Florida BB Sprint Championship
Grade II
Seven furlongs
Fast Dirt
$250,000
All horses, 4 years old and up
Last year Jumping Sal won this race with a whopping 114 speed factor. The Florida BB Sprint Championship always proves to be competitive with fast final speed figures, and this year figures to be no different. The record speed figure for this race is 125 held by Sweet Robin who was trained by Surfside. He retired with $1,853,113 in his coffers after running in 48 races, and winning 9. Sweet Robin proved you don’t need to be regally bred as he was sired by Robin Des Pins. That fact gives plenty of optimism to All the Kings Men who is Arch x Forty Niner x Pirate’s Bounty. Sweet Robin’s dam sire was also Forty Niner. Horses with Forty Niner in them have done awfully well in the past in this race. If All the Kings Men is to win this race today though he will need to beat a full field that includes the great Mach Pelican who comes into this race a five to one favorite. Now let’s take a look at the card before we individually break down this impressive field one by one:
PP Horse Owner Jockey Odds
1 SIRIUS ATTITUDE capsized J Cozier 11/1
2 MACH PELICAN(KY) newastin1 V
3 TANK OF SUGAR(KY) devilsdoo M Wright 8/1
4 BRAVE BIRDIE(ENG) jsimpson A Darling 18/1
5 DREAM OF JEANNIE(KY) chinner O Barrett 7/1
6 ZIHUATANEJO(KY) thefifth L Buchta 8/1
7 SEEK INSPIRATION soho
8 OIL BASED DYNAMITE(KY) lordpye3 M
9 ALL THE KING’S MEN(KY) daqt2 V Roberts 10/1
10 READY TO BITE(KY) kingkong C Romine 12/1
11 ROMAN PLUTONIUM(KY) leiter W Case 14/1
12 TABASCO LION(KY) avengersny T Bellows 20/1
13 GHOSTOWSKI(KY) lgbost8 P McJulien 6/1
14 THE PRINCIPAL(KY) kobras5 F
SERIUS ATTITUDE
FORTY NINER x SECRETARIAT x NIJINSKY II
Career: 34 9 6 5 $248,946
Last time Serius Attitude ran this exact distance he lost by a nose in the Pro P. Stakes. He has solid rest coming into this one, but will need to step up his recent 98 and 101 speed figures a great deal if he is going to have any chance of winning this one. He has solid start speeds, but shouldn’t be a factor for the early lead.
MACH PELICAN
GHOSTZAPPER x STORM CAT x FORTY NINER
Career: 16 9 4 1 $348,510
The favorite here today comes in off a string of three consecutive wins. His last stakes race he won with a 110 speed figure, so he can really move. Don’t expect Mach Pelican to be on the lead early, but he will come closing hard down the stretch for sure.
TANK OF SUGAR
SPEIGHTSTOWN x SECRETARIAT x
Career: 14 8 0 0 $203,040
Tank of Sugar certainly has a beautiful pedigree, and can run as evidenced by his 4th place finish in his recent grade one appearance in the Deep South Sprint. Before that he had won three in a row just like Mach Pelican the favorite. He is lightly raced and offers great betting value in this one.
BRAVE BIRDIE
Career: 17 5 4 0 $574,365
Last August Brave Birdie won on a sloppy track in the grade one Prince’s Knight Stakes. He is now coming off two consecutive eight place finishes against grade one competition. Dropping down to grade two may be just what the doctor ordered. Brave Birdie has pretty fast gate speeds and could be on the lead early in this one.
DREAM OF JEANNIE
GOLDEN MISSILE x NUREYEV x COX’S RIDGE
Career: 27 10 5 2 $202,356
He recently won the grade three Narrowly Missed Stakes with a 113 speed figure. Last October he finished second in the Fast Glue Bonanza with a 115 speed figure. Dream of Jeannie can fly, and should be a strong contender here in this one. He will be well off the pace early, so it’s a matter of whether or not he can get moving soon enough to finish in the money at seven furlongs.
ZIHUATANEJO
GONE WEST x COX’S RIDGE x RAJA BABA
Career: 17 6 3 3 $291,654
Last time out in the grade one Deep South Sprint things didn’t work out for Zihuatanejo, but before that he was riding high with two consecutive wins. His last big win was the grade two Wild Things Stakes in which he ran a 113 speed figure. He likes to charge hard from the back, and he is likely to love seven furlongs. Zihuatanejo has a great chance at stealing this one.
SEEK INSPIRATION
FORTY NINER x
Career: 32 6 5 4 $168,632
Amazing pedigree here, and a slew of 100 speed figures. He is even coming off a nice stakes win in which he netted a 109 speed figure. Unfortunately, I think this very fine runner is out classed here, and it may show in this one.
OIL BASED DYNAMITE
SUCCESSFUL APPEAL x THEATRICAL(IRE) x
Career: 22 6 4 2 $266,986
Finished second in the grade two Wicker Stakes