8 Line Up for the At Night Cap
Half the horses in the field for today’s race have a streak going. 3 of those horses have a winning streak of at least 2 wins. Read on to find out more about the other streak. The At Night Cap has also attracted one of the sim greats, Lex Luthor. Will this year’s winner of the mile and a half race on the turf be the legendary Lex Luthor, or will one of the youngsters try to steal his reign as 12 furlong champion? Before we look ahead, let’s take a quick look back and see what has happened historically in this race.
This will be the 9th running of the At Night Cap –G3 and the stakes record is held by the 2001 winner, Father Joe. He was one of the few late runners to win this race (it has been won by early speed or wire to wire 75% of the time) with his impressive 118 sp. With 7 of 8 horses in the field being early speed horses it would not be a surprise to see another wire to wire win. Almost all of the previous winners (Father Joe being the only exception) went on to at least one other graded win, so the future looks bright for the winner today. Let’s look at the field:
PP 1 LEX LUTHOR (EMPIRE MAKER x THEATRICAL (IRE) X SEEKING THE GOLD) bred and trained by galileo(Galileo Stables, 17%) Odds: 2 to 1
First we have sim legend Lex Luthor as the favorite in today’s race. This son of Empire Maker (by far his number one offspring) has won 7 G1 event’s included the Derby de English and the 2007 Breeders Bowl Turf. He is coming off a win at the Blazing Saddles Breeder’s Bowl Event three week ago, but his two worst races of the year came off short rests of three weeks between races. He has been racing exclusively in graded and stakes company since breaking his maiden 3 years ago and remarkably has only finished out of the money 6 times on the turf, half of those being 4th place finishes. Although 4 of those out of the money finishes have been in the last year, this is his surface and distance and he will still be a force to be reckoned with here. PP 1 is a great draw for him as he likes to jump to the lead and wire the field, which he has done 18 out of his 20 career wins.
PP 2 NYARLATHOTEP (KY) (ROCK HARD TEN x NORTHERNN DANCER X BUCKPASSER) bred and trained by buffy6 (Winterfell Racing, 16%) Odds: 5 to 1
Nyarlathotep is making his graded debut here in Sweden. Coming off a decisive victory last time out, he continued his win streak and hopes to make it 4 in a row today. All three wins in his streak so far have been at this distance. His connections at Winterfell Racing tried him on turf second time out, but he didn’t perform well. After 6 more unsuccessful tries on the dirt they switched him back to turf and he took off running. 12 races later he has won 6 times and finished second 4 times and he only finished out of the money once, in his stakes debut. He recent form and pedigree say he belongs here against graded company. He likes the early lead and has a few wire to wire victories, but can also win from just off the pace. If he doesn’t get spooked by the jump in class and racing next to Lex I think Nyarlathotep could give him a run for it.
PP 3 NAGA KING (KY) (CRAFTY PROSPECTOR x NUREYEV x SECRETO) bred and trained by gonzo2 (Ace Stables – Great Plains Division, 12%) Odds: 9 to 2
Naga King is another horse in the field with a streak going. He has won his last two races, both 12f on turf and both against graded company. The biggest difference here will be the firm turf, he won’t have a yielding or good track likes his previous two wins. I saw him at his last race, the G3-Carlton Fisk Handicap, where I picked him to finished third. Aly, owner and trainer at Ace Stables – Great Plains Division, said since I picked him for 3rd last time and he won, maybe I should pick him for third again. J He will contribute to the early speed in this race, but like Nyarlathotep, he doesn’t need the lead to win.
PP 4 BORIUS PHANTOM (IRE) (DESERT KING (IRE) x SADLER’S WELLS x MILL REEF) bred by degas and trained by pedroza4 (N2racing Stables, 19%) Odds: 5 to 2
From $3,500 claimer to G1 Winner! That is Borius Phantom’s headline. Claimed twice early in his career, N2racing Stables raced him for 6 straight wins in starters and conditioned allowances races. Three races later this claimer was a stakes winner. Four races later he won the G1-Coffefields Cup. His last out was a 5th place finish in the Japan Classic. Two previous winner of the At Night Cap raced in the Japan Classic prior to their At Night Cap win. Like most in the field he has proven that 12 furlongs on the turf is his preference, but the biggest difference for this horse is he is a late runner. He hopes all those early speed horses wear each other out so he can blaze down the stretch. He has one of the highest career high speed in the field and he did that just two races ago. He is definitely one to watch.
PP 5 SIR RAINBOW (RAINBOW QUEST x SIR TRISTRAM (IRE) x SADLER’S WELLS) bred and trained by fidel (Ecuries Cubaines, 14%) Odds: 99 to 1
Perhaps we should start a new award to be given to the BTB writer that comes up with the best paragraph about horse that is entered into a graded race, but just doesn’t seem to belong. What to say about Sir Rainbow? He does have an in the money finish in a Non-MCOS race two starts back, but his speed factor was less than my age and the distance behind the winner is probably greater than my age, but they stopped keeping track at 30 and the only thing reported was “dist”. As I get older can I use “dist” as my age?? I asked some colleagues what they would say about this horse in a G2 event and Tsunami, an expert in this situation stated, “Should have entered him in a G1.” You get 10 bps for a G1 entry and only 5 for a G2. Thanks Tsu!
PP 6 DANZA MACABRA (KY) (THEATRICAL(IRE) x GONE WEST x SADLER’S WELLS) bred and trained by shadowclaw (Given Stables: Fire and Blood, 22%) Odds: 20 to 1
Wow – talk about streaks, Danza Macabra has a 6 straight wins! After breaking his maiden in a $50,000 MCL, this son of Theatrical won 4 starters in a row and then his owner and trainer Given gave him a stakes shot which he won easily with his career high speed of 102, comparable to the last out speeds of many in the field. He handled the step up in class with a 20 point jump in speed, so it looks like he should be able to handle this new step up in class for his first graded try. He will be another factor early here, like many wanting the early lead. His last two wins were at 13 furlongs, but I don’t think the decreased distance should effect his race too much, he has proven himself at this distance as well.
PP 7 JUDDMONTE (GB) (DANSILI (GB) x IRISH RIVER (FR) x NORTHERN DANCER) bred by trifecta and trained by ascot (Ridgecrest Champion Stables, 11%) Odds: 4 to 1
Ridgrecrest Champion Stables is trying for their second victory in a row at the At Night Cap. They sent Kafziel Tete last year and he wired the field. Today they send Juddmonte to try to accomplish the same. Yes, we have another early speed horse that is going to fight for the early lead, and unlike some others in the race, he usually doesn’t win unless he has had the lead the whole race. The son of Dansili was claimed by Ridgecrest for $60,000 and has been successful for his new connections. Unfortunately all his wins have come in allowance races. He has tried stakes and graded before, but has never been first across the line. His best finish was his second place finish at The LOUSIANNA WENCH Memorial last time out. I love the “claimer to graded winner” stories, so I have a soft spot for this one.
PP 8 GOLDFRIARS (AUS) (BLACKFRIARS (AUS) x GALILEO (IRE) x SEEKING THE GOLD) bred and trained by fortune500 (Furtune 500, 19%) Odds: 10 to 1
Goldfriars also has a streak going, unfortunately it isn’t the kind of streak you want. He hasn’t finished in the money, or even close, since this summer. Although the majority of his wins have been in routes, his most recent wins were in turf sprints. He has only tried this distance once, 4 races back, but it was one of his worst finishes, over 25 lengths back. Despite the fact that the backend of his pedigree screams “router” he seems to be having more success in sprints lately. Goldfriars likes the early lead, but he is going to have a lot of trouble getting it in this field.