Windy City Turf Classic Recap

Windy City Turf Classic
Grade I
A mile and one quarter
Firm Turf
$2,000,000
All horses, 3 years old and up

In a race filled with turf royalty Creepshow made a strong case about who was the reigning king in this division. Given a masterful ride by P. Munoz, Creepshow showed his impressive arsenal of skills making a long careful ascent to the leaders before finding another gear few sim horses possess to leave the field in his wake. The two time winner and reigning king of the Windy City Turf Classic, Rapid Grey had traffic concerns before making a late surge to finish fourth. You had to think he might do it again when he was picking off horses in the lane but Creepshow was too much today. Town Prince doomed many in here who had hoped to make the lead. Town Prince set some quick fractions and carried the lead until he was tackled by Exclusive Habitat and Shriver Mine who had been sitting back just off the rapid pace. Exclusive Habitat rallied to tthe lead for a bob or two before Shriver Mine made what he and his connections must have thought was the winning move, surging by the eartly pace setters. But a look at the wide camera angle shows that the instant Shriver Mine broke the spirits of the leaders, Creepshow flipped the switch on an after burner gear and said ta ta. Shriver Mine was a game second holding off the late closing Mia Then Back and of course the great Rapid Grey who closed out our superfecta respectively. Mia Then Back may have got caught waiting a bit too long with her excellent late run but was able to still hold of the star crossed Rapid Grey who would not make history here today.  Pace setter Town Prince faded all the way back to 7^th. Lets see how the prediction fared against the actual race.

A Look Back

PP 1 TARA TR bredtosell JKY T Balwin ML 24/1

The 4 year old chestnut daughter of Generous x Siren Song (Galileo x Warning) is a winner of 1.7 million in purses. And came in with lot of questions about his recent form. He answered none of them with a middle of the road performance finishing 6^th in an spf of 105. The filly ran big as the only gal but not enough to think about the boys again next time out.

 PP 2 OTTOMAN TURKS TR stoners JKY S Bigger ML 15/1

A five year old scratch breed, Empire Maker x  Sadler’s Wells x Buckpaaser who has 2.5 million in purse winnings. And we thought he might hit the board but not win. Ottoman fried under the heat of the steppy pace and was never a factor.

PP 3 TREVORDOSKY TR derbybound JKY M Bowen ML 13/1

We thought that this 6 year  Kingmambo x AP Indy x Alydar was running his best right now, but he was another who was withered by the pace duel early and faded back to finish 10^th 96 spf.

PP 4 DRACO TR spqr JKY A Ching ML 8/1

We thought you could find more value than he 5 year old son of Sadler’s Wells x AP Indy x Unbridled who entered facing questions about the distance of the race. He never found his best run Saturday and finished evenly after a poor start. A disappointing Spf of 92.

PP 5 RISEN SAVIOR(AUS) TR drevil JKY K Ryn ML 14/1

We said this son of  Flying Spur x Quiet American x Risen Star might lack the back class and the top level experience of some others in here, despite having a ton of talent. Perhaps it was too tall an order and Risen Savior was eased last in an spf of 86.

PP 6 CREEPSHOW(IRE) TR lenny28 JKY P Munoz ML 9/1

The legendary 5 year son of Rock of Gibraltar x Deputy Minister x Seeking the Gold pushed his lifetime earning to nearly 8 million with his breath taking run. The Evil Empire certainly saddled the best horse and his. two move burst in closing went off like his jock had a detonator. Great win!

 PP 7  EIGHT STRAIGHT TR catahoula JKY W Cabaniss ML 16/1

The son of Smarty Jones x Pulpit x Danzig needed a career effort and some luck here on Saturday. Unfortantely he got neither, a troubled trip and several monster performance left him as an also ran. He may need to learn to rate a bit to have success at this level.

PP 8 EXCLUSIVE HABITAT(ENG)TR iant8 JKY R Logan ML 7/1

We said this Sakhee x Habitat x Exclusive Native is in top form, really impressive in his consistent display of talent. Exclusive Habitat ran a real big race despite never making the top. He pressed the whole way and was victimized by the early pace. In a race slightly less star studded today’s effort (106) might have been good enough to win.  Keep an eye on this one in the future.

PP 9  STORM’S GONE AGAIN TR tisgold  JKY B White ML 12/1

We thought the 5 year old son of Awesome Again x Storm Cat x Gone West seemed to have been having his confidence rebuilt lately. Well today’s effort may send tisgold back to the drawing board as he never fired and only delivered a 99 spf  picking off tired ones late.

PP 10  SHRIVER MINE  TR shawke JKY T Smaron ML 15/1

The 6 year old son of Dynaformer x Irish River x Blushing Groom’s style of sitting just off the lead pack is one that really looked good in a group of front runners and deep closers. I didn’t think he would be be quick enough here but he ran a monster race to be second. He looked like he had made the winning move late but an horse running bigger nailed him. The 108 tied a career best.

PP 11 ROSENTHAL(IRE) TR simsters8 JKY Y Dunbar 7/1

The son of Rock of Gibraltar x Caerleon x Mill was dominant back in May, but his versatile style was no help and perhaps his campaign of one big race after another has caught up with him a bit. He never answered the bell for run and finished with his first sub triple figure spf since April. The good news is he followed that sub par effort with a grade 1 score in his next. Can history repeat?

PP  12 MIA THEN BACK TR madhibby5 JKY M Reveiz ML  6/1

The co morning line favorite a son of Forty Niner x Danzig x Secretatriat was back on the muscle for this huge race. He did not look short this time but one wonders if he may have been able to close for second if he was fresher. Easy to speculate when you don’t have horses this good. His huge kick was good for third and nearly a 108 spf.

PP 13 TOWN PRINCE(IRE) TR quitter JKY D McCants ML 11/1

The 5 year old son of Ballingary x Majestic Prince x Patrone was coming off a clunker last out and was looking to rebound. Last time he ran that bad it took a few races to regain his form, he won’t have that luxury now if he is to win here. I thought if he made the lead he would hit the board, but he may have spent himself getting to the top and had no answers when the real running began. No shame in a 105 spf.

PP 14 RAPID GREY TR champions4 I JKY Dubbs ML 6/1

I still think that someday they may have to change the name of this race to “The Rapid Grey” The Tactical Cat x With Approval x Bold Ruler gave the capacity crowd its money’s worth mounting his patented late charge. Alas the only history on the day was being made by his rival Creepshow. Rapid Grey still has to put fear into his opponents as it looked like another panel and he would have been second at least. Thanks for the thrill guys.

Great race and I can’t wait until next month or so for these big boys and gal to get it on at this level again.