Speed on Display in Deadwood
A competitive field of turf greats line up for the $750k, Grade 1, Deadwood Stakes.
The favorite, Redhill Racings Coldest World (#9, 9-2) is a multiple Grade 1 winner in top form. The gelded son of Savabeel has been a force on the green for several campaigns now. He won a Grade 3 event at age three and by far is the class of this field. Very good connections have been placing him to perfection and its paid off to the tune of $2.1m in career earnings. His current season has seen him knocking heads with top turfers around the globe. He’s won three of four including the Eddie O and Woody Ford. He took a new top speed badge in January when winning the Kegasus Upper Deck with a figure of 121. In his younger days, Coldest World used a more speed based approach. But now a mature grizzled vet of racing he uses his speed at different spots in the race. Early to set up a position and then late to put away his opponents. He could be sitting pretty in this edition of the Deadwood because a lot of speed is signed on to battle and he could benefit the most. A deserving favorite and clearly the one to beat.
Nova One (#12, 9-1) from the AFC barn has been given a gradual approach to racing this season. It paid off handsomely in July when the colt captured the Grade 3 Big Kahuna. The son of Sea the Stars used a strong stretch rally to bury his opponents. He was just as good two back when winning a NW4L. He earned a new speed badge of 117 in his latest and comes into this event fresh and dangerous.
Francua4 sends out a Japanese homebred by Lord Kanaloa named Lord Dimitrescu (#5, 6-1). The four-year-old colt has been in good form for two campaigns. Frankly, the colt has been nicely and patiently handled. At three, he was given some Stakes experience after showing good speed and talent to run through some conditions. His game leapt to another level earlier this season when running a 121 figure in a NW4L. The effort allowed them to spin-the-wheel and try tougher assignments. With his last two being gutty front-running wins. Last time out he won a Grade 3 race in Denmark by running a 116 figure. The field is loaded with front-end speed and he !joins to make the early moments much more crazy. If looking for knocks against him. He’s never passed another horse to win. He does have the speed and grit to wire them and we’ll see if he can on Saturday.
Dydalt has the Irish bred colt Rough Seas Ahead (#4, 6-1) in Victoria for this important test. The multiple graded winner has banked $1m on his card and is one of only two horses in this race to have 7 figures in earnings. Early in this campaign he wired a full field at 21-1 to win the Jennifer Connley. The win led to a busy campaign of Grade 1 races. His front speed was effective to land him Grade 1 placings and in August he dropped to a Grade 2 and took down a win. The field seems loaded with speed and he’s one of the most accomplished in the field. To win this they’ll need to figure out a way to run past this talented colt.
Baron of Bassett (#10, 9-1) will come into this already liking the track and trip. Padrebri brought this one to Victoria in early January and the colt won with style over this trip. The 119 earned was a new speed badge for the son of Wootton Bassett. They sent the colt into Graded stakes for the rest of the campaign and he earned an impressive victory in the Grade 2 M-Class over eleven furlongs. He was elevated to this level of race for his latest two and had no impact when the real running began. It’s clear these connections are still confident and eager to try this colt over nine panels. A stalk and rally style might be exactly the type of tactic for success here.
JA Stables sends lightly raced War Command colt, War Magic (#1, 27-1) to meet the starter in Victoria. The bay has won just twice but an important win came last time out as he attended the pace and stayed strong late to win his NW2L. The connections have trained him and shopped around for a spot. They’ve picked a tough assignment but have an improving colt looking to impress and shock the racing world.
At the age of six, Like A Shepherd (#3, 7-1) might be at his best. The gelding has missed the top three only once this campaign. Three back he closed with a rush to grab third in the Grade 2 Kinsho Cho. Last time out, his rally came up a bit short in the Grade 3 Strange Hall. His speed figure of 118 will make him very competitive in this spot. Tamure hits at a good rate and they’ve obviously done well by this South African bred.
Aleksander Barkov (#11, 8-1) skates into Victoria prepared to show off all his talent and skill. Much like the Florida Panthers, this four-year-old gelding is winning everything in sight. He came off the bench to score an impressive allowance win to start the campaign. After some improvement, the Lord Kanaloa offspring wired Stakes company in May. Last time out he took another step forward by winning the Grade 3 Strange Hall, besting Like a Shepherd in the process. His speed badge of 121 is tied for the field best and he brings even more speed to this event. He’s shown ability to sit off and rate a little and it’ll be interesting what tactics Mrenforcer and crew elect to put forth.
Masterm has Brinley Joke (#7, 7-1) well rested and ready for this Grade 1 turf event. Early in his career the son of Practical Joke was not to be laughed at as he took down a Grade 2 turf race with a 117 figure. As he matured it took a while to get back to that speed level but he bested it in the spring and then ran a bang up second in the Turf Invaders in July. As a closer, he’ll be looking for some pace to chase and he should get it here in spades.
Thebigshow has Primal Screams (#2, 26-1) as a threat on Saturday. The four-year-old colt has a knack for winning as evidenced by the seven victories on his card. The bay had a terrific campaign last season capturing five wins from eleven starts. Last out in a NW2y over a turf rated good this guy rolled his opponents into submission with a big front-end display. He’s got a speed badge of 107 which he hit twice recently which means he’s at his best. But this group will test his class. Could he offer another big speed try for this event.
The first of two in here for MichaelB is Blood Theatre (#6, 9-1). This gelded son of Teofilo is a Grade 3 winner with over $600k on his card. Some early promise showed for this guy and connections were anxious to try and get him to the next level. In August of 2023 it paid off as he won a Grade 3 event in Sweden. He’s won 3 races this campaign with the latest coming two back in a dominant win over restricted allowance company. He was backed well last time but disappointed everyone by fading late. He regularly ran his speed badge of 117 in 2023 and he needs to find it again in this contest.
The other entrant from MichaelB is six-year-old I Am Fall (#8, 12-1). He’s been rather camera shy this campaign, finding the winners circle only once in ten tries. The win occurred three back when he was a front running winner over NW1t company. Most of his success was achieved sprinting and his top speed badge of 115 was earned at 7 furlongs. But his latest seems to indicate he might be reinventing himself as a speedy turf router. This Grade 1 race will test every bit of him and he must bring his A-game.