FRESHMAN BECOME SOPHOMORES EARLY IN THE SPECIAL BID STAKES AT INDIANA
With the onset of the New Year upon us 2 Year old racing will have to wait until spring but today’s feature in Indiana, The Grade III Special Bid Stakes can be considered a 2 year old plus 1 week race. A field of ten 3 year olds will be sprinting 6 furlongs on the fast frozen dirt chasing down the top prize from the $150,000 purse.
Let’s take a look at today’s field:
1)SUR LA PLAGE BG(KY)—6/1—bobg12 sends this colt out of POWERSCOURT(GB) with a record of 8-4-1-2 and lifetime earnings of $113,118. He is out of the mare THE OWL who was 5/48 at the track and who has 3 foals on record, all winners including 1 stakes winner. This 37th divisional ranked colt races for the Bob123g stables based at the Kentucky Horsemen. After a 3rd place finish in the slop in this colts debut he proceeded to go on a 3 race winning streak last year with the third win coming in The Together Not Gal Cap in South Carolina. He would add one more stake win before the year was out in The Bold Trapping Stakes in Arakansas where he posted his lifetime best 92 speed rating over the 6.5 furlong dirt race. He races predominantly as a closer who sits at the back of the pack early in the race. The rider for today’s race will be Armstrong (19.5%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—90.
2)HOPPIN TO THE WIRE(FL)—7/1—rstjm4 sends this colt out of SKIP TRIAL with a record of 10-3-1-2 and lifetime earnings of $77,080. This 137th divisional ranked colt races for the unafilliated Fes977 Stables. This colt won his second lifetime start last year and added another allowance win and a stakes win before the season ended. He won The Cryptolightning Bonanza in West Virginia over 7.5 furlongs on the dirt. He posted his lifetime best 90 speed rating last time out while finishing 4th in an 8.5 furlong dirt stake in Pennsylvania. While all his wins have come as a closer he is inconsistant and you never know one race to another wether he will have his big closing move going or not. The rider fort today’s race will be Jacke (8.3%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—87.
3)HANNAH’S HORIZON(IRE)—5/1—rharfo5 sends this colt out of REFUSE TO BEND(IRE) with a record of 7-4-2-0 and lifetime earnings of $315,150. He is out of the mare HONOUR QUEST who was 3/30 at the track and this is the only foal on record to date. This 255th divisional ranked colt races for the Rharfo stables based at the CR Racers. This colt won his first 2 starts of his career and then picked up a pair of stakes races later in the season hilited by The Grade III Up North Juvenile in Maine where he posted his lifetime best 89 speed rating. So far in his career he has run only on the turf and with his record and earnings to date so far some may wonder why he is switching to the dirt today but his connections obviously want to see how he handles the sandy surface before committing him to his 3 year old stakes schedule. This colt has shown speed on the turf and it ramains to be seen if he can transfer that style to the main dirt track. The rider for today’s race will be Oliver (8.8%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—88(TURF)
4)STONE SOUR(KY)—7/1—ibanez sends this colt out of AFLEET ALEX with a record of 8-3-2-1 and lifetime earnings of $92,152. He is out of the mare JACK’S RYTHEM who was 8/44 at the track and this is the only foal on record to date. This 318th divisional ranked colt races out of the Bigrick stables based at Minnesota Downs. While always knocking at the door it was not until his 6th race of his career that he managed to break his maiden but he has been unbeaten in 3 starts since then managing back to back allowance wins to close off his 2 year old campaign. He posted his lifetime best 90 speed rating last time out over 7 furlongs in Kentucky. This colt is a closer who may not like the cut back in distance today which will mean he will have to start his mover earlier than usual as all three of his wins have come at the 7 furlong distance. The rider for today’s race will be Gordon (9.5%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—88.
5)SUNSET MESA(KY)—7/1—twoofus2 sends this colt out of SKY MESA with a record of 7-2-2-1 and lifetime earnings of $70,260. He is out of the mare BAYOU CAJUN who was 3/28 at the track and this is the only foal on record to date. This 140th divisional ranked colt races for the GR Simsters division of the Twoofus stables. This colt broke his maiden in his 2nd lifetime start and after an average stake run tried the turf for one race before returning to run on the main track. He would close the season off with 3 dirt stake runs, winning his season finale in The Holy Storm(GB) Memorial in Argentina where he posted a 94 speed rating over the 6 furlong race. This colt does have some early gate speed and has recently displayed a stalking/pressing style of running. The rider for today’s race will be Stacy (12.7%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—90.
