The Sir Fake Stakes

The Sir Fake Challenge Stakes – All horses, 4 years old and up, Seven furlongs on the Firm Turf Course, Purse: $50,000

PP1 – Wonder Showzen – phonetrick – J Lucas – 5/2JF 

Triple Stakes winning 6yo that lies 65^th in the older horses turf sprint division. He has been running really well in Stakes races this year, albeit without winning, hitting the board in his last 4 runs. The joint favourite is due a win and he is one for the shortlist.

PP2 – Copy Phyl – racinpogs5 – S R Vaughan – 7/1 

A mere $3.5k claim for his current owner and he has since shown he is more than capable of mixing it in Allowance company. He has his first try at Stakes level here and will need a lifetime best to figure.

PP3 – Lahore – hoyos – B Carlson – 10/1 

This 4yo colt has done most of his running over a mile but he has yet to finish in the first 3 over a sprint trip. He is likely to struggle with the early pace of some of these rivals and it will be a huge surprise to see him get competitive in this field.

PP4 – Two Storms – maryfran – C Shoemaker – 5/2 

Grade 3 and eight time Stakes winner, finished a closing third in a Grade 1 at Japan last year. He looked as good as ever when coming back from a 4-month break to land a 6.5f Stakes race on his penultimate start and he clearly retains all of his ability. Surprisingly beaten LTO he has a bit to prove but, back over his favourite distance, he is the one they all have to beat.

PP5 – Ermington Who.. – pornstar – K Little – 19/1 

Outsider of the field has looked a different horse since switching to turf, winning his last two. He looked like a horse to follow when coming from well behind to comfortably win an nx2 Allowance LTO recording his first 100+SP. This represents a steep hike up in class but his trainer clearly feels he is ready. Interesting at long odds.

PP6 – Empire Of Damascus – nyra – M Brown – 7/1 

Cheaply bred horse that has ran well a few times in the Bargain Bred Racing series on dirt. This will be his first try on the green stuff but his sire and dam sire both predominantly produce dirt runners so it will be a surprise to see him perform as well on this surface.

PP7 – Rocket Slew – totheright – J Chapman – 9/1 

The most lightly raced of the line-up; this colt began to show some promise towards the end of last year prompting his owner to step him up in class. After finishing third in a Stakes race on his first run this year he has subsequently been a shade disappointing in his three runs since. On the plus side, he is the only confirmed frontrunner of the field and that should allow his jockey to be able to dictate the pace. Place prospects.

PP 8 – River Lodge – pacer – J Webb – 3/1 

Drawn out wide is the oldest horse of the race. This seven year old appears to be a late bloomer and it wasn’t until late 2006/2007 that he started to get into full stride, winning 4 Stakes races during that period. He was given a little rest at the beginning of this year and has came back in great heart, posting a lifetime best SP LTO. Back up into Stakes class here, he comes into this race in the form of his life and he is one to consider.

Summary

A few of these are in with a chance but it’s hard to look beyond Two Storms. He loves going seven panels and it’s hard to ignore his Graded form. He is chosen to overcome a surprising defeat LTO.

There are a number of challengers to the selection, headed by the ultra consistent Wonder Shozen. He has a similar running style to the joint favourite and is pretty well matched with him on the clock but the feeling is he’ll find one too good again.

River Lodge is undoubtedly a talented individual and comes into this race in good form, however his last run was eight weeks ago and there is a suspicion he may not be as fully wound up as the two joint favourites.

Ermington Who.. is the dark horse and least exposed of the field. He may still have more improvement in him on this surface and, at such long odds; he could be worth a small place bet.

Rocket Slew is next best.

1 – Two Storms

2 – Wonder Shozen