The SnowPhantom Appreciation
SnowPhantom Appreciation
G II
7 F
Firm Turf
All horses, 3 year olds
Welcome to Iowa and the SnowPhantom Appreciation. Twelve 3 year olds will try to chase down history at the 7 furlong distance. The horses and trainers are ready and will likely provide a great and intense race. Many of the top 3 year olds will show off their speed and try to back up their savvy rankings.
1) Uh Oh Chongo – 8/1 – mav1763
This colt has not raced particularly well at the graded level, failing to finish in the money both times. However, both of those were G1’s. In his last time out he won The African For Pro Special Stakes with a speed of 109 at 7 furlongs. Both times he has raced at the 7-7.5 furlong distance he has put up speeds of 109. This marked his third stakes win over his career and will certainly to be getting in the money for the first time at the graded level, if not stealing the show.
2) Credit Castle – 5/1 – brentuk
I had the pleasure to cover this colt last time out and correctly predicted for him to finish outside…err 2nd in the Good Vs. Evil Handicap. Credit Castle already boasts a G2 win and two G3 2nd place finishes. He posted his fastest speed yet at 109 in his last race. He will make such a strong push at the end of the race that he is likely to cover the mistakes of his jockey G. Daniels with his winning percentage at 7%.
3) Forest Man – 22/1 – crandyiii
Forest Man ran in the G1 Adopt a Greyhound finishing 12th with a speed of 92. He has yet to finish better than 8th in graded races out of 3 tries. He has managed one stakes win with his fastest career speed of 99 at 7.5 furlongs. This Forest Wildcat colt will find this field entirely too fast to have a real shot at getting in the money for the first time at the graded level.
4) Van Hoevenberg – 9/1 – gradetwo
Out of gate 4 we have the Vindication colt that has been mildly inconsistent over his career. His last time out he ran in the G1 The Telling Lies and Getting Paid Stakes where he finished 5th with a speed of 96 at 6 furlongs. The race before was the G1 Never Ready Sprint with a speed of 106 was good enough to capture his first graded win. If Van Hoevenberg shows up in top form he will certainly be challenging to carry O. Brooks to another win to add to his 19 winning percentage.
5) Lions and Bally – 10/1 – street
This Ballingarry colt is still looking for his first graded win. He has finished 3rd in a G2, but repeating that type of performance has been quite illusive. He has amassed 5 stakes wins since that time. His last time out was in the G3 The Good Vs. Evil Handicap in which he finished 8th with a speed of 97. This was certainly a notch down from the 107 he put up the time before that in the G1 Adopt a Greyhound. Lions and Bally will likely run out of steam too early in this race to challenge for the money.
6) Farotto – 7/1 – fetti50
Out of gate is 6 Farotto who has recently been very successful under 8 furlongs. Last time out the colt ran in the G1 The Telling Lies and Getting Paid Stakes where he finished 2nd with a speed of 100. He has yet to run in a sprint in which he finished outside of the money and only once out of those 12 career sprints did he finish 3rd. He has already nabbed his first graded win at the Chantily Lace Cap. Fetti50 is certainly hoping that Farotto can keep the streak of finishing in the money alive and it seems very likely.
7) Australia – 25/1 – cvbear
Australia is making his graded debut. In his last race he ran a speed of 104 in an allowance race that was 7.5 furlongs. He has won a stakes race, but it was a very short field in which he ran a speed of 93. The High Chaparral colt will find this field too fasts and will have a hard time challenging to finish in the money.
8) Hitsugaya – 10/1 – daedalus
This colt is still looking for his first graded win. He has appeared in three graded races finishing 3rd in one and out of the money in the other 2. In his last race he won The Speech Bruising Memorial with a speed of 107 at 7.5 furlongs. The War Front colt has compiled 5 wins over his 11 career races. Getting another win here would be surprising and Hitsugaya will find it difficult to get in the money with this fast field.
9) Freeky’s V – 7/1 – freeky
Last time out Freeky’s V ran in the G3 Chemlawn and finished 2nd with a speed of 111 at 7 furlongs. He already captured his graded win in the G2 Winthorpe Stakes. He has won 7 of his 15 races and has earned over $430,000. He has run speeds over 100 in his last 4 races. His speed should allow a great opportunity for freeky to get in the money and possibly win another graded race.
10) Dick Nixon – 18/1 – bradyleigh
Dick Nixon ran in the G1 The Telling Lies and Getting Paid Stakes last time and took 3rd with a speed of 99. He has yet to win beyond the allowance level, but has only raced in two stakes races. He has only raced 10 times and has won 5 of those. His posted his fastest career speed in his stakes race in which he ran 4th with a speed of 107 which was 7 furlongs. Dick Nixon may be considered a bit of a long shot, but he has been used to that in his stakes races and has managed to run 2 good races. Look for him have a shot to sneak in the money or perhaps even shock the field.
11) Appropriately – 9/2 – pjlstables
Last time out Appropriately got his 2nd graded win in the G1 Adopt A Greyhound running a speed of 114 at a distance of 6 furlongs. Over his 14 career races he has amassed 10 wins, including 8 stakes wins, 2 of those being graded wins. He has earned over $900,000 in career earnings finishing outside of the money just once. He is also has O. Parker at the helm, who should help out with his 21% winning percentage. The Pulpit colt seems poised to capture his third straight graded win.
12) Road Not Taken – 6/1 – focusforce
Road Not Taken is getting tired of playing 2nd fiddle to Appropriately. He has finished 2nd to him in both of his last graded stakes. In his last race he finished 2nd the G1 Adopt A Greyhound with a speed of 111. He has earned just under half a million dollars in his 17 races. He will once again find himself chasing down Appropriately and will need a boost of extra speed if he hopes to win this one.
It is hard to pick against Appropriately with his lightning quick speed and impressive record, and I am certainly not bold enough to do it. He should manage to win his 3rd straight graded stakes. I made the mistake of picking against Credit Castle and brentuk probably wouldn’t mind the extra motivation, but I can’t make that mistake twice. With my 3rd pick I will take Dick Nixon, though the odds aren’t pretty the results are hard to argue. I think he will sneak into the money at 3rd.
As always good luck to all the trainers involved in the race!