Shy F. Challenge draws five

Marathon racers hold the spotlight again this week in Virginia, as we treat race fans to the Shy F. Challenge. This grueling two mile race will challenge all horses four years and older to go the distance for a piece of the $50000 purse. The track is rated as firm for this event. This is the fourth annual running of the event here in Virginia, and the first three runnings have hosted some high profile contenders, including three graded winners, and another four horses with points at that level. Some of the notables include Revelation II, who won the first two runnings of the event and Evil Yes Evil, multiple graded winner and stablemate to the great Allied Assault. Last year’s winner was seven time stakes winner, Surgeon Tubes, who capped a string of five straight stakes victories with an impressive seven and a half length win. This year’s race draws a field of five, looking for a springboard to advance into the ranks of the elite. Only one of the entrants has seen stakes level action more than once in their last eight starts, and one is seeing action for the first time at this level. Oddsmakers have definite thoughts on this one, choosing a 6/5 favorite, with the rest of the field each taking a ladder rung between 2/1 and a longshot bid of 10/1 odds. If they pegged things here, it will be slim pickings at the betting window once more, but if someone can pull off a surprise, there is a change of some modest payouts.

PP 1) Goin Down In Style(KY) Sired by Forestry, Trained by adrian5. Goin Down in Style(KY) is a four year old colt, seeing action in his twentieth career start. This will be his first try at stakes level, after seeing action in high level claims, starters allowance and allowance racing over the course of the last year. Over the course of his last ten starts, eight of them under a new trainer, he sports a record of 5-1-2-1-0 with a top speed of 100.7 earned at nine furlongs last autumn. His last run was a twelve furlong A3x in South Carolina, where he took a field of four wire to wire to win by an impressive four and a half lengths. With seven dirt runs in his two year old and three year old seasons garnering only a single victory, the decision was made to switch him to turf, where he hasn’t failed to collect a check in twelve starts, and has put together six more victories. He has really just begun to stretch out to longer distances, and this one will be his longest effort by a full half a mile. He has won his last two at allowance level, at eleven then twelve furlongs, but he has a lot more ground in front of him here. He generally runs as a midpack closer in recent starts, and his close has been quite good. More important for him in this field, he has shown that he is not afraid to take the initiative in a field of closers, and turn an early lead into a trip to the winners circle. A slightly faster break from the gate benefitted him in his last, and could very well help him here, as well. He rides a hot streak into this one, and could very well be setting the pace with plenty left late. The added distance is the real question for him here as he tries to hold off the closers down the stretch.

PP 2) Storm’s Gone Sired by Strong Hope, Trained by boldruler. Storm’s Gone is seeing his thirtieth career start as he makes the second runner of his five year old campaign. He has been no stranger to the stakes scene over the last year, but he is still seeking that first elusive victory at this level. His last ten starts have seen him run to a 1-1-2-1-1 record, with a top speed of 101.3 in a twelve furlong dirt stakes three starts back. His last start was right here in Virginia in the Sharp Pinky Challenge at thirteen furlongs, where he never found any kind of kick, finishing a long out fifth in a field of six. His career has been a nearly even split between dirt and turf, and he has a win on both surfaces. His top speed has come on dirt, but his average speeds and earnings both carry a slight edge on the grass. He is also no stranger to the marathon, with thirteen starts at twelve furlongs and beyond. In nine turf starts in that range, he has three top three finishes. He runs as a midpack to deep closer, but outside of a couple flashes of brilliance, his close has been virtual non-existent over his last several starts. He finds himself in another field of closers here, which is both a plus and a minus for him. On the plus side, he shouldn’t find himself buried quite as deeply at the half as he has in several of his last starts. On the negative side though, he is facing some much more consistent closers, which will be a problem. His marathon experience will help him here, but it is doubtful that it will be enough to let him bring this one home.

