Eleven fillies fight for the victory in the G3-Leopard Stakes
Welcome to Iowa for the 9th running of the Leopard Stakes. The highlight race is 1 mile for fillies and mares, three years and up and will be run on a fast dirt track. The winner will take home their share of the $150,000 purse. The stakes record is help by Dixielandfan who won in 2004 with a nice burst of speed up the stretch to pass the favorite and win posting a 111. We only have three in the field that have broken the century mark, so I think Dixielandfan’s record will stand. This year we have 4 fillies ranked 30 or above and have a field of 11, the largest ever for the Leopard Stakes. Let’s look at the field:
PP 1 ENTRANCE ROAD (IRE) (KODIAC x GHOSTLY MOVES x LOST CODE) bred by indianhead and trained by bulletworx (Fortune500, 20%) Odds: 34 to 1
This scratch bred daughter of Kodiac is the long shot of the race. She has passed through 3 trainers, having been claimed 3 times. Her current owner bulletworx trained her for two starter races and The NORTH POT Handicap and she won once and finished third twice. Earlier this year she had a streak of 4 wins. Her career high was posted her last time out, an 81. She will need a huge jump in speed to be in the mix here.
PP 2 IT’S RATHER CLOUDY (ENG) (PIVOTAL (GB) x STORM CAT x SEATTLE SLEW) bred and trained by borrow (Deadinthelane Stables, 15%) Odds: 7 to 1
It’s Rather Cloudy started her career basking in the sun in the winner’s circle. She won her first race, her first allowance, her first stakes and first graded try. Since then she has struggled against the competition in three G1 tries. Last time out trainer borrow tried turf, hoping the change in surface was what she needed. She finished last, 14 lengths behind the winner. She is trying dirt again here and has easier competition then her other recent tries on dirt.
PP 3 EAGLE FOREST (KY) (FOREST WILDCAT x CARSON CITY x EL GRAN SENOR) bred and trained by larot (Toral Farms, 16%) Odds: 7 to 1
This 3 year old out of Eaglevalleynative will be starting from PP 3. She is making her graded debut here. In her last time out she tried stakes after 4 ITM finishes in allowances races. She was only able to finish seventh at The – DOULBE PLATINUM Special and that makes me wonder how she will handle another jump in class. Her speeds lately have been consistent with the rest of the field.
PP 4 WONDERGIRL GITTE (TUR) (MOUNTAIN CAT x POLAR FALCON x NODOUBLE) bred and trained by karlch (Zeco stables Belgium, 13%) Odds: 8 to 1
Wondergirl Gitte will start from PP 4. She is the second stakes winner from game dam Buttery Fisherman, who also has produced a graded winner. Trainer karlch was confident enough in this horse to skip maiden races and he had her debut in an allowance race, which she won. The only times she has finished out of the money have been against graded company and on an off track in her first stakes try. And 3 of those 4 times she was just barely out of the money finishing 4th.
PP 5 GOLD FOR THE GRAVE (KY) (DYNAFORMER x PINE BLUFF x MR. PROSPECTOR) bred and trained by cougar (Cougar Stables, 19%) Odds: 7 to 1
This three year old is out of Ghoul’s Gold who won 4 graded races, including 2 Grade 1’s and she earned over $1.5 during her career. Gold for the Grave is her most successful and is making just her second career start on dirt here. Her first try on the dirt was her last time out, an allowance race at this distance which she won by more than 2 lengths and had her career high speed of 100. She does have a stakes victory on the turf and came close one other time, but her only other tried against graded company she finished 7th.
PP 6 ORANGE COUNTY (GER) (MONSUN (GER) x HIGH CHAPARRAL (IRE) x NIJINSKY II) bred and trained by kevoman4 (Coolk Stables Stables, 20%) Odds: 10 to 1
Orange County is the first offspring from Independent State (IRE) who retired with 6 wins and over $250,000 in earnings. Orange County is making her graded debut here. She raced in an owner restricted stakes earlier this year, finishing third, her worst finish all year. It was also her worst finish on a dirt track. Since then she has won two and placed in two allowance races. They all had short fields and easy competition.
