Equinics 2020-Empire State Building
One of the Wonders of the World being celebrated in the Equinics is the Empire State Building. For nearly 40years, the 102-story building was the tallest in the world. Interestingly, the top 200 feet of the building was originally designed as a docking port for blimp-like airships where passengers would walk down a plank to enter the building. This never occurred as winds are too strong at that height. At least back in the 1930’s the architects had clever thoughts, but not all ideas pan out.
Onto our Equinics race where our current trainers and residencies have clever thoughts in architecting plans for their horses to compete in the Equinic Races. A few will find that their plans work and take a medal home while others will see that their ideas don’t pan out. Let’s see who’s in this race which will be held in Vermont on the dirt surface. The field is open to horses age 4 and up and the ladies have opted to avoid the boys in this one.
1 EMPEROR FERDINAND (MIDAS Residency) 10/1
Emperor is owned by Dixiedotco and Seize the Throne is the mother to this runner and is a Hall of Famer due to breeding five grade winning children with three others that have won listed stakes. Emperor Ferdinand likes to run on the lead or as close to as she can get. Hhe has been hot with the speed this year with each of his six starts at a minimum of 111. A 117 career best speed came in May when he won his sole stake race in a listed event going 8.5 flanks. He galloped into the G3 Salvatore Mile after that win and ran second early on but couldn’t avoid the stalkers who advanced and he finished in fourth. The Galileo sired horse has really taken to the dirt and his last start undoubtedly helped with grade level experience and just a matter of upping his game off of that.
2 CRIPPIN IS RIPPIN (UNIVERSAL RACING CLUB Residency) 10/1
This is a he-male bred out of Leadership Spill who was a front running sprinter in his day and gathered in a nice 14 victories over his career. Crippin’s race style mirrors his he-mother in that Crippin also enjoys sitting in the driver’s seat, however, he does differ in that he prefers routes instead of sprints. Owner Houseriot has this horse going nicely this year with two wins and three seconds in his five seasonal starts. The first three races were all allowance at 9 furlongs (one win, two seconds). He cut back in distance a smidge to 8.5 furlong in May when he made his first stake race appearance in the G2 Slugger’s Breeder’s Bowl which he won by a stride and a half (at 12/1 odds) and an amazingly blazing 121 speed. That speed simmered down a tad in his last start which was an 8.5 furlong listed stake where he charted a still nice 114 speed and was caught in the stretch and beat by a half length for a second-place finish. Crippin is certainly Rippin this year and may be a spoiler in this race.
3 AFIRMATIVO (LATINOS DEL MUNDO Residency) 14/1
Afirmativo is a scratchbred out of City Zip who has won 5 of his 11 dirt starts and three of those came in 2020. This year started off with a trio of allowance races and after scoring wins in the second and third, with speeds of 117 and 115, owner Haack took this runner into the G3 Hambone Cup. Afirmativo generally runs in the back quarter of the field and did so in the Hambone but the late run effort never transpired as he finished 10th in the full field of 14. In June, he was placed into a listed stake race and found his mark again as he was running 9th (out of 14) and the half mile, 6 off the leaders and rallied to bring home the victory at 14/1 and won by more than a length with a lightning speed of 120. He’s again at 14/1 in this field and if lightning strikes again with another incredibly high speed number, Afirmativo may be taking home a medal.
4 READY FOR A FORTY (BLAZING SADDLES Residency) 19/1
This one has a nice breeding line from the mother’s side. Sippin On A Forty was a listed stake winner during her racing career and she has bred six children with three being grade winners and the other three being listed stake winners. Sippin On A Forty’s mother (or Ready for a Forty’s grandmother) is a Hall of Famer due to her breeding career which included 13 children, two became Eclipse winners in addition to 4 others becoming grade winners and 5 more winning listed stakes. Quite an impressive family line. Ready For A Forty took a long 6 month break and has two starts this year, both very solid. He returned into an allowance event, more or less to work on form (also the only time he has not raced in a stake event) and he rallied from 6 off the lead to win by over a stride at 18/1 for owner MTK76. But the career best speed of 117 was an eye opener off the long layoff. In June he moved into a listed stake and this time was 8 back at the half and he came rolling home to finish second, missing by just under a length and scoring another 117. He has returned to the track in super sharp form and could the third time out after a long rest be the winning formula? We’ll find out soon enough!
5 K’s SEAL N CONCEAL (HISPANO PARLANTE Residency) 7/1
At the age of 7, this is one of the oldest horses in the field and owned by Latinlover. He is a scratchbred and was sired by Kitten’s Joy. Last July, K’s Seal N Conceal started popping speeds of 110 and up and before you knew it, he connected to win four in a row that included three allowance level wins as well as his sole listed stake victory which came in December and he set the track on fire with a career mark of 119. He took a brief break and returned in March to win an allowance by 2 strides and a nice 117 speed. In April, K’s took to the graded level in the G3 Fus Gonner Handicap with hopes that his slow start/strong finisher style of racing would make to back-to-back wins but the drop in speed to 109 (his only sub-110 speed since July) resulted in finishing seventh. He returned to the listed stake level in his last start and nailed another 117 speed and finished second. At age 7, K’s Seal N Conceal is still firing off terrific speed numbers but has only raced twice in graded company. A monster effort here could make the third time a charm.