PP 3) Plastic Golem Sired by Beaudelaire, Trained by gonzo3. Plastic Golem is the aging veteran of this field, a nine year old horse making his fifty ninth career appearance in this race. He has nine caeer stakes victories, including a Grade 2 win, but his most recent came in April of the 2006 season, just before a sixteen month idle stretch that saw him step back to the track for the first time last August. In the eight starts since his comeback, he has an 0-1-1-0-1 record, with a top speed of 95.5 earned last October. His last run was an A1s at seven furlongs in Texas, where he faded from the start, finishing eleventh in a field of fourteen. He tried dirt for the first time just recently, just for a shake up, but turf routing has been his claim to fame throughout his career. His top speeds have come in the nine to nine and a half furlong range, but he has proved to be no slouch in the longer races, either, posting eleven top three finishes in fifteen career starts at twelve furlongs and beyond when he was at the top of his form. He runs as a midpack closer, but outside of a very nice run on an off track late last year, he hasn’t really been able to find any real kind of kick since his comeback last summer. If we were an off track here, I could see perhas giving him half a chance, but on the firm turf against the younger legs, this looks to be another long day for him.

PP 4) Maple Turf Sired by Rashar, Trained by joss. Maple Turf is a relatively lightly raced five year old horse, making his twenty second career start here. He is another horse in this field who came out of the high level claim and starter allowance ranks to make his mark in allowance fields recently, and this will be his second try at stakes level, seeking his first win. He has put together a 4-2-0-2-1 record in his last ten starts, boasting a field high top speed of 108.6 in an allowance race at nine and a half furlongs two starts back. His last race was a nine furlong open allowance at Epsom, where he finished a hard closing fifth in a field of fourteen racers. He has had three dirt starts over the course of his career, all mediocre at best, just reinforcing the fact that he loves the turf where he boasts seven victories in eighteen starts. He claims victories at distances ranging from eight to fourteen furlongs, and at twelve furlongs and beyond, he has three top three finishes in five tries. His top speeds, though, have been in the nine to nne and a half range, and the best speed he has muster between fourteen and sixteen has been a click under 90 though it earned him a check in those fields. He runs as a midpack to deep closer, and he has shown some very good form, especially in his last two starts. One worrying factor though, is that in his last three starts at foruteen to sixteen, in two of those he never found any second half jump, simply getting buried from the start. The other was an A1x where he was better able to hold the early pace, and closed just over eight lengths to snatch a victory at the wire. That being said, he has been showing some of the best form of his career in his last two starts, and there is not a lot of early speed to contend with, which should leave him in decent striking distance at the half post. If he can run as he has in his last two, and can hold the pace out past a point that would have been deep in the stretch in his last two starts, he has the potential to be a threat late here.

PP 5) Boxcar Blues Sired by Kingmambo, Trained by dshock. Boxcar Blues is a five year old horse, coming in his twenty third start as the favorite to bring it home. This will be only his second stakes start, and coming off a nicely run Grade 2 outing, he seeks his first stakes victory here. In his last ten runs, he boasts a respectable 5-3-1-1-0 record, with four 100+ speeds capped by a 106.9 in an open allowance late last year. His last start was a fourteen furlong Grade 2 race at the pretigious Vermont Is 4 Lovers meet, where he finished a hard closing third in a field of thirteen. He has been running turf since early in his two year old season, and amazingly has not failed to collect a paycheck at any level of competition in twenty turf starts. He simply loves marathon distances, with six wins and eleven top three finishes in thirteen starts at twelve furlongs and beyond. He is a midpack to deep closer, and outside of one misstep, his close has been spot on in his last several starts. He has regularly shown a powerful close from ten plus lengths out at the half, and when he is under that distance out, he has simply embarassed some fields on the back side. Though his best speed at sixteen has only been 87.1, his best speed in any race prior to his last four was 94.6 coming last June. Something set him on fire late last season though, and he has posted four straight speeds well over 103, all coming at marathon distances. The pace favors him here, and he has been running like a horse possessed, making it very hard for me to buck the oddsmakers in this one. Barring a minor miracle, he should take this one easily.