The HOUSTON DAWN Special Stakes
The HOUSTON DAWN Special Stakes
A mile and one half
Firm Turf
$70,000
All horses, 4 years old and up
Good ground welcomes the eleven runners here for this week’s stakes race – a taster for the 3 graded races coming up later in the card. There is lots of talent here over this 12 furlong race and it looks to be a direct confrontation between the fast starters and the late runners. The runners are:
EL FREDO(IRE)
Trainer: fwcltd
(El Prado(IRE) x Trempolino x Stage Door Johnny)
Odds: 5/1 Earnings: 766,317 Runs/Wins: 27/10
A 5yo horse from Delta Tiger bred from a G class mare.
Won G2-The Smurf Catcher and G2-Pan Americana Handicap over this sort of distance in the past so he’s a more than capable runner in this race. Yet to win in 2008 but he does seem to be coming to the boil nicely after a good 2nd place last time so maybe he can pull a win out of the bag this time. If he’s going to achieve anything he needs to be right up with the pace from the very start.
Trainer: runninlast
(Lammtarra x Theatrical(IRE) x Alleged)
Odds: 6/1 Earnings: 238,817 Runs/Wins: 24/7
A 4yo colt from Lilbitfarm Stables bred from a G class mare.
A colt that took an age to break his maiden tag finally came good in 2008 with a couple of stakes wins already, including his last race. At his best he is up with the leaders here but he does look a little fragile still and may be aimed for slightly longer distances in the future.
HIGH SPEED QUEST(IRE)
Trainer: pegasus
(High Chaparral (IRE) x Rainbow Quest x Irish River(FR))
Odds: 7/1 Earnings: 173,773 Runs/Wins: 22/5
A 5yo horse from Citation Stables based on a C class horse (Rainbow Mist).
A horse that has been brought on fairly gently as this is only his third stakes race. Probably hasn’t won enough allowance races in his career to garner too much confidence, but his last race was a real boost despite only managing third place.
JUMPIN’ JAVA
Trainer: waradmiral
(Java Gold x Seeking The Gold x Spectacular Bid)
Odds: 7/1 Earnings: 2,516,335 Runs/Wins: 39/10
A 7yo scratch bred horse from Kiddman Stables.
A big earner who has victories in G3-Long Legged Handicap, G3-Winchester Park Cup, G2-Flying Carpet Handicap, G1-John Scott Appreciation Stakes, and G1-King Geoff and Queen Beth’s Emerald Stakes over a variety of distances so he is no mug. However his three races so far this year have shown signs of him falling off so this could be a very tough race for him.
Trainer: hoffiebarn
(Rock Of
Odds: 14/1 Earnings: 106,710 Runs/Wins: 7/4
A 4yo colt from Lilbitfarm Stables bred from a C class mare (Lakehouse).
A very inexperienced 4yo who looks like he may be a horse to reckon with in the future over these longer distances. This is his first stakes run so it may be a bit premature to expect too much from him so early but just watch for him later in the year.
SECRET’S GOLD
Trainer: seacadet
(Touch Gold x Secretariat x
Odds: 6/1 Earnings: 378,162 Runs/Wins: 46/12
A 6yo scratch bred horse from Seacadet Stables.
A very experienced horse who despite a couple of stakes wins in the past, on both dirt and turf, has never really made the breakthrough into the big time. He won an allowance a couple of races back but shouldn’t really trouble the favourites as he does seem rather one-paced.
IM A SCOOBI DOO
Trainer: lesonaka
(Weekend Cruise x Sadler’s Wells x Secretariat)
Odds: 14/1 Earnings: 137,702 Runs/Wins: 23/9
A 5yo scratch bred horse from Red Dirt Runners bred by newscoobi.
A successful $15,000 claim as a 4yo who has paid dividends since in allowance wins and has been moved up to stakes class after two easy victories. He does seem prone to the odd bad run but if he’s managed to put that behind him could pose a bigger threat than his odds suggest. Expect him to try and take an early lead and burn off the opposition over the course of the race.
TETE OF OZ(IRE)
Trainer: jacobsson
(Moon Ballad (IRE) x Cozzene x Mountain Cat)
Odds: 5/1 Earnings: 345,586 Runs/Wins: 37/9
A 5yo horse from Sabbath Stables based on an F class horse.
Won some nice stakes and placed in a number of graded races last year and has already started 2008 in fine fashion. Easily overcame Secret’s Gold back in February but was well beaten by High Speed Quest the following month, where he put in a poor performance, so he’ll have his work cut out to achieve better than a mid-field performance..
SEEKING AN EMPIRE(KY)
Trainer:
(Empire Maker x Seeking The Gold x Storm Bird)
Odds: 4/1 Earnings: 200,370 Runs/Wins: 18/6
A 4yo colt from The Evil Empire bred from an F class mare.
The favourite for this race comes here after a really disappointing run in a grade I race last time and has yet to achieve a victory this year. Prior to that loss he seemed to be knocking on the door with some consistent performances but he’ll need to be very strong minded to justify his short odds. Still relatively inexperienced he at least has time to re-find his touch.
THUNDER CLONE
Trainer: ascoteer
(Thunder Gulch x Holy Bull x Lear Fan)
Odds: 16/1 Earnings: 52,327 Runs/Wins: 9/4
A 5yo horse from Candlestick Farm Stables based on a G class horse.
Very inexperienced for his age he had over 2 years off of the track after winning 2 of his 3 runs. He seems to have come back reasonably strong however and apart from a couple of runs over 14 furlongs or more has defied some very long odds to make the money places. Not sure about this distance for him as it may be a couple of furlongs too long but he is an unknown quantity in this field.
IN THE HUNT CH(IRE)
Trainer: chevry
(Rock Of
Odds: 36/1 Earnings: 80,885 Runs/Wins: 7/3
A 4yo scratch bred colt from Cothill Stables.
Another very inexperienced 4yo who despite some good victories at allowance level hasn’t really shown the class that he will need to be successful here. He is in good form however, and in this, his first year in racing, can expect many more victories in the future I am sure.
Summary
A tough one to call but I’m prepared to stick my neck out and go for a long odds chance. Im A Scoobi Doo looks more than capable of grabbing that early lead and keeping it – and at the very least he looks a great each-way shot.