The Orangeton Handicap
The Orangeton Handicap dates back to 1999. For the first two years it was run as turf race in Florida for 8.5 furlongs with a purse of only $100,000. In 2001 it was moved to New York, the distance was decreased to 1 mile and the purse was increased to $250,000. Forty Nine Lives II (Storm Cat x Forty Niner x Seattle Slew) set the record time of 1:33 3/5 back in 2005 with a speed of 120. He was trained by bertaal2 who still has Forty Nine Lives II in his barns. Jockey R Engel was in the irons for the victory. This race is for all horses, 3yo and up and it will be on a fast track.
Post Position: 1
Horse: Rock Hard Korn (Rock Hard Ten x Seattle Slew x Nijinsky II)
Trainer: korn
Jockey: N Lawton
Odds: 8/1
Rock Hard Korn is a four year old colt sired by Rock Hard Ten and he is trained by korn. He began his racing career in late 2007 and broke his maiden his fourth time out. Not showing a great amount speed at first, he was raced in allowance races for his next few times out until he started showing speeds in the 90’s. He was then switched to graded and non-graded stakes races and that is all he has known since. The thing that stands out to me, though, is the fact that despite one grade I win in the Lonesome Cowboy Bert Special in May 2008, and career earnings over $1.8 million, he only has 4 career wins out of 19 starts (his maiden, 2 allowance and the grade I). He is capable of producing speeds up to 115 but seems to be more consistent with speeds between 103 and 108. Looking over his career however, all of his stakes attempts have been at nine furlongs on longer. So the question here it is will the decreased distance of eight furlongs help in his gaining of his fifth career victory. This colt has the makings of greatness and I believe that the eight furlongs will be much more to his liking.
Post Position: 2
Horse: Alypoint (Point Given x Alydar x Graustark)
Trainer:hoofhearts
Jockey: R Bullock
Odds: 5/1
Alypoint is a five year old stallion sired by Point Given. He began his career as of three year old in August 2007 and broke his maiden the second time on the track. He was then sent to allowance races in did not win again until April 2008 when he captured two wins in a row at 6 1/2 furlongs. Trainer hoofhearts then decided to try him in two non-graded stakes races, but even with speeds of 95 and 102 respectively, he only placed third and fifth. His last four races were all allowance races, two at 7.5 furlongs and two at eight furlongs. It seems that he liked the longer distance of eight furlongs as he once again won 2 in a row and managed to accomplish a high speed of 115 his last time out, and speeds over 111 in all four. With a very good history of staying consistent in able to reach the speeds that he’s capable of, he has a very good chance at standing in the winner’s circle at the end of this race. If so, he will add another win to his 5 victories out of 16 starts and add some more money to his earnings that are just over $99,000.
Post Position: 3
Horse: Lord of Song (Stravinsky x Viscount (AUS) x Octagonal (NZ))
Trainer: slammin58
Jockey: R Foster
Odds: 9/1
Lord of Song is a four year old colt sired by Stravinsky and out of the dam Jessie Girl, and he is looking for his very first stakes win. After breaking his maiden in May 2007 he was tried in only two non-graded stakes races over the next 9 months. The rest were allowance where he seemed to thrive. He won 3, came second in two and placed sixth in a third at varying distances up to 9.5 furlongs. Trainer slammin58 decided to then try him back in a non-graded stakes where he placed second. He was then shipped to America after an all overseas career for the grade III Transylvania Stakes in April 2008, his only graded stakes attempt until this week. After a disappointing 5th and then an even worse finish in South Dakota he was shipped back overseas to compete. For the rest of 2008 he was switched between allowance and non-graded stakes. He did not have another victory until October 2008 in an 8 furlong allowance where he reached a top speed of 111. He would return to North America for his last two races out and brought home a second in a non-graded stakes and won his last race out, a 10 furlong allowance, by an impressive 4 lengths which brought his career earning to just over $253,000. Despite an excellent allowance career and the ability to produce some nice speed figures, I think he may be a little outclassed in this field and will have to look elsewhere for that first stakes win.
