Equinics – Forward Pass Sprint/Dancer’s Image Stakes

One of the first Equinics races on the card will be the Forward Pass Sprint/Dancer’s Image Stakes in Vermont Thursday evening. The field of sixteen fillies and mares will go six and a half furlongs over a fast main track.

Let’s take a closer look at the field:

1 – WOETTE’S VIZION, 11/1 (owner zeco10 – Down Under Racing)

One of the more accomplished Ohio-bred horses in the Sim in recent memory, WOETTE’S VIZION has been in the graded stakes ranks for over a year. The results have been all or nothing, as she has two wins, including a Grade I win in the Girls Wanna Have Fun in August and her last start in a Grade II in April. Outside of those two wins, though, she has failed to hit the board in the rest of her last eight starts. This will be a tough test for this four-year-old filly, but an Equinics victory would be huge for the Ohio breeding community. If she can run back to those other two graded wins, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

2 – Z’HA’DUM, 8/1 (owner brookline – Empire State Racing)

After varying results last year running route races, she completed a great stretch of races late last year and over the winter when she cut back to seven furlongs. The four-year-old filly out of G1-winning mare AN EMPTY COUNTRY won four out of five starts following the cutback, including a Grade I and Grade II win earlier this year. She did not find the same success in her last start, which was in the Grade I Humane Distaff on Bluegrass Derby day. She was never really in that race, although she only finished 2 ¾ lengths back despite finishing eighth. That was a solid field and she’ll face some of the same fillies and mares here. If she can regain that form from earlier in the year, she can compete well in this spot.

3 – LUCKY JOKE, 16/1 (owner coachwill – Northwest Racing Circuit)

This seven-year-old mare is an Equinics veteran, having raced in both the 2020 and 2022 editions. That is quite a feat to race in three Equinics! She didn’t find much success in either of those previous races, finishing 12th and 13th, respectively. Even outside of the Equinics, she has never been able to hit the board in any graded stakes start. She is a multiple-stakes winner following her win last time out in Ohio back in April. Even at the ripe old age of seven, she is still enjoying really good form. However, her recent SP numbers have been closer to 100. That combined with her struggles at this level will make this a tough hill to climb.

4 – LADY SUMMERSBYE, 22/1 (owner kimugle66 – European Union Racing Organization)

Another longer shot in this field, this five-year-old mare by Distorted Humor is still searching for her first stakes win. This seems like the right distance for her, as her best recent form was over the winter when she had three straight sprints. She hit the board in all three of those starts. That allowance win two starts back may have been the best start of her career, with an SP# of 110. In her most recent start, she stretched back out to 9.5 furlongs in an ungraded stakes race and struggled to a ninth-place finish. That 110 SP# shows that she can compete at the stakes level, but her struggles at that level will make this race a very tough task.

5 – SIXTY SIXTH SENSE, 7/1 (owner padrebri16 – GR Simsters)

This mare by Street Sense couldn’t be coming into this race much hotter, as she has won six out of her last seven starts, including a Grade III and Grade I race. That G1 win was her last start in May up in Ontario, so she is ready for a field like this. Her form has gotten better as she has gone into the stakes ranks, which is something you don’t see all that often. This will be her fourth graded stakes start – she has hit the board in all three of them so far, and will have a good opportunity to keep that streak going in this start. One of the horses to beat in this race.

6 – PURPLE HONOR, 7/1 (owner tatty4 – Orphan Racing)

Probably the most consistent mare in the field, she has won 14 out of her 22 career starts. The question is whether she still has the capabilities to win this race. Her peak form was back in 2022 when she won the Grade I Exam Stakes. She did have a pair of third-place finishes in G1 around this time last year, including an impressive SP# of 116 in the Humane Distaff. She comes into this race having won her past five starts, although all of those are in the allowance ranks. That being said, all five wins were by a length or more with SP# between 105 and 110. This mare is one of the wild cards in this race – she likely still has the talent to hit the board here, but hasn’t been tested much lately. Can she step up and answer the call?

7 – GONE UNBRIDLED, 22/1 (owner amir1763 – Elite Racing Club)

This daughter of More Than Ready started off her career with a flash, winning a Grade III race in April of her two-year-old season. She went onto some success in the ungraded stakes ranks, rattling off three straight wins late last year. Her most recent visit to graded stakes company has not been as fruitful, as she finished last in the Grade II La Zebra back in December. After a long layoff, she came back swinging in the Grade III Oh Henry in late April. She led for most of that race before falling back to fifth by the end. One of the longer shots on the board, she’ll need to build a lot off of that last effort to have a chance here.

8 – DREAM SPIRIT B, 24/1 (owner zbarb5 – Only Stayers)

A three-time ungraded stakes winner, this five-year-old mare is the most successful offspring of California-based mare Win the Space. She has racked up over $350,000 in career earnings and won 9 out of 19 career starts. While her SP numbers indicate a race like this will be awfully tough for her to seriously compete in, that Grade III race last time out (which was her first graded stakes start) was not bad. She finished fourth in that race at a decent price. Even so, the field she faces here is a sizable step up in class. If she can take another sizable step up from that race, perhaps she can make some noise for some of the vertical wagers.