PP 7 ANGEL IN CHICAGO (KY) (STORM BOOT x GONE WEST x FORTY NINER) bred and trained by olympiafie (Ojai Valley Stables, 16%) Odds: 10 to 1
Angel In Chicago is making her graded debut here. She has tried stakes 8 times, but her best finish was a second in The – HER RUCKUS Bonanza last summer. She is out of Angel From Ventura and is the most successful of her 4 offspring. After winning two and placing in her last four allowance tries trainer olympiafie decided to try stakes again in her last time out. She finished just out of the money, behind three other stakes winners. She will need a career best here to be first to cross the finish line.
PP 8 BELLISSIMA G (KY) (DIXIE UNION x STORM CAT x BUCKPASSER) bred by ngng and trained by buxpasser (Pgpg Stables, 10%) Odds: 4 to 1
Bellissima is the first of two horse in the field coming off an attempt at the Bluegrass Oaks. She finished just behind Minees. Bellissima is the first stakes winner out of Cantpassthiscat. She is going to need a great start here. She likes to run just off the pace, but if she doesn’t start at or near the front she has trouble making up the ground. This will be her sixth try against graded company, her best finish coming at the G2-Golden Red Stakes where she finished second in the last race of her 2 year old season.
PP 9 WOETTE’S WIDE WEB (TUR) (MOUNTAIN CAT x MONTJEU x DARCHAAN (ENG)) bred and trained by titje (The royalstables of Ostend, 10%) Odds:
Woette’s Wide Web is the second daughter of Mountain Cat in the field today. She is out of game dam Darshaan Bold (IRE) who had 10 career wins and has produced one other stakes winner. After first trying turf, trainer titje switched her to dirt and has had very favorable results. In her 9 starts on dirt the only times she has finished out of the money were on an off track, against graded company (like the other daughter of Mountain Cat in the race), and one 4th place finish in The MARILYN MINER Memorial Stakes. She has only run this distance once before, but that was her last win and her career high speed of 96.
PP 10 AZZA MUSS (AUS) (DESERT KING (IRE) x CAPOTE x LEAR FAN) bred and trained by sadlier (Huhtamaki Stables, 6%) Odds: 4 to 1
Azza Muss didn’t finish out of the money in any of her 7 starts as a two year. Unfortunately the same can’t be said of her third year. She has 4 starts and her best finish was fifth. Azza Muss, out of Yalucky Mentucky has been racing exclusively against graded company since she turned three and had some tough competition. In her last four races she has faced10 horses that went on to race in either the Bluegrass Derby or Oaks and one of those races was against the boys. I think her luck might change with the race today and she will bring home her first victory of the year. She also has jockey O. Brooks, who is having the best year of all the jockeys here in Iowa, winning 21% of his races.
PP 11 MINEES (KY) (KAFWAIN x UPPER NILE x SHELTER HALF) bred and trained by shamran5 (Shamran Stables, 13%) Odds: 9 to 1
This lightly raced scratch bred is coming off a try at the Bluegrass Oaks. She finished 16th there, but in her 8 career starts she has 4 wins and one place, including a G1 win at the G1-MISTLETOE. Since her G1 victory with her career high speed factor of 95, Minees has struggled against graded company finishing last in two of her previous three tries. Her last win was an allowance at this distance in early April. Her jockey O. Parker has won this race three times.
Although she hasn’t won yet this year, I think Azza Muss will be the winner here. This is the easiest competition she has faced in a while and I can see her winning this wire to wire. I think Bellissima G will fight for the lead, but won’t be able to take it. I think Gold For The Grave and It’s Rather Cloudy will make late moves and be close, but will finish behind Azza Muss. Good luck and happy racing. J