Post Position: 4
Horse: Gale Warning (Monashee Mountain (IRE) x Storm Cat x Thatch)
Trainer: tsunami05
Jockey: G Rowling
Odds: 99/1
Gale Warning is a six year old mare sire by Monashee Mountain and is out of the dam North Around Storm. She is the only female in this race and perhaps the one with the most experience but looking over her past performances I really, really have to wonder what she is doing here. This mare has changed hands several different times, has been raced in various types of races as well as various surfaces at varying distances up to 10 furlongs. She has only reached speeds over 100 twice in her career, 101 and 103, back in November 2007. Out of 51 career starts she has eight wins which consist of one claimer, one non-graded stakes (October 2005) and six allowance or starters. Trainer tsunami05 has sent her out in two grade one races and two starters her last four times out since claiming her in October 2008. Out of the four races, her greatest speed was 78 and the shortest distance that she lost by was 10 3/4 lengths. Looking over her record I see a very nice allowance or starter mare and I am completely at a loss as to why she is in this race where she is clearly outclassed by most of the field. Miracles do happen but in the case of Gale Warning it will be a miracle if she finishes the race.
Post Position: 5
Horse: Bandana (Bandidni x Seattle Syn x Mouktar (IRE))
Trainer: bmw2
Jockey: P Davis
Odds: 99/1
Bandana is a very nice looking three year old colt sired by Bandini with and out of the dam beef Wellington. In his very short career of only eight starts, he has six wins, one place, and one show under his girth earning almost $262,000. This is a very impressive record, however, when compared with the field he is facing this week this record may not mean anything. After breaking his maiden his second time out, he was raced in a 5.5 furlong allowance where he brought home is second win in a row. It was off to non-graded stakes where he brought home another win. His last four races were all non-graded stakes races with the distances slowly increasing up to eight furlongs. The first of these four races he placed second but only by a nose and I believe if the distance had been a little bit more he would’ve taken the win. He was first under the wire in the other three and it seemed as the distance was increased so was the distance he would win by. His speeds have also slowly increased each time out with a high speed of 99 in his last race. If he continues this trend of increasing his speed then he may have a shot but I think this job to a grade II may be a little premature. I have no doubt that this horse will eventually be one to watch in the near future of graded stakes but I don’t think it is going to be this week.
Post Position: 6
Horse: Third Millennium (Hurricane Run (IRE) x Dubai Millennium (GB) x Lear Fan)
Trainer: gallantman
Jockey: R Haffner
Odds: 11/1
Third Millennium is a four year old colt sired by hurricane Run. He began his career on the turf as a two year old in June 2007. After being tried at varying distances between six and 9 furlongs on the turf, he was unable to break his maiden until being switched over to the dirt. On the new surface he was able to start showing just what he was made of winning two out of four allowance races and managing speeds over 100. Trainer gallantman then tried him in a 6.5 furlong non- graded stakes but after coming off of races up to 9.5 furlongs it seemed he wasn’t too happy with the shorter distance and placed eighth. But when you see that his next race was a 6.5 furlong allowance race where he brought home another win with a speed of 101 you have to wonder if maybe he was just having a bad day. So, it was back to two non-graded stakes races, one at eight furlongs and the other 8.5 furlongs but even with a speed of 107 in both the best he could do was a second. His last two times out were both allowance races where he won the first of the two with a career high speed of 109 making it five wins out of eighteen career starts and total earnings of just over $165,000. Unless he is able to increase his speed some more I think he has a good chance of placing in the money but a far less chance of winning.
Post Position: 7
Horse: Edge Racer (Bluegrass Cat x Alydar x Nijinsky II)
Trainer: seedly
Jockey: T Johnson
Odds: 18/1
Edge Racer is a four year old colt sired by Bluegrass Cat and he is trained by seedly. He is another nice allowance horse looking for his first stakes win but I don’t think he is going to get that this week. After breaking his maiden his first time on the track he was sent immediately to allowance races but was unable to win until almost seven months later. It wasn’t until then, either, that he began to become more consistent with the speeds. July 12, 2008 he faced another horse in this race, Rock Hard Korn, in the 12 furlong grade one Giving Back. Neither horse performed well but if it says anything, Edge Racer placed just ahead of Rock Hard Korn in seventh, 17 lengths off the lead. His last five races out were four allowance races and one non graded stakes race where he brought home three wins and 2 seconds with all wins being allowance wins, and managing a high speed of 105. This put him at 6 wins out of 15 career starts and just under $100,000. Distance is definitely not an issue with this guy since his last race was double this distance and he won that by 4 3/4 lengths. If he is able turn the afterburners on and maybe add some nitro too, then I believe he would have a shot. I don’t think that’s going to be the case, though, and believe that he would be better off in allowance races.
