The Our Frowns Stakes
The OUR FROWNS Stakes for three-year-olds and up, to be contested at a 1 1/16 miles over the fast dirt for $35,000, has drawn an unusually full field of ten horses. Good luck trying to cash a ticket here – it’s hard to completely eliminate any horse from contention, and nearly impossible to separate half the field. 1 (5/1) – Stakes-placed SMART BUCK (KY) is remarkably consistent – he’s run speed figures in the 100s or just under in every race since April of 2007. With a full field of ten talented horses in the gate, he’ll need to run as good or better as he did in The KEPLER STAR Challenge earlier this month. 2 (6/1) – SILVER AND BLACK (JPN) never ran as a two-year-old, but came roaring out of the gate in May of his three-year-old season. He’s never run a bad race and has steadily improved throughout his career. He’s coming off a second-place finish in a tough allowance race and should be competitive here. 3 (6/1) – URBAN LORD, a five-year-old by Storm Cat, has had plenty of success on the allowance circuit but has never run in a stakes race. He’ll try to make it three wins in a row here. 4 (9/2) – PRIDENPREJUDICE (KY) has earnings totaling ten times as much as some of his competition, thanks to a sparkling record as a three-year-old. He’s the winner of the Grade II Trial by Night Stakes, and is Grade I stakes-placed. Despite the impressive resume, he’ll be battling with a number of horses for a part of the prize. He can still hold his own against listed stakes horses – he won The FLAG TILL KINGS Stakes last time out in late June – but hasn’t improved significantly since his three-year-old year. 5 (13/1) – EURO SPY (KY), a Eurosilver colt, generally runs speed figures in the mid-90s, but periodically jumps up and turns in a triple-digit effort. With a full field and numerous horses consistently running as fast as Euro Spy does on his best days, he’ll need the race of his life to hit the board Saturday. 6 (9/1) – SHE PLAYS ME (KY) is in a similar position to Euro Spy. While he’s clearly talented and hasn’t been throwing clunkers, he can’t afford to run in the mid-90s Saturday and hope to be successful against this group. He’ll need to duplicate his winning form from The YOUR PIGEON Handicap – the 109 speed figure he ran there would give him a shot. 7 (13/1) – Stakes-placed MEDISERVE (FR) belongs in the same tier as EURO SPY and SHE PLAYS ME, the horses next to him in the starting gate. A good showing is possible, but he’ll need to be at his very best. 8 (6/1) – PIXELATED PONY ran brilliantly last time out in an allowance race, scoring a 112 speed figure. A repeat of that performance would give him a good chance to hit the board or even win. 9 (4/1) – Lukewarm favorite COUNTRY SONGS has the fastest speed figure in the field – a 113 from January of this year. She’s run speed figures above 100 for a year, but even another good race is no guarantee against this tough, well-matched field. 10 (12/1) – VITTORIOSO (IRE) has rebounded well from a dismal showing in an April allowance race, where he just ran a 49. He’s improved in all three races since then. If he can build on that form and crank out another four-to-five point improvement, he could be in with a chance.