Female marathoners clash in Hard Gulch Memorial

Routers keep top billing this week, and we get to see the older females in Virginia’s feature race, the Hard Gulch Memorial. The race invites all females, four year old and older, to run over fourteen furlongs of firm turf. They are competing for a piece of a $45000 purse. This is the third annual running of the event, and Otto Platinum is returning to defend her title from last year. She won last year’s race in convincing fashion, taking a field of eight gate to wire to win easily by a four and a half length margin. This year, a field of seven takes up the gauntlet. Oddmakers have a definite favorite here, who they send off at 7/5 odds. The rest of the field is relatively close, sandwiched between the 3/1 second choice through the 11/1 “longshot”. The field contains four of the top sixty female long routers though, so this shouldn’t be a cake walk for anyone. We most likely won’t see extraordinary windfall at the betting window, but if the favorite falls, we could see some modestly decent exotic payouts.

PP 1) Adramalech(GER) Sired by Monsun(GER), Trained by glennc. Adramalech(GER) is a four year old filly, stepping to the track for her thirteenth career start. This with be her first try at stakes level, in her second start for her new trainer after being picked up in a high level claim race. Over her last ten starts, she has run to a record of 2-1-2-1-1, with a top speed of 99.4 earned last September. Her last start was an A3L outing at seven furlongs in Maryland, where she closed hard finished third, running out of real estate late. She has had experience on both surfaces, and her speeds are comparable, with an edge to her average speeds on grass, which also accounts for the bulk of her earnings. This will be her longest run to date by a full three furlongs. Her run at eleven was by far the worst of her career, but it was also on an off track, which experience shows she does not run her best on, speed wise. Even so, purely by the numbers, based on firm track averages versus her off track, it would only put her in the 70s at that distance. She is a deep closer, and while her close has been fairly consistent, it hasn’t been able to get her home before she’s run out of track. Adding distance helps in that regard, but she hasn’t shown the stamina to get out nearly this far. In a field of good long routers, this looks to be a long day for her.

PP 2) Iambe(IRE) Sired by Black Tie Affair(IRE), Trained by jefahl. Iambe(IRE) makes her twenty first career start here, racing in her four year old season. She brings a divisional rank of 68 to the table, backed by two previous stakes wins and a number of close calls. Her last ten starts have seen her run to a 2-2-5-0-1 record, with a top speed of 98.7 earned late last season. Her last start was a stakes at this distance in Illinois, where she broke a bit slower than her norm and never found her legs, finishing a long out fifth in a field of six. She ran her first start on dirt before switching to turf, and she has failed to collect a check only one time since then. Long routes are her bread and butter race, and in seven starts at twelve furlongs and beyond, she has two wins and six top three finishes. She has been experimenting with her starting speeds but seems to be at her best with a fast break and a piece of the early lead. She has shown very little inclination to close when she falls behind early, and her wins with slower stating speeds have come in slower starting fields, where a break that would normally put her at the head of midpack found her sharing an early lead with plenty of jump left for the second half. There is some early speed up front in this one, and she will need to break with them to stay close. If she tries off the pace again, this will likely be a repeat of her last. First call should tell the story for her here.

PP 3) Otto Platinum Sired by Mineshaft, Trained by verona. Otto Platinum is a six year old mare, returning to defend her title after winning this race last season. This is her twenty third career start, and she has five prior stakes wins, including one at graded level, contributing to a number 23 divisional ranking entering this start. She has gone 6-0-1-1-0 in her last ten races, posting a top speed of 105.8 in her last start, which is also her career best. That race was an eleven furlong stakes on a tough New York track, where she closed from just off the pace to best a field of eight by two and a half lengths. She has multiple wins on both surfaces, but long turf has been her money race. In thirteen starts at twelve furlongs and beyond, she has nine top three finishes, including seven wins. All of those wins have come at fourteen to sixteen furlongs. She likes to run from the head of the midpack, and she relies on her stamina to get the job done. Her close has generally been good, with her only real missteps recently coming in graded competition. She comes into this one off of two impressive victories, and with early speed out front, and deeper closers to the back she has a good setup for her style here. If she stays within her optimal striking distance of two to three lengths as they cross the half, she’s going to be very dangerous and has a good chance of defending her title in this race.

