Blazing Saddles Turf
Blazing Saddles Breeders Showdown Turf
Stakes
12 F
Firm Turf
All horses, 3 years old and up
Welcome to Arizona as we celebrate one of the finest residencies around, Blazing Saddles. It may be a short field here, but there is no short of talent present in this race. Out of the four horses here the storylines range from an all-time great nearing the end of his career to a 3 year old just breaking his maiden and looking to become the next great thing. This one is going to be a race you simply will not want to miss as it could be a changing of the guard or perhaps the old guard proving once again he just isn’t finished yet. Without further ado let’s meet the field:
1) Lex Luthor – 1/5 – galileo
(Empire Maker X Theatrical X Seeking The Gold)
Lex Luthor is a 5 year old horse that has earned over $7.6 million in his career 37 races. In those 37 races he has failed to make the win, place, or show spot only 8 times. But, as his career winds down it seems to be more and more prevalent for him to miss out. His last win came at the beginning of March in a stakes race. In his last race he ran in the G1 Coffeefields Cup where he finished 4th with a speed of 109 at a distance of 12 furlongs. In three of his last four races he has ran a speed better than 100 and twice hit 109. He will be helped along by his jockey W. Kewmwa and his 30% career winning percentage. He likes to get out early and will need to build a substantial lead in this one to hang on.
2) ShoutOutOfAGun – 9/2 – acote6
(Red Bullet X Lear Fan X Inherent Star)
ShoutOutOfAGun is a 4 year old colt that was claimed by pilgrim6 part of the Pilgrim Stables and has since rewarded his owner with 5 wins, two of those being allowance races. He has ran his best races at the 9-11 furlong distance, but has yet to crack off his first speed of 100. In his last race he ran in an allowance race finishing 4th with a speed of 93, but it was at a distance of 14 furlongs. The colt has historically struggled with distances beyond 11 furlongs as he loses ground fast when coming down the stretch. At the helm will be jockey N. Gardner and his 20% career winning percentage. He will likely fade in this one as he will have trouble keeping up with Lex Luthor and have trouble holding off the late burners.
3) Forgiven Sin – 25/1 – bluewonder
(Sinndar X Cozzene X Nureyev)
Forgiven Sin is a 3 year old colt that broke his maiden last time out. He ran in a MSW race at 11 furlongs and ran a speed of only 88 but, won by a commanding 5 lengths. It marked the first time the colt has been run over 9 furlongs, so he is a bit untested and his true ability may only be starting to show. At 9 furlongs in the previous race he ran a speed of 93 and finished 2nd. The formerly claimed Sinndar sired colt was only tried as a 2 year old on dirt and sprints. Bluewonder claimed him as a 3 year old and switched to turf routes and he has yet to finish worse than 3rd in his 4 races. The colt catches a ride from A. Martin whose experience and career 70 races is very much limited like Forgiven Sin. The colt certainly looks to have a promising future and will certainly do service to Blazing Saddles, but he will more than likely be outmatched here by experience and sheer speed.
4) Blackfyre – 5/2 – mtk76
(El Prado X Danehill X Roberto)
This colt is as good of a closer as any horse in the sim. If he can keep the lead horses within sight he will track them down time after time. However, the problem sets in when he gets down by 20+ lengths, which has happened from time to time. In his last race he ran in The Wonderboy Arie Stakes finishing 4th with a speed of 99 at 14 furlongs and he finished 9 lengths off the lead. He was down at the 7 furlong mark by 20 lengths, so no matter how far this colt goes down he will make a late push, it is simply a matter of whether it will be enough to catch the leader. This will only mark the second time that Blackfyre has run at 12 furlongs, the other time being on an off track in which his performance was not a good one. The jockey riding this good looking colt is N. Trumbull and his 12% career winning percentage. If he can maintain a fairly close distance to the leader in this race, he will certainly have a good shot to put on the afterburners and win the race. However, falling behind by 20 lengths or so certainly spells trouble.
My pick to win the race is none other than Lex Luthor and his consistent 100+ speeds as he looks to finally get back into that winners circle. With my second pick and the only substantial threat to Lex Luthor is Blackfyre. If he can keep it close he can certainly outrun the other horses in the field down the stretch. I like Forgiven Sin’s shot at making 3rd. He could absolutely stun the field with his much unknown status this early in his career, but much more likely is a finish in the show spot and winning many races down the line as he continues to hone in on his distance.
As always good luck to all the trainers involved and enjoy your day of champions Blazing Saddles members!