The PROSPECT WALTER Handicap

Turko’s Ghost will be in post position 4. Trainer knightmare brings this 4yo colt sired by Ghostzapper and out of Stormin Turk to Tennessee this week. After 4 unsuccessful runs on the dirt, he finally brought home his first win when he was switched over to the turf his fifth time out. He immediately won an allowance race the next time out but when stepped up to stakes he wasn’t quite able to pull it off. One more allowance on the turf and then he was switched back to dirt where he won once again his third time out. After that he would dance back and forth between allowance and stakes races. He was able to bring home 2 more wins in allowance but just wasn’t able to grab his stakes win but he did show that he was able to achieve great speeds, with a high speed of 110 his last time out. All 5 of his wins have been between the distances of 8.5f and 10 furlongs so the distance this week should not pose a problem for him. If he can bring his speed as well this week, he should give the rest of the pack a good run for their money. His odds are 9/2.

Awaiting the start in post position 5 will be Chango Rojo, a 4yo colt sired by Fusaichi Pegasus and trained by blackswan8. This guy broke his maiden in December 2006, his third time out. He was then put into allowance races for his next four times out but always seemed to come up short of a win, although he was always in the money. His fourth allowance race, he showed that speed lurked inside with running a speed of 100 and bringing home second but he only lost by 3/4 of a length at a distance of 10 furlongs. blackswan8 then decided to try him in a couple of stakes races but he kept his speeds in the 90’s, bringing home a second and a fifth. He was then put back into 3 10f allowance races and after coming in second in the first of the three, he brought home two straight wins in a row just last month, one on the 1st and the second on the 22nd and showing once again that he can bring on the speed with a 103 his last time out. With only 12 lifetime starts, I feel like this colt hasn’t quite had the chance to prove himself yet but what I do see is a colt that has never placed out of the money. If he’s not able to pull of the win I think that blackswan8 may still go home with a share of the $50,000 purse. He is the longshot with odds of 12/1.

Irish Quest will be standing in post position 6. xanderman sired this 7yo stallion by Rainbow Quest. He first stepped onto the dirt track back in 2004 but only raced a couple of races that year. It would be a year after his second race before he would race again, this time he was tried on the turf and broke his maiden winning by 1 1/4 lengths. He was tried back on the dirt for one more race and then was put onto the turf and brought home 5 allowance wins in a row at increasing lengths before slacking back off again. In December 2006, xanderman decided to put Irish Quest back on the dirt and with his fifth race he brought home another allowance win. He began to show speeds over 100 and so he was tried at stakes level. His first stakes race he won by 4 lengths. Several races later he went on to win a graded stakes with a top speed of 110 in September 2007. That was his last win and since then has been performing poorly in most of his races. If this horse gets it back together for this race and brings his speed, he has a good chance of being the first under the wire. His odds are 6/1.

lenny is back once again, this time with My Blue Heaven who will be starting in post position 7. This 5yo stallion is sired by Kingmambo and comes out of lenny’s lenny15 training barn. After making his mark in allowance races, My Blue Heaven was brought up to stakes level back in September 2007, winning his very first stakes start on the dirt at 13f with a speed of 105. After disappointing losses in his next 3 starts, he was taken back to run in a couple of allowance races. He was unable to capture a win there but showing a high speed of 110 at a shorter distance than he was used to, lenny put him back into a stakes race for 9.5 furlongs his last time out and he ran away with the win by 3 3/4 lengths and a speed of 106. If he can bring that kind of performance to Tennessee this week, he has an excellent chance of standing in the winner’s circle at the end of the race. His odds are 6/1.

Post position 8 will hold Tyran the Hulk. bigheavy brings this 6yo stallion to Tennessee this week. He is sired by Forest Wildcat and out of Hulla Popper. After a poor showing on the dirt his first time out he was placed onto the turf and raced there for his next 16 races. He was raced in everything from claimers to stakes on the grass but wasn’t able to get a win after he broke his maiden the first time out on the turf. He was tried at several different distances but to no avail. He was claimed at the end of September 2005 and was then put back on the dirt for 3 consecutive claimers at 7 furlongs where he performed well, bringing home 2 wins and a third. In November of 2005, trainer bigheavy acquired Tyran the Hulk and he was run consistently in allowance and starters, mostly for 8 furlongs where he won 5 races in 10 months. He was then switched off between stakes and allowance races but didn’t bring home a win until December 2007 where he also showed a top speed of 108. If he can bring that kind of speed into this week’s race, he has a good chance of getting the win. The only thing that concerns me is that out of 9 lifetime wins, 8 of them were at 8 furlongs or less. He does, however, have one win at 10 furlongs. His odds are 7/1.

Kid Vitek will be starting the race in post position 9. Lemon Drop Kid sired this 5yo stallion who is trained by fusion. His first two career starts were on the dirt but he didn’t break his maiden until he was put onto turf for his third race. He would spend the next 8 months running on the grass in allowance races, starting at 6 furlongs and then he was brought up to 8.5f. He was only able to capture one more win on the turf in July of 2006 but appeared to struggle in the rest of his turf starts. He was put back on the dirt in January 2007 and began showing that he was able to achieve speeds over 100 and was able to bring home 5 allowance wins since with a top speed of 106. Once again, though, he has been showing signs of struggling since December 2007 losing his last 4 times out by a combined total of 42 1/4 lengths. His start this week will be his very first stakes race and only his second time out at 9.5 furlongs. He is quite capable of producing the speeds necessary to compete at this level but I worry that he may be a little outclassed in this field. His odds are 9/1.

I really like Nuclear Toy and really think that he can pull off the win today. I believe that lenny will take home a second with My Blue Heaven and Turko’s Ghost should be up there in third. Don’t be surprised if I’m wrong, though. I’ll probably fall off my chair if I’m able to correctly predict the winner for the second week in a row.

Good Luck and Happy Racing….