Fang Takes Canada Turf
Fang, who turned out to barely be the favorite at $5.10-1, handled the field in the Canada Turf with ease. The race, in itself, was very uneventful…some may even say boring. Despite this, Fang was able to set a record for the Canada Turf, running the distance in 2:28.3.
Strong Belwas was the front runner in the race, easily taking the uncontested lead. But Belwas wasn’t strong enough, as Fang sat back off the pace by three lengths, and made a strong move coming around the final turn to rally and run off with the lead. Fang easily won (and was my top choice), and hitting a speed of 115, which will probably turn out to be one of the top speeds for the week.
Strong Belwas had no problem taking second, as you needed binoculars to see the rest of the field behind him.
Tee Jay’s Great took the third spot, proofing that this veteran still has something left in him.
High Speed Quest (my third choice). Despite finishing forth, High Speed Quest continued his streak of collecting purse checks and those precious BP’s. His overall race was flat, running between forth and sixth for a good part of the race.
Taking fifth was Roadhouse Blues, who earned this spot simply by passing tiring horses.
Paul the Apostle was trying the turf for a second straight race, coming off a victory in his first outing. He ran last for a good part of the race and somehow managed to take the sixth spot. Again, this was mainly because other horses were tiring and dropping out around him. He did show some improvement in speed on the turf, posting a 101 in this race.
Seventh went to Completely Alone who ran on cruise control throughout the race and made no moves or challenges in the race.
I was looking for improvement in Steel Giant in this race, who was coming off a dismal performance in the Man Of War stakes. Steel Giant had a good start, running third early, but then colapsed at the half and faded bact to end up in a disappointing eigth
Septic Squall found no advantage in leaving from the rail. He had a decent start, running forth behind Steel Giant, but suffered the same demise at the half marker, crossing the line in the ninth spot.
Desert Joker left the gate slowly and had no improvement thereafter. Desert spoted the field more than 10 lengths before the 3 furlong marker and the deficit just grew from there, resulting in a 10th place finish.
To me, Eightyseventh was the biggest disappointment in the race. Eightyseventh, who was my second selection, is known for his extremely strong late surge. For some reason, this surge never took place and the end result was finishing in the basement.