both at eleven furlongs. One of those wins was the Grade Two M-Class which he won prior to his win in this race two years ago. He prepped in that race again last year and finished second. This season he also prepped there and was second again behind Courtyard LV whom he faces again here. He ran a 112 speed there, showing that he hasn’t lost a step at his age. That was his third start of the year and first on the board finish. He’s a son of Darci Brahma out of a stakes winning Montjeu x A.P. Indy mare and he is the best of her five foals.

Tete Ezayah 11/1

There are two five year old geldings in this race from the mighty sabbath stables and interestingly they are closely related. Tete Ezayah is by Temple City out of an Authorized x Galileo mare. His second dam is named Tete’s Gal, the dam of Tete Enslaved. Tete Ezayah is not nearly as accomplished as his stablemate. He has never won a stakes race and has been well beaten in all of his attempts there, including a listed race in his most recent start. But sabbath is a savvy trainer and I’m sure what he sees is a horse who is 6-4-1-0 at this distance. Indeed two starts back he won an allowance by an easy three lengths albeit over only three other competitors but he ran a 106 speed in that start. He also was just gelded back in August and he didn’t make another start until March of this year. All of his three starts this year have seen him run triple digit speeds. He may not seem a likely winner but there are a number of angles that work in his favor.

Elusive Kanaloa 12/1

Elusive Kanaloa is an interesting prospect. He only has two wins in his thirteen race career but one of those wins was a listed win at this distance. He’s also multiple graded placed including a third place finish in his last start, the M-Class Stakes. The first two finishers there are both running back here. The late runner also finished third in a grade three at this distance in his race prior to the M-Class. He’s a son of the top-class Japanese sire Lord Kanaloa who may be a bit underrated in the sim and he’s out of an Elusive Quality x A.P. Indy mare. The four year old is her second foal and first stakes winner. Can he break through here and get his third career win in a grade one? It’s certainly possible.

Flying O’Reilly 29/1

The longest shot on the board and the horse with by far the most starts in this race is Flying O’Reilly. The eight year old scratchbred son of O’Reilly x Flying Spur x Zabeel has forty starts under his belt and is a graded placed stakes winner. O’Reilly was a very good sire in New Zealand who was given an upgrade in the sim and promptly died a week later. Flying O’Reilly changed hands prior to his last start which came in a grade one mile race where he finished last, beaten twenty six lengths. He ran an 82 speed there. A month prior he did run a bit better in a longer race, a listed where he finished sixth with a 97 speed. His best races came back in 2016 and it is hard to imagine that he will revert to that form.

Conquering Liam 8/1

Conquering Liam is the horse with the fewest starts in the field but the best in the money percentage. He’s got ten starts with four wins, four seconds and a third. The four year old scratchbred son of Fastnet Rock x Kingmambo x Seattle Slew won his first stakes race in his most recent start going a mile and five sixteenths. He does have one race and one win going eleven furlongs in an allowance back in October. The colt has a lot of early speed but doesn’t have to be on the lead to win. He’s had three starts this year and his speeds have been very good, increasing from 111 in his first start to 113 in that most recent race. He did have a two month break at the end of last year and again with only ten starts he’s hardly over raced.

Horses and Scotch 5/1

This weekend features a number of major turf races for three year olds and up including two at this distance. That makes for poor scheduling as these races compete with one another. The other eleven furlong race is the United Countries Handicap which is also a grade one. A horse who won that race twice is Deputy Cadet. Deputy Cadet is a half brother to Horses and Scotch who shows up in this race for the first time. The five year old son of Fastnet Rock is the final foal of grade three winning Jade Hunter x Deputy Minister mare Mother Deputy. Mother Deputy produced another grade one winner and three stakes winners from nine foals. Horses and Scotch earned the biggest win of his career in the Grade Three Ark Trial back in September. That race was at this distance and he ran a whopping 120 speed. Since that race he has made five starts, four of them in grade ones where he failed to hit the board and one of which was an allowance that he won. His early pace stalking style has not helped him in these runs but he has consistently run triple digit speeds in his losses.

Henrythelawndude 6/1

Last season Henrythelawndude was claimed for $30,000 by his current connections. He had previously run a number of triple digit speeds, including a 113 going a mile and a half in an allowance. He has rewarded his new connections handsomely, winning a local championship stakes in his second start off the claim and an open stakes race at eleven furlongs back in February. He added a third in a grade two after that, his first graded placing. That race came at thirteen furlongs and he ran a 111 speed. He followed that number up with another 111 going a mile and a half in another grade two where he finished fourth. He tends to sit off the lead but allows the early leaders to open up on him a bit. His stakes win at eleven furlongs came over a good turf track which he won’t see here. The biggest question for the scratchbred son of Henrythenavigator x Kris S. x Alleged gelding is what is his best distance? While he does have the stakes win at this distance it seems like he may be a bit better going a little longer.

Tete Enslaved 5/1

Tete Enslaved is by leading Japanese sire Heart’s Cry. He’s one of two sires from Japan represented in this race that I think is a bit underrated in the game. Tete Enslaved is out of the stakes winning, graded placed Galileo x Deputy Minister mare Tete’s Gal. Tete Enslaved was so impressive a mate that her four and three year old foals are both by Heart’s Cry and the four year old is a grade three winner already. She has also produced another graded winner by Rock of Gibraltar and two listed winners from twelve foals. Tete Enslaved’s two stakes wins have come at a mile and a quarter. The first was a local championiship stakes race back in October and then in his most recent start he took the Grade Two Kinsho Kho Classic with a 112 speed. He’s run eleven furlongs twice, winning an allowance in April of last season with a 114 speed and then was second in another local championship with a 112 speed. His career best speed came last June when he ran second in a grade one going a mile and a half with a 115. The five year old is one of several runners in this race with tactical speed.

Stars Over Rome 6/1

Claimed after his eighth start, a $50,000 maiden claiming event, Stars Over Rome improved dramatically for his current connections. His last five starts have come at a mile and a quarter and he won three of those races including a listed stakes and the Grade Three Chaucer Gold Cup. In all three wins he ran a 112 speed which is his career best. It may seem that he is at a disadvantage at this distance but he does have wins at both twelve and thirteen furlongs and in both wins he ran triple digit speeds. This is his fifth start off a layoff that began last August and ended at the end of December. His big hiccup came in his most recent start, the Grade Two Kinsho Cho Classic where he ran an inexplicable seventh. The five year old gelding is by Galileo and based on an Animal Kingdom x Giant’s Causeway hemare.