Six colts battle for The DEPUTY’S HIPPOS Memorial Stakes
Six colts line up for this 3yo 7.5 furlongs on firm turf. The lack of numbers is more than made up by the quality though and the odds-on favourite will want to put in a solid display before perhaps heading on to bigger and better things. The betting is:
4/5 Viva La Voce(KY)
7/2 Golden Year(KY)
9/2 BPB Markane(AUS)
6/1 Tropical Joe(KY)
8/1 Azz You Wish(IRE)
13/1 Loves To Boogie(IRE)
Analysis
4/5 Viva La Voce(KY) – #3
Trainer: sgtbones
(Forest Wildcat x Kingmambo x Seattle Slew)
The short priced favourite comes from Flying W Ranch and was bred from a graded winning C class mare. He’s already run 12 times and has 5 wins, including 3 stakes victories as a 2yo. Despite running his best sp# in his last race, his first as a 3yo, he could only manage a disappointing 3rd place – although that may well be put down to the dustance (8.5 furlongs) as he simply seemed to run out of steam in the finishing straight. Back at a distance where he has met with a lot of success he will be a hard nut to crack here.
7/2 Golden Year(KY) – #1
Trainer: tatty2
(Dayjur x Spinning World x Nashua)
Based on a nice C class horse, this colt has just 2 wins in his 7 race career. With 3 races already under his belt this year he is being worked very hard, but doing very well despite that. Seems to like coming from off the pace but may come unstuck against a fuel-injected favourite.
9/2 BPB Markane(AUS) – #4
Trainer: bpboost3
(Markane x Royal Anthem x Touching Wood)
Bpboost Stables send out a colt with an impressive 3 wins from 4 runs. Probably didn’t improve as expected in his only 3yo run to date, but it was an EAAA Division Inter-Residency Challenge which often features some of the best opposition on offer. If he manages to put that run behind him he could be challenging for a victory here.
6/1 Tropical Joe(KY) – #5
Trainer: stryke03
(Johar x Known Fact x Icecapade)
A colt from MaNature TB’s ‘Organic & Homegrown’ based on a G class horse. With 3 wins from 8 runs as a 2yo he is open to some improvement here, and whilst that may not be enough to win he should put in a respectable performance. Was well beaten by Golden Year(KY) in his only stakes appearance, but that looked a pretty poor performance on the day.
8/1 Azz You Wish(IRE) – #6
Trainer: amazon2
(Azamour (IRE) x Zieten x Beaudelaire)
Another lightly raced but successful colt from Change is on the way! (RASH) and bred from an E class mare. Lost his first race but has won all 3 since so it’s hard to see just how close he is to his rivals, but you can be assured that he wont want to begin a losing sequence just yet.
13/1 Loves To Boogie(IRE) – #2
Trainer: storehouse
(Stardan (IRE) x Carnegie(IRE) x Kaapstad(NZ))
Morrighan Stable Empire send out a colt with a 100% record – 1 win from 1 run. That race was over 7 furlongs as a 3yo so whether he will improve on that performance is anybody’s guess. My thinking is that he wont and maybe should have tried an easier allowance race before entering here, but you can’t blame his trainer for trying – and who knows, it could pay off.
Summary
Some of these colts have very little form to provide much information, but even so it’s hard to see that Viva La Voce(KY) will be troubled overmuch by this field. The battle for the minor placings is basically a lottery with all of the field capable of running good races, so it could be a real dogfight coming up to the line.