Tocobaga Harbor Looks to Bring Home the Win for Florida Racing Club in Pray for Me

The two second legs of the Florida Racing Club residency’s Florida Sire Series Stakes will be run Saturday and a field of 11 juvenile fillies is set to go postward in the seven-furlong Pray for Me Stakes. The top three finishers from the Junior Rule Stakes all return for this heat, but a pair of new shooters look to have a solid chance for the victory as well.

Haack’s Pantallera wired the August 5th Junior Rule, narrowly holding off a determined challenge from favored stablemate Danielita. Both of those fillies are back for Saturday’s race. Conventional wisdom might favor the hard-charging second-place finisher in this event as we stretch out an additional furlong. There also is a fair amount of early speed signed on to challenge Pantallera (by Girvin) early on. Both Pantallera and Danielita (by Khozan) have two career wins and show consistent, moderate increases in their speed figures with each race. It will be interesting to see how these two are seperated at the wire on Saturday. The racing secretary has slightly favored Danielita here (9/2, favorite), with Pantallera as the 5/1 co-second choice.

Tees’ Crack Attack closed well to finish third in the Junior Rule, 1-1/4 lengths behind the winner. She’s a bit more heavily raced than Haack’s two runners and will need a step up in her speed figure to get the job done here. Her dam did well in 7 1/2-furlong races, so this daughter of Magic on Tap may appreciate the added ground. She’s 8/1 and the sixth wagering choice here.

The other 5/1 morning-line entrant is Craterus’ Tocobaga Harbor, who is out to represent the Florida Racing Club in style. The daughter of Bahamian Squall will be dropping in class Saturday, having recently finished a close up seventh in the Schoolerville (gr. 3) following a pair of second-place finishes in listed stakes races. The extra furlong should be in the range of this scratchbred with Saint Ballado and Apalachee completing the pedigree. Her top speed figure of 80 looks good here and a solid move forward (from the class relief?) could just get the job done.

Dontbetonme’s Neostrike has the top speed figure in the Pray for Me field, an 82 while easily winning a Nebraska n2l allowance race last time out in late July. That victory came at the Pray for Me distance and the daughter of Neolithic will make her debut against strictly Florida breds Saturday. A mid-pack closer, Neostrike (6/1) is one to watch.

Also at 6/1 is Bobthehat’s Promiyas who, like Neostrike, was bred by one of Adrian’s stables. Promiyas displays uneven form, winning two of five races with a nice debut and an excellent race two starts back amongst some somewhat disappointing efforts. Pantallera got the jump on her early in the Junior Rule after which she faded to a respectable (2 1/2-lengths back) sixth-place finish. The added distance may suit her, but what’s to be done about Pantallera’s tactical advantage?

Tenpoint’s St. Patrick’s Curse won her only start, a 7 1/2-furlong maiden claimer on polytrack. The daughter of St. Patrick’s Day earned a 72 speed figure for the win, but who knows what to expect on the main track when facing winners for the first time? Her dam won on turf and dirt, from 7 1/2- to 10 1/2-furlongs. A step up from the surface switch with the initial race under her belt may allow her to step up to a level where she will be competitive here at 10/1.

Also at 10/1 is Newfydowns’ Roguezaya. The daughter of Rogueish has one win from three starts, with the victory coming upon debut when in Given’s barn. Her speed figures have been trending in the right direction in two subsequent starts but her dam did her best running at longer distances (but did have a three-race winning streak in 6 1/2-furlong races).

Bobthehat’s other entrant Bahamian Liberty (by Bahamian Squall) recently upset a Florida-bred maiden special weight heat at 9/1 but seems up against it here. The 15/1 shot comes in a bit light from a speed figure perspective (top of 71) and her dam (Tees-bred Warpuss) did her best running in shorter distance races. As the Florida Racing Club residency is conducting a contest for residents based on points earned in these Florida Sire Series races, one suspects Bahamian Liberty is in for whatever points she can earn. (And that’s a great thing about joining a residency, they usually have something going to keep the racing interesting even if you don’t have the winning horse.)

Bizalls’ Curvin’ Girvin won a four-horse, n1n allowance race on a sloppy track last time out for her lone win. The daughter of Girvin earned a 59 speed figure that day, but does boast a top of 66 earned one start prior. The field’s longest price at 22/1 should at least be a pace presence in the early going.

Alphonso brings the unraced Palm Warbler to the Pray for Me and I’d be inclined to pick her just based on her name (what a lovely bird) except late August is a bit early for palm warblers to be thriving in Florida — really more of an overwintering bird here. Anyway, the scratchbred daughter of Noble Bird has Kitten’s Joy and Malibu Moon on the underside of her pedigree so longer distances and perhaps turf might well be within her scope in future races.

As for the picks I’ll divide this into two lists, top four horses and top Florida Racing Club horses for their contest. I was thinking of taking Neostrike on top in a virtual coin toss win over Tocobaga Harbor,however I’m thinking a bounce for Neostrike is a possibility so I’ll go with Tocobaga Harbor. I’ll follow those with Danielita and Pantallera. As for Florida Racing Club horses, Tocobaga Harbor is the obvious choice over Promiyas, and Palm Warbler.