Future Possible faces three in Helen’s Cannon Challenge
A short field of four fillies will face off in the Helen’s Cannon Challenge. Only 3/5 morning line favorite Future Possible has been tested over the 7.5 furlong distance. Fly Frontier, the field longshot at 5/1, comes into the race with the most on-track experience, while narrow second choice (5/2 odds) Moon’s A Ballon(IRE) gets her first try on dirt. Winnerland is the great unknown in this race, as she makes her racing debut.
Winnerland is a sleek brown filly by Saarland out of the Sunday Silence mare Weekend Warrior AZ. She’s been doing quite well in workouts of late, which may explain why trainer Stormchaser chose to place her in this $45K stakes for her debut. Her dam had a clear preference for turf, so if she follows in mama’s footsteps she may not adore the Malaysia main track. This is a nice easy spot to test out Winnerland’s ability on dirt, and her trainer is to be commended for the excellent strategical placement. This filly will have to be really good to beat the favorite however.
Fly Frontier, with just five races under her, has accumulated a fine on-track record of two wins, a place, and two shows. Both of her wins came at 5.5 furlongs with speed figures of 68 and 70. In her last start, she went 6.5 furlongs to run third, and came out of the race a bit tired. Her pedigree (Canadian Frontier x Petionville) suggests she should be able to go a bit longer. After six weeks rest, she should be able to improve her speed figures and maintain her record of 100% top-3 finishes. She will need to improve at minimum 10 points to catch up with the favorite. Trainer Cheryl130 has secured the services of veteran jockey E Hallock for this race.
Moon’s A Balloon(IRE) has shown some success for trainer Harold on turf courses, but has never seen dirt outside morning works the last few days. She is shipping in from Ireland where she ran a closing second in an allowance going 7 furlongs. The added half-furlong here looks to be no problem for this Moon Ballad(IRE) filly, as she has improved every time she has been offered extra ground. Balloon has one win in four starts, but has run second in two others and shows every sign of developing into a very useful racehorse. The 5/2 odds reflect the surface question and her slightly slower past performances in comparision to the race favorite.
Foxon’s fine filly Future Possible is clearly deserving of the title “favorite” in this race. In terms of on-track performance she is the class of the field, and this is her race to lose. The Victory Gallop filly took three tries to break her maiden, which she did in fine fashion going 6 furlongs in a high-purse 14-horse MSW at Japan with a healthy 80SP. She followed that up in her last start with a well-deserved third in the Tears Of Conflict Bonanza in Denmark at 7.5 furlongs. Future was tiring at the end, but as she is facing slower filies here is unlikely to face the same problem in this race. Top track jockey R Hilwhite’s agreement to ride signals much confidence in this filly’s ability to win in style.
Future Possible will probably be sent to the lead. If Moon’s A Ballon follows her turf style, she’ll be rated 3-4 lengths behind Future, right on the heels of Fly Frontier. Winnerland’s running style is really not predictable.