EWC Showcase Dirt Stake Race
The EWC has been running a residency competition for a few years now which features 2 year olds. The EWC supports a number of tracks and at the beginning of the year, residents are challenged to find a sire from one of these tracks and breed it in any manner they desire (to a mare, he-mare or scratch-bred). They then make their debut against each other in February in the Sire Showcase Futurity with two races, one on the dirt and one on the turf. In October, the horses reunite in a stake race, the Sire Showcase Stakes. It’s a chance to see how the horses have fared during the year, which, unfortunately, has not been too well as only 10 of the original 17 have entered this race and only four have broken their maidens.
This article is focused on the dirt runners which will be competing in California at a distance of one mile.
9 SHOWFLAKE 8/5 (owned by Denovo) was the winner of the Futurity debut race, which is only career win, however, he does lead the field in earnins with over $58,000 taken to the bank. He has raced four times this year and has hit the board in each race. He has loads of early speed and comes off a second-place finish in his only mile jaunt with a nice 81 speed. He’ll be looking to retain his crown in the EWC Showcase series and certainly could do so.
7 PUTYOURMONEYTOWORK 17/1(owned by Atthewire) was a big disappointment in the Futurity finisihing 13th out of the 17 that raced. He followed that up with a fifth running again on the dirt in April. From here, Atthewire moved this colt to the grass and quickly collected three straight seconds. His last race was one that broke his maiden, winning at 5.5 furlongs with a 60 speed. While he has earned over $46,000, he will be facing some significant challenges coming back to this reunion. First, while the grass races yielded results, they were against small 4-horse fields. Next is that he has never run more than 5.5 furlongs and the mile distance has not been tested yet. Speed is another concern, with 62 being the best thus far. Finally, he is returning to the dirt and he did not look comfortable on the surface earlier in the year.
6 I JUST FLY 5/2 (owned by Kashbarn) was the 7/2 co-favorite in the Futurity but could not pull things together. While he started the race at the rear of the field, he was able to move up a number of positions and finished 8th. Following the Futurity, he made some improvement and finished 2nd in his next start. However, misery followed with another 8th place finish in July. He went 8.5f in his last start and the longer distance paid off with his first career win and an 80 speed and enters with a bankroll of $47,000. This late closer looks like a factor here, however he has a pattern of bad race-good race-bad race-good race. Should this pattern persist, it looks like a bad race may be ahead of him.
4 CHARMING TOWNCAT 12/1 (owned by Smittie684) was a 39/1 longshot in the Futurity and did have troubles, finishing 11th. Since his debut, he has hit the board three times in the four races that followed, netting a bit over $10,000. These have been all in claiming level races where he has finished 2nd twice with a maiden breaking victory in the mix. He comes in with a second in his last race where he ran his best speed of 70. He will be asked to go a mile for the first time, which is further than his longest distance of 5.5 furlongs and the challenge awaits him.
3 EWC LITE FOUR 14/1 (owned by Cuetec) was a longshot at 42/1 in the Futurity but made a decent showing for himself with a fifth place finish and picking up some purse money and BP’s in the process. He’s raced a total of five times this year and has not yet had a top-3 finish. He’s earned a hair under $3,000 with that coming from a pair of 5th place finishes (including the Futurity) and one fourth place. He generally will race near the front but hasn’t shown the stamina to last until the end. His longest distance has been 6 furlongs, run back in March, where he charted his fastest speed of 68. Could the speed move higher as he advances to a mile? Possibly, but the bigger question is will he be able to stay up at the front of the field.
8 MR. ESKENDEREYA 5/1 (owned by Sjmeola) is one of the lightest raced horses in this field, hitting the track only three times with earnings of just under $1,700. He was liked by the betters in the Futurity where he was sent off at 9/2 odds but all those wagers ended up on the floor as he could not finish better than 12th. He reeled in his purse money in his next start going 4.5 furlongs finishing 3rd. His last start was back in June where he took on the 7 furlong distance where he ran 4th early on but finished 7th (and best speed of 69). It should be noticed that despite falling back in positions, he did sustain a distance of about 3 strides behind the leader throughout the race. Moves up another furlong in this race and I have an inkling he may find some more purse money here.
10 KOBE’S FADE AWAY 18/1 (owned by Jm23stable) didn’t offer much in the Futurity and finished near the middle of the field (10th). He’s raced a total of 6 times this season with a best finish of 3rd which came two races back in a 4.5 furlong race. In this event, he went straight to the lead and was run down in the stretch and notched his best speed of 67. He has won over $3,100 and his longest race was back in May where he finished 7th out of nine going 6.5 furlongs. Will be a tough task in this race as he seeks to break his maiden.
5 NILE RAIDER HF 20/1 (owned by Hemafarms) ran at steep odds of 62/1 in the Futurity and the results pretty much simulated the odds as he finished 16th out of 17. Since the debut race, he has raced five more times and earned over $1,600, however, has not had a top-three finish. His best effort was a fourth place finish in his start that followed the Futurity and that is where he earned all of his purse money. His speeds have been stuck in the 60-range over his last four starts and hit a career best of 66 in his last start. He has heart and will try to roll the dice and hope for some big outcome as he goes the mile for the first time.
2 PILS 14/1 (owned by Neonshadow) had a rough time in the Futurity running in the back end of the field and finishing 15th. He has four career races and earnings of $1,100 with all of that earned in a June race where he managed to capture a career best finish of fifth. Since the Futurity race, he has been racing in the front half of the field, however, has established a trend of trailing off in the stretch runs. His 65 career best speed will need a big boost to take this race and he’s another one of many that will be going the mile for the first time.
1 ROMAN DOWNPOUR 11/1 (owned by Crawf) is one of the more lightly raced horses in the field with only three start to date and on the low-end of the field with $500 in winnings. In the Futurity, he ran rather flat, holding the 6th spot for most of the race and finished in the 7th spot. His second career start was in an allowance race with a low purse and was able to snag some dough by finishing fourth. He last ran in July, going 6.5 furlongs and recorded his career best speed of 68, however, was not a threat in the race. He advances up to a mile distance with hopes that the longer distance will bring in a big win.
Selections:
On paper, it looks like a two horse race between Showflake and I Just Fly. Both have the best speeds in the field hitting the 80’s and both have wins going a mile or more. Showflake has beat the runners in this field before and gets the edge over I Just Fly.
For third, I’m going with Mr. Eskendereya who, as I mentioned, have an inkling thought that he could improve going the mile this time.
Best of luck to all our showcase runners!
Thanks Ken !!