6)POWER STRUGGLE(KY)—6/1—thethumb07 sends this colt out of CAT THIEF with a record of 5-2-2-0 and lifetime earnings of $107,150. He is out of the mare BUZZ POWER who was 1/7 at the track and who has 4 foals on record, all winners including 1 stakes winner. This 143rd divisional ranked colt races for Lenny’s Evil Empire stables based at the GR Simsters. This colt broke his maiden in his lifetime debut and added another allowance win in his 3rd start. He finished off his freshman campaign with a pair of 2nd place stake finishes. He posted his lifetime best 94 speed rating in the first of those added money starts in The Much Into Morris Special over 6.5 furlongs in Dubai. This stalker has some early speed and usually sits a few lengths of the leaders early. The rider for today’s race will be Huhn (11.1%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—90.
7)TAP DANCES(KY)—7/1—gg sends this colt out of KINGMAMBO with a record of 7-2-3-0 and lifetime earnings of $61,266. He is out of the he-mare SWINGTIME SAL who was 4/27 at the track. This 153rd divisional ranked colt races out of the GR Simsters division of the Topicount stables. This colt broke his maiden in his lifetime dirt debut after starting his career with a pair of turf races. He added another allowance win and then closed the season off with a pair of 2nd place short dirt sprint stake runs. He posted his lifetime best 89 speed rating in The Sylbert’s Steagle(IRE) Cap in New Hampshire over 5.5 furlongs on the dirt. While his last several races were against short fields he did display a closing style albeit was only sitting a few lengths back of the leaders suggesting he will sit midpack here today. The rider for today’s race will be Collins (10.2%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—87.
8)HOPEITGOTAPPROVAL(KY)—6/1—triplets sends this 3 year old colt out of HENNESSY with a record of 7-2-4-0 and lifetime earnings of $36,110. He is out of the he-mare PLEASANT APPROVAL who was 10/34 at the track. This divisional unranked colt races for the unafilliated division of Doctahg’s Dentition stables. This colt broke his maiden in his 2nd lifetime start and has four seconds and a win in 5 allowance race starts since. He posted his lifetime best 94 speed rating last time out in Utah in a NW2X allowance over 7.5 furlongs on the dirt. This colt is a closer who like others in this race will have to time his move right in this shorter distance in order to get up at the wire. The rider for today’s race will be Gann (9.6%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—90.
9)SPEEDTOWN(KY)—6/1—citation sends this colt out of SPEIGHTSTOWN with a record of 10-3-3-1 and lifetime earnings of $216,080. He is out of the mare QUEEN OF GOLD who was 5/34 at the track and this is the only foal on record to date. This 12th divisional ranked colt races out of the Minnesota Downs residency with the Citation group of stables. This colt broke his maiden in his lifetime debut and also won his stakes debut last year. He would be Graded staked placed and would also win a 2nd stake race before the season would end. He posted back to back 88 speed rating in his last 2 starts of the year which are his lifetime best to date. His best races are run when he presses the frontrunners or stalks from a length or two back. The rider for today’s race will be Matthews (8.9%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—88.
10)RED HOT MON(KY)—10/1—itsalock sends this colt out of MARIA’S MON with a record of 9-2-1-2 and lifetime earnings of $58,023. He is out of the mare HOT ORANGE SAUCE who was 3/30 at the track and this is the only foal on record to date. This 174th divisional ranked colt races for Randy’s Oneworld stables based over at Minnesota Downs. This colt broke his maiden in his 5th lifetime start and then picked up a stake win in his last start last year in The Sultry Prospector Special in Illinois where he posted a lifetime best 87 speed rating in the 6 furlong dirt race. He runs best as a closer who starts his move in the backstretch . The rider for today’s race will be Nay (9.4%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—87.
Well after carefully considering all possible senarios and studying everything and all from the PP lines of this field I have come to the following conclusion for a sure way to cash a ticket in this race. Box #’s 1 Thru #10 and you cannot lose because if you think I can pick a winner out of this closely knit bunch you got another thing coming.
GOOD LUCK AND GOOD RACING
THEO