9 – GOLD HUMOR, 5/1 (owner crawf68 – East-West Connection)

The solid favorite in this race, this daughter of Distorted Humor will cut back in distance a bit here, as she almost solely lives in the 7 or 7.5 furlong races. Even at the age of five with 25 races under her belt, she appears to be in the best form of her career, and is coming off of a really nice win in the Humane Distaff last month. In fact, this is another example of a competitor getting better as the competition gets tougher, which is an encouraging sign. With her lowest SP# in her last 7 starts being 109, this in one consistent mare. She is definitely one of the horses to beat in this talented field.

10 – CESIUM ROX, 24/1 (owner gjo1 – British and European Racing Club)

The other 24/1 shot in this race will have to bring her A game to have a shot here. She ships in from Japan, where she had a really nice second-place effort in the Group I Selurnivek Sprint. Upon closer inspection, though, that wasn’t a particularly great field, especially for a G1 race. Going into the race, there were only two graded stakes winners, and neither of them had much success in the race. The Japan-bred daughter of Johannesburg has now earned over $500,000 in her career and will look to add to that here. That being said, this test will be tougher than her last one.

11 – MISS CURLY WURLY, 9/1 (owner asrstar16 – All-Stars Racing)

The well-bred daughter of Curlin is another one to come out of the Humane Distaff on Bluegrass Derby. She finished seventh, a disappointing effort coming out of a nice win in the Grade II Long Island Sprint back in March. This filly is tough to get a handle on for handicapping purposes, as she has not been super consistent of late. She can put up a great effort with an SP# in the mid-110s (which would probably win this race) or she can put up a mediocre effort and finish mid-pack. I think she could bounce back nicely off that last race – definitely one I’ll be using underneath here.

12 – EMPIRE’S BEACH, 20/1 (owner dydalt71 – Universal Racing Club)

This filly by Omaha Beach is still getting her feet wet in stakes company. She has one stakes start (her last one), where she finished seventh. That race before on the PPs, though, shows the potential here, as she put up a 109 SP number in a NW4L allowance race. Of course, doing that in an allowance race is a lot different that doing that at the G1 level, but when you’re looking at a price horse like this, you’re looking for potential in hitting the board, especially for the underneath wagers. Perhaps this filly is worth a look for that, although I think she find it difficult to make the front here.

13 – VIOLET MAREAU, 12/1 (owner beerkeg14 – MIDAS)

Here we find the final of the three million-dollar earners in this race, and she has won an impressive 10 out of 25 career starts. She picked up her first G1 win just this January in the Old Lady Sprint. In her most recent start, she finished fifth in another Grade I race last month. She’ll come off a shorter layoff here, so maybe that will work in her favor like it did in her January win. I’m not sure this daughter of Tapit is in as good of form as she was late in 2022 or early 2023, but she showed in January that she can compete at this level. That wasn’t the strongest field, but if she can tap into some of that old form, she has a chance at a price.

14 – BITCOIN GIRL, 12/1 (owner borinquen – Latinos Del Mundo)

She comes into this race on a three-race winning streak, which includes two allowance wins and a residency stakes race to qualify for this spot. She is a G2 winner, but that was two years ago during her 2-year-old campaign. After struggling in the Bluegrass Oaks, she found her way back to the allowance ranks late last year and has been gradually rounding into better form ever since. These kinds of horses can be dangerous – while there isn’t a whole lot of graded success on the PPs, it won’t take a huge step to be competitive in a spot like this.

15 – WINTER CAPTAIN, 18/1 (owner deathgoat4 – Florida Racing Club)

This four-year-old filly has the freshest legs of the bunch, as this will be just her 13th career start. She has six wins already, with three of those in ungraded stakes races. There are a few G2 starts scattered throughout her lines as well, but she has not been able to hit the board in any of those starts. Much like BITCOIN GIRL, this is another one that is rounding into a pretty good form and the question becomes whether she can take the step up and really compete at this level. The last two starts aren’t super encouraging, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she cracks the top 5 here.

16 – FLY AWAY JAZZ, 11/1 (owner utahjazz1 – Hoosier Racing)

And rounding out the field, we find a filly who is no stranger to graded stakes company. This will be her 10th graded stakes start in her 17th career start. She has two wins in those races, a Grade III race last year and the Grade II Bed of Flowers last time out in April. She led that race by five lengths at one point before winning it by a solid two lengths at the wire. That was a decent field and the SP# of 113 would put her up with some of the best in this field. If she comes back with an effort like that, there’s no reason she can’t spring a mild upset for Hoosier Racing.

My Picks:
2 – Z’HA’DUM, 8/1 (Empire State Racing) – She has loved the cutback in distance and I think she bounces back nicely from that last race.

9 – GOLD HUMOR, 5/1 (East-West Connection) – Not much more to say – she is the most consistent horse at this level and especially looking at SPs. Well-deserved favorite.

5 – SIXTY SIXTH SENSE, 7/1 (GR Simsters) – Has gotten better as the races have gotten tougher. Potential win candidate given her recent form.

16 – FLY AWAY JAZZ, 11/1 (Hoosier Racing) – This filly can win in this spot and has shown she can compete with the best, but my concern is that she hasn’t strung together two really good starts. After such a good performance, can she replicate it here?

14 – BITCOIN GIRL, 12/1 (Latinos Del Mundo) – Sort of a hunch play…she’s been quietly improving against lesser competition. I think she improves enough to try to sneak into the top 5.

Good luck to all!