Eighty Nine Breed Handicap

It’s a brisk, cold day in Omaha and the ponies are feeling good, snorting and crowhopping in the winter air. Seven sophomores are going to post in the mile-long Eighty-Nine Breed, and several of them look quite capable of winning.

1 JOE SHMURPHY Hannibal 5/1

Hannibal’s Johar colt didn’t much enjoy graded company in his last outing, but now he’s back at a level where he’s had some success. He’s won an overnight stakes with a small field at this distance, but will need to crank it up some to handle what is an extremely competitive field for a small overnight stakes. He has a jockey who should be capable of getting his best race, so this honest colt at least has a shot at a paycheck. Come from behind style should benefit him in this race.

2 DESERT STEPHEN Desertfox 5/1

City Zip colt is a it of a puzzle – he almost always hits the board and puts up big numbers,but hasn’t yet won a stakes. With the numbers he’s running, that’s a bit of a surprise. He’s coming off a dismal turf attempt that could set him up for a big race back on his preferred surface. A virtual certainty to hit the board; the biggest question is whether he’s ready to get that first stakes win. Should be aided by the favorites’ anticipated speed duel.

3 BANKING FEVER Dundy 5/2

Graded winner had a rough race in the Juvie, but seems to be perking back up. Frontrunner has a tendency to fade late when pressed, so it’s going to be a matter of how deep he can reach during that last half furlong. He’s up against some pretty stiff competition for a race at this level. Has a solid shot at winning, but he’s not alone in that. He has a very good jockey up, so maybe the colt will be able to hold something in reserve for the stretch run. Could be hampered, though, by the fact that the very classy De Fu is also a speed horse.

4 DYNAMIC SHOW Loubrown 8/1

Dynaformer colt started with a bang, winning his first two races by daylight. Now he’s stepping up to a stakes field for the first time. He’s going to be pressed much harder than ever before. He’ll need to really step it up and we have no idea at this time whether he’ll be up to it or not. It’ll be fun to see how he responds.

5 DE FU Minnesota 7/2

The second graded winner in the field, frontrunning De Fu finished a respectable fourth in the Breeders’ Bowl. He and Banking Fever will probably duke it out for the early lead and the others will hope they wear each other out. A speedy guy who has a shot at running away with the race if he can shake the favorite.

6 El PUENTE Har 9/2

A horse with tremendous turn of foot, this frontrunning colt is going to face the same problem as the cofavorites—too much speed. He’s run some very nice races in his brief career, but if he absolutely has to have the lead, he’s going to run into some problems this weekend.

7 HENNY BULL Tbird3 6/1

Henny is a solid little colt who’s been off the board only once in seven starts. He consistently posts speed figures in the high 80s and runs a nice stalking race. Not speedy enough to win, but has a real chance at running solidly if the favorites burn each other out in the early going.

It’ll be interesting to see how this race shapes up. The classiest in the field look likely to fight it out for the early lead, so will they leave an opening for some of the other contenders? Will the 2-for-2 Dynamic Show have what it takes? This should be a fun race to watch – turn in Saturday to see how it goes