PP 4) Erendira Magica Sired by Empire Maker, Trained by erendira. Erendira Magica is a five year old mare, taking the gate for her twenty third career start in this race. This is her third career try at stakes, since marching smartly up through her conditions in the second half of last season, and she is looking for her first win at this level. She has put up a record of 5-2-0-2-0 in her last ten starts, with a top speed of 95.2 earned late last July. Her lasr race was an A3s in Delaware, where she pasted a field of seven by four lengths behind a powerful second half close. After starting her career on dirt, with little to show for it, she switched to grass in her fourth start, and she hasn’t looked back. It is the long routes that have seen her move up through her conditions, and at twelve furlongs and longer, she has four wins and a place in seven tries. She runs as a deep closer, and her close has been spectacular outside of stakes level. In allowance marathons, she has one four of five, by an average of over four lengths, with her only loss coming by a scant half length. On the other hand, the closest she has come against a stakes field is just over nine lengths out at the wire. She has a good closer’s setup in this one, and she has a proven ability to eat up large chucks of ground in the second half, but speed will be an issue here. She will need a big jump in speed to be able to take advantage of her great close here in a field of top turf marathoners.

PP 5) Vouvray Sired by Kingmambo, Trained by rx7. Vouvray enters her twenty fifth start here as the overwhelming favorite. The five year old mare comes into the race ranked 16 in the division, with seven prior stakes wins, including victories in her last three starts. She boasts a 4-3-0-2-1 record in her last ten runs, breaking the 100+ speed mark five times, topping out at 105.4 in late November last year. Her last race was a stakes race at this distance in Illinois, where she came just off the pace to top a field of six by three and a half lengths. She tried dirt once early in her career, and while her speed was decent, top two finishes in her first eight turf starts were enough to keep her on turf for good. She loves a marathon run, and she has an amazing eight wins and thirteen top two finishes in fifteen starts at twelve furlongs and beyond. She likes a fast start, and with her speed, even breaking at a stalker’s pace has seen her grab a piece of the early lead in several of her recent starts. She’s also shown she can close at need if she finds herself off the early pace. She is one of only two in this field that has broken the 100 mark going beyond twelve furlongs, and she has done it four times in her last five tries, with the other start being a walkaway victory where she clocked a 98.3 speed. Her speed should give her a piece of the early lead, and she should outlast the competition up front. This one shouldn’t be the easy pickings she had in her last three starts, but she will be right there at the wire.

PP 6) Salfly’s Spur(AUS) Sired by Flying Spur(AUS), Trained by rose. Salfly’s Spur(AUS) is the six year old veteran racer in this field, looking at her forty second career start as they step to the track here. Her number 47 division rank is backed by thirteen career stakes victories, with her most recent coming in her last start. Over the course of her last ten, she has put up a 2-4-3-0-1 record, with a top speed of 100.6 coming in a race late last July. Her last start was a thirteen furlong stakes in Jamaica, where she took a field of five wire to wire to win by two and three quarters. Her hooves have never touched the dirt track, and she has had no reason to, winning at a clip of over 36% on the green. She has made her mark as a long router, with twenty eight starts at twelve furlongs and beyond watching her post ten wins and twenty two top three finishes. She is a fast starter, who prefers a big cushion when she can get it. She has shown very little inclination to close without that early lead in the longer routes. Even the big cushions have not kept her safe recently, and she has given up big leads in three of her last five starts. She has it coming from both sides here, with what will at best be a speed duel early, with closers behind. She has good stamina, but hasn’t really shown the speed recently that she will need here. Look for to be in it a good portion of the way, but to being fading by third call as the speed takes its toll.

PP 7) Devil Princess(IRE) Sired by Refuse To Bend(IRE), Trained by zabeel. Devil Princess(IRE) is a four year old filly, racing in her twenty second career start here. She raced a combination of a little bit of everything last year, from low level claims up through stakes, and she is seeking her first stakes victory in her fourth start under the guidance of her new trainer. Her combination of races over her last ten starts have resulted in a record of 3-3-1-3-0, with a top speed number of 95.2 earned two starts back. Her last race was an eleven furlong stakes try in Arkansas, where she finished fourth in a field of six, unable to make up much ground in the second half. She had one career dirt start, and it was the poorest finish of her career, putting her back on the turf, where she has failed to collect a check only one time in her career, at all levels of competition. She’s taken four trips at twelve furlongs or beyond, and has three top three finishes to show for it, along with one of her career best speed figures. She is a deep closer, and her close has been quite good outside of stakes level. In stakes competition she has generally suffered, outside of a nice run at this distance two starts back. She will have a lot of speed in front of her in this one, and should likely find herself in a deep hole as they cross the half. She’ll need a big boost to be a factor here, and I don’t see her getting it in this race.