6 DRAGGING THE LINE (THE MINNESOTA TESTBARN RESIDENCY) 15/1
This is the child out of G2 winning Badbadstella who has mothered 7 children in the game with one being a grade winner and Dragging the Line being her sole listed stake winner. Dragging hit a career best speed of 116 at the end of December in a listed stake race which is his only stake win and also the last time he trotted into the winner’s circle. This season, owner Selurnivek ran him in a trio of graded races where he was 3rd in the G2 Toilet Scrubbers Anonymous and 7th in the G2 Saints Handicap, both 110 speeds and a 111 speed in the G3 Eviscreator. Dragging was dropped into listed stakes in his last pair of outings finishing 3rd in a 10-furlong race, again with a 111 speed and his recent outing at 8.5 furlongs was a fifth place finish but a lower 107. Dragging likes to sit in the middle of the field and in his last race was further back which may have impacted his results. Dragging has potential and the competition in this field is stiff and he will need to run at his career best speed, or better, to take the podium.
7 ROZELLE (ALL-STARS RACING Residency) 4/1
The favorite in the field is a scratchbred out of Comissioner and he has been on fire for owner Tees. Since last July, his speeds have been 114 and above and an unbelievable 125 speed was recorded in his last start in the G1 Cosmoplitan Handicap in which he ran off to the lead and held on to win by a quarter length. That came on the wet track where he has won all five races he’s competed in on the off-surface. As for the dry track, he has won 5 of 15, so he is stable there to. Rozelle has one other grade race which ran in the Oaktree Handiap (G2), just before the monster win in the Cosmopolitan. In the Oaktree, he hammered out another winner on the front end, but ran head to head with Forty Niner Cause the entire distance in a very exciting race all the way. The win by a head was well deserved in this fight. Rozelle is currently on a 4-race win streak and includes an allowance win and a listed stake victory that kicked off the streak. Just to toss this in, Rozelle ran a 120 speed on a dry track last year with allowance company. He is a jack rabbit and will be out on the lead, the one to catch and put away. The horse with the highest earnings in the field will be hard to take down.
8 SARCASTIC PIRATE (NORTHWEST RACING CIRCUIT Residency) 14/1
Sarcastic Pirate is one of three horses to amass winnings over $1 million and is a scratchbred sired by Distorted Humor. Since May, 2019, owner Jubalrutledge has spearheaded this horse to race exclusively in grade level races. Last year, he won three races that included the Nawbo Derby (G3), La Holla (G2) and the La Derby (G2) where he popped a 117 speed as his career best. He loves to run on the lead and all but one of his races were gate-to-wire wins. His last win was in the Scrub (G2) raced this past February where he settled back into the third spot in the early fractions and made a late move in the stretch to earn the win with a respectful 115. Since this win, disaster has taken over. His last four races had bad outcomes with an 8th place finish being the best result and finishing double digits behind the winner in three of these races. The early speed just has not been lasting for Sarcastic as his tank seems to dry up past the halfway point. It does not seem likely that this Pirate will find gold in this journey.
9 PAYNTERPICTURE (EMPIRE STATE RACING Residency) 9/2
The second favorite with earnings over $1 million was born out of G1 winning game mare Mudreach’s Finas. Of her eight children, two have won at the graded level with three others having a top-three finish in a grade level race. No one can blame owner Theduke88 for being mad, angry or upset after Paynterpicture’s last outing. How often does an owner have a horse that kicks out a speed of 125 and does not win the race? That happened in the G1 Cosmopolitan Handicap where Paynterpicture made his move from his mid-field positioning to close on the leader and finish second behind Rozelle (who is also entered in this race). Offer his last 16 starts, he’s failed to hit a speed of 110 or higher only twice. In nine graded races, he has won twice with the first in 2018 in the La Holla. Paynterpicture’s other victory came this year in March in the G2 Sand Castle Goldolphin Mile where he pounced to a win by more then 2 strides and cracked out a 117 speed in the process. It is painful and heartbreaking to lose a race with a speed of 125 and he will be looking to make amends on the hoofs of that outcome.
