The HOOVES OF THUNDER Memorial Stakes

The HOOVES OF THUNDER Memorial Stakes
Six furlongs
Firm Turf
$65,000
Fillies and mares, 2 years old

Longchamp gets it’s first taste of 2yo Stakes racing this week as six up-and-coming fillies aim to get their careers off to a flying start.  Sadly only two of them have raced before – I have to hold my hand up and say that I am not a fan of allowing unraced horses into stakes races – so there is very little form to guide us. The runners are:

NINE DARTER(ENG)

Trainer: fyvie

(Authorized x Giant’s Causeway (IRE) x Storm Bird)

Odds:  2/1                   Earnings:0                              Runs/Wins: 0/0

A 2yo filly from Fred & Vienna Stables bred from an H class mare.  The dam, who failed to win a race,  has one good offspring to her name, Staying Alive (by Kingmambo in 2005) but her 2007 filly has still to win after 7 attempts.  There is nothing to suggest this filly will get off to a winning start here.   

GUNZIG(AUS)

Trainer: derbycity

(Gunpowder(AUS) x Sea Of Secrets x Favorite Trick)

Odds:  30/1                 Earnings: 0                             Runs/Wins: 0/0

A 2yo filly from Fortune500 bred from a G class mare. First crop from a 5yo mare who struggled to break her maiden as a 2yo.  Could be a similar story to this filly too.

NINETY DEGREES(GER)

Trainer: icrazy

(Monsun(GER) x Dehere x Smarten)

Odds:  5/1                   Earnings: 24,600                    Runs/Wins: 1/1

A 2yo filly from Reactivated Racing bred from a G class mare.  Won a maiden in  New South Wales with an SP# of 60.  Her dam has now foaled 4 times and her first filly still remains her best, although she too has now been retired.  This one should be in the top three here at any rate.

SULI(FR)

Trainer: willowisp7

(Sulamani (IRE) x Distant View x Grand Lodge (IRE))

Odds:  11/1                 Earnings: 0                             Runs/Wins: 0/0

A 2yo scratch bred filly from Willow Stables.  Has a reasonable turf breeding lines but could struggle in her first race.

MY STICK(KY)

Trainer: willowisp7

(Belong To Me x Rahy x Secretariat)

Odds:  3/1                   Earnings: 0                            Runs/Wins: 0/0

A 2yo filly from Willow Stables bred from a G class mare.  The 6^th foal from her dam and all the previous 5 have retired with just 4 wins between them. She’s from the same stables as Suli(FR) but this filly looks more likely to be a dirt runner to me so probably wont feature too much here on her debut. future.   

ROCKING OUT(KY)

Trainer: topicount5

(Rock Hard Ten x Storm Cat x Alydar)

Odds:  8/5                   Earnings: 16,500                    Runs/Wins: 1/1

A 2yo filly from Topicount Stables based on a C class horse (Stormy Jack). Favourite here by virtue of her win in Illinois in her only race with an SP# of 66.  Her faux dam won over $425k after 78 runs so there could be some longevity to be had from this filly.   I think she will probably win this fairly comfortably, after all it does look a very weak race, but it will also be interesting to see her perform on dirt later in the year.

Summary

In terms of quality this is not the best race we shall see here in Lonchamp by a long chalk, but it will still be interesting to see how the two unbeaten fillies compare to their unraced opponents.