Post Position: 8
Horse: The Principal (Eddington x Seeking the Gold x Danehill)
Trainer: kobras5
Jockey: B Williams
Odds: 7/1
The Principal is a five year old stallion sired by Eddington. He began his career in June of 2006 in dominated the field his first time on the track but it would not be until March of 2007 before he would bring home another win in a seven furlong allowance race. He then continued his allowance career at distances of eight and 8.5 furlongs until June 2008. He only manage to win three times in those races by was showing speeds of 102 and over so trainer kobras5 decided to switch him over to non-graded stakes races which is where he has been competing ever since. One a sloppy track in his first non-graded stakes, the eight furlong SWEET COZZENE, he faced off against Creepy Mesa. After leading almost the entire race he dropped back to third where he finished ahead of Creepy Mesa, who placed fifth. In October 2008 with a speed of 114 he captured his first non-graded stakes win bringing his win total to 6 out of 27 career starts and earnings of almost $268,000. If that speed wasn’t a fluke and he can tap into it once again this week then he definitely has a shot.
Post Position: 9
Horse: Wonderboy Diesel (Crafty Prospector x Capote x Shirley Heights (GB))
Trainer: tsunami04
Jockey: L Gunn
Odds: 65/1
Tsunami’s second horse in this field is Wonderboy Diesel, a seven year old stallion sired by Crafty Prospector and is out of the dam Soft Jupiter. This horse has a pretty similar history as that of Gale Warning in that he has been transferred from several trainers over his life and was claimed by tsunami04 in November 2008. From the age of three to the age of five he was able to achieve speeds of over 100, a high speed of 109, with little regards to the surface and conditions. Out of 56 career starts the has 14 wins with only two of those being non-graded stakes win. The other 12 are all allowance wins. His last two races were both six furlong sprints, one starter and one grade one, but he failed to even present a minor threat in either of these races. Wonderboy is another nice looking allowance horse with earnings of almost $400,000, but like his stablemate I have to wonder what he’s doing here in this race. Looking over his past performances he would be better off in either a cheap starter or claimer. I don’t see him posing any threat in this race.
Post Position: 10
Horse: Shecem (Toccet x Machiavellian x Saint Ballado)
Trainer: coomer3
Jockey: S Coomer
Odds: 22/1
Shecem is a 4yo colt sired by Toccet and out of Toto Saint’s Filly. When first looking at this guy’s past performances, to me it was utter confusion and I am not saying that in a bad way by any means. Trainer coomer3 just apparently had a difficult time trying to find just where this horse fit in. After breaking his maiden he was tried in a non-graded stakes, then a grade II and then brought home his second win in a 6.5 furlong allowance. After that it was a grade III try and then two more non-graded stakes races to no avail. It was then time to go back to allowance and although favored highly to win, placed eighth and had trainer coomer3 scratching their head trying to figure out just what to do with him. Keeping him on the allowance track seemed to be the right thing since he has brought home 4 allowance wins out of his last 8 races, which included 2 non-graded stakes attempts, and he never finished out of the money in any of these 8. So, his career wins now sit at 6 out of 18 starts with total earnings just over $172,000. He proved himself to be a good allowance horse but then decided to throw his trainer again by beginning to produce speeds up to 109. The solution? Try him in the grade II Orangeton Handicap. I like the looks of this horse and if he continues to improve he’s got a shot but I think it’s still a little early for this jump to a grade II. If he doesn’t win, you can bet he’ll probably be right up there fighting for it.
Post Position: 11
Horse: Single Steve (Singletary x Stephen Got Even x Liloy (FR))
Trainer: signfeld
Jockey: S Schauer
Odds: 7/1
Single Steve is a five year old stallion sire by Singletary. After breaking his maiden his first race he has spent the rest of his career in allowance races with most of them being with eight furlongs. This gives him a lot of experience at this distance so that is not an issue here. It seems that each time out he is improving his speeds and has brought home seven wins out of 26 career starts with earnings of just under $126,000. Looking over his record it is easy to see that this horse likes to lead the race and I have to wonder if that will be his downfall. With speeds of 113 his last two times out it is obvious the ability is there but I’m not too sure if he has had a long enough break to repeat that performance especially if some of the older speed horses decide to put pressure on him early. I think that the jump from allowance to a grade II may be a little more that he can handle but trainer signfeld is confident in this horse and hopes to be standing beside him in the winner’s circle.
Post Position: 12
Horse: Urban Lord (Storm Cat x Fappiano x Buckpasser)
Trainer: dixiedotco
Jockey: N Painter
Odds: 8/1
Urban Lord is a six year old stallion sired by Storm Cat. He will be making his first appearance in a graded stakes this week after a career of allowance races. His trainer, dixiedotco, has been very consistent with running him in mainly 8.5 furlong allowance races and it has definitely paid off. His very first time on the track back in January 2007 he broke his maiden by two lengths with a speed of 93 and repeated that performance almost exactly in his next race. The only difference being the increase in speed to 95. In only his third race he was already showing that he was capable of producing speeds over 100 and claiming his third race in a row. After such a strong start and after one trial on the turf, he maintained speeds in the nineties until August 2007 where he slowed down a little to 89 but brought home his fourth career win. Since then, however, he has only had three races with speeds in the nineties. The rest of those 20 races since August 2007 he has raced at speeds of 100 and over. He had one non-graded stakes attempt in 2008 but only managed to place fourth. In the allowance races however, even the mud did not slow this horse down as three out of four times on an off track he beat the field by two or more lengths. Right now he is sitting on top of a three race winning streak with a high speed of 109 his last time out. This horse is 11 wins out of 29 career starts with total earnings just under $146,000. He has an excellent chance of bringing home his first graded win and adding a lot more money to his earnings this week.
Post Position: 13
Horse: Goldmined (Red Ransom x Silver Deputy x Alydar)
Trainer: caddywampy
Jockey: Er Anderson
Odds: 5/1
Goldmined is a six year old chestnut stallion sired by red ransom and out of the dam Silverwore. This is a horse that has had a very diverse racing career. He began racing back in July 2005 and after four different attempts on four varying surfaces, he was finally able to break his maiden his fifth time on the track. He would then spend 2006 and 2007 jumping between allowance, claimers, and starters before he was finally claimed by caddywampu, who saw a horse capable of speeds up to 105 being run in starters in claims, in August of 2007. The end of 2007 and all of 2008 saw this horse begin to come into his own. He made his career as an allowance horse and although after winning his first race under the new trainer, after that winning was not one of his strong points, his trainer stuck with him. He was raced at distances varying between eight and 10 furlongs. Persistence finally paid off in April of 2008 when he brought home his second win, another allowance. After three more wins in his next six races he was then tried in a 10 furlong non-graded stakes and brought home a third. His last three races were an allowance (he placed second), the nine furlong GOLDEN DISORDER Challenge Stakes (he placed first), and the grade III Queen of the County Stakes where he placed third. He has also been pretty consistent with producing speeds over 100 and achieved a high speed of 113 in the GOLDEN DISORDER. I have to go with my initial thoughts when I first pulled up this horse’s history and say that despite only 10 career wins out of 41 starts and earnings of just over $160,000 I think this guy has a great chance of bringing home the win.
Post Position: 14
Horse: Creepy Mesa (Sky Mesa x Green Dancer x Woodman)
Trainer: darthblur
Jockey: B Child
Odds: 5/1
Creepy Mesa is a five year old stallion sired by Sky Mesa and is out of the dam Creepy Dancer. After breaking his maiden in the second race he was almost immediately put into graded stakes races. Including his maiden win, he won his next two races in a row, the second was an allowance and the third was the grade III Upper State Juvenile Stakes with in November 2006. 2007 however, he seemed to struggle in the graded races. He did not win again until September 2007 when he was taken out of graded races and put into an 8.5 furlong allowance. Thinking that maybe it was the dirt that was causing Creepy to struggle, trainer darthblur decided to try him on the grass. He won his first turf attempt, another 8.5 furlong allowance. But when his next two attempts on the grass, one graded and one non graded stakes, seemed to slow him down he was returned to the dirt in February 2008. This decision along with the now older, more experienced horse finally brought out the speed that this guy is capable of. He spent the rest of 2008 in both graded and non-graded stakes races and produced a high speed of 118. That high speed would bring him his only win in 2008, giving him a total of six wins out of 25 career starts. Looking over his past performances I have to wonder if eight furlongs is actually not enough distance for this horse. In most of his races he seems to be gaining ground by the end of the race and basically runs out of track before the wire. If he continues this pattern than I really don’t think he will prove much of a threat to the rest of the field.
(GOLDMINED X URBAN LORD X ROCK HARD KORN)
I think that Goldmined is going to overtake this field with Urban Lord right behind him and Rock Hard Korn biting at his heels. This is a very nice field of horses and very difficult to call but should definitely prove to be an exciting race to watch.
Good Luck and Happy Racing!!!