10 GUN INSPECTOR (EAST-WEST CONNECTION Residency) 9/1
The 4 year old gelding is a scratchbred who was sired by Gun Runner and will be making his third consecutive lifetime start at the graded level for owner Sjmeola. Last September, Gun Runner started a streak of running speeds of 110 and upwards which was launched in an allowance race which he won going 10 furlongs. He wrapped up the 2019 season with another pair of allowance races, finishing second in each. He scaled back to 9 furlongs, where he has been racing all of 2020 and pumped his speed up to 114 with a win, again in the allowance group. With this fine result, he stepped into a listed stake race for the second time in his career and blew out a 119 speed (career best) and winning by two lengths. From here, he navigated into the G1 Charles Town Classic and finished a decent third but four off the winner. His last start was in the G2 New Hampshire Handicap and he again finished second with a 117 speed. Gun Inspector can run a variety of race styles from running on the front end to relaxing a bit in a mid-field position. There are a few front runners in this field and I think he’ll settle towards the middle in this one. He has been showing good form for a while and the only question mark I see is dropping down to 8 furlongs here and whether or not he might want the longer distance.
11 AMAZING CAUSE (ELITE RACING CLUB Residency) 16/1
Giant’s Causeway is the sire to this scratchbred who is owned by Jbcri09 and just recently appeared in stake races. His journey started last August when he caught on fire with some nice finishes in the allowance class. Amazing Cause won that race with a 112 speed. He followed this up with a second in his next start with a slightly slower 108 but he did cut a 13 length disadvantage to under two. In November, he made it to the line just in time to record another win then took a winter break to return in February this year very much recharged as he rallied from 11 down to win by more than a stride and notched a 115 speed. He would run this up to 117 in his first appearance in stake company in a listed event where his career best speed was recorded and Amazing would come up short by a stride and second place. His last start was in the G3 Birkenstock and while he scored a 110 speed, it wasn’t enough as he finished seventh and five off the winner. Amazing Cause will be in the rear section of the field for at least half the race, probably more. He tends to be a strong final quarter runner and while he looks to have a nice career ahead of him, waiting until that late in the race probably won’t work in this group as he will need to move sooner than that.
12 HELP YOUR BROTHERS (GR SIMSTERS Residency) 13/1
This entrant is the son of game mare The Invasion and is one of two children who has won a grade level race out of the seven total the mare has bred. He is sired by Cupid and owned by Willyam13. Help Your Brothers has appeared in 6 graded races over his lifetime and only had a top-three finish once. That came this past February in the G3 Pineshaft Handicap. Help Your Brothers held a stalking third position and was able make a move around the turn and took the lead in the stretch. He drew away from the field and won by nearly 2 strides and not only did this 19/1 runner light up the toteboard, but the speed of 121 was totally unexpected. He raced two more times in graded this season in the G3 Skipping Away and G2 West Coaster where speeds pulled back to 116 and 109 as well as his finishing positions (5th and 7th). He likes to hang close to the front runners, which is not bad to keep them in sight, but he’ll need to have something to make a stretch run while watching out for the late closers. The 121 speed would be nice to duplicate in this race.
13 YANKEE PHAROAH (ONLY STAYERS Residency) 13/1
13 of Yankee Pharoah’s 19 lifetime starts have been in graded races and he is a scratchbred out of American Pharoah. He’s notched a record of 2-2-1 competing at the top levels in the sport. His first grade win was February, 2019 where he had a nice steady closing pace to win the Fountain of Ute (109 speed) by a good length plus. It took over a year for owner Naskippy to pull in as he flushed this one out this past April in the G3 Fus Gonner Handicap by half a stride, with a similar steady close and was able to hit his lifetime best speed of 116 in the process. Unfortunately, things turned on him in his last start in the G3 Salvatore Mile where the speed figure dropped to 106 and Yankee was never a threat during the race and finished tenth. This one is hard to figure out as he can run a 110+ speed and be a factor and other times he seems to be reluctant to run. If he comes in this race with his game face on, he could find a spot on the podium.
14 MEDAL FOR BARBARA (HOOSIER RACING Residency) 16/1
Based on the name, this one was born to race in the Equinics and what a coincidence it would be if he medaled! Owner Jakematt bred this colt with Medaglia D’Oro as sire to game mare Barb’s Back Again and this is her first child. In 2019, Medal for Barbara ran in seven listed stakes and was winless but did hit the board five times. He moved up to graded competition in 2020 and finished third his first time out in the G3 Willing And Able with a 111 mark. The speed flew upward in his next race, the G2 Saints Handicap where he came from off the pace to take the win by a stride and at 15/1 odds and set a lifetime best speed of 117. After this nice start to the year, things have taken an about-face with appearances in two G1 races, Charles Town Classic and Barry Foster with off the board finishes in both. In those two races, he was slotted into a mid-field position and his best efforts are generally when he finds a seat in the third to fifth spot. I think it will be hard for Medal for Barbara to find this desirable spot in this big race and he may be thrown off his game if he does not get his way.
My medal picks:
Gold: PaynterPicture had a tough second place finish in last with a 125 speed. He’ll be fighting to get that win back.
Silver: Rozelle was the one that held off the top pick with his own 125 speed. Could be a fight between these two again.
Bronze: Crippin is Rippin may not have a lot of stake experience but he has been red hot this year and could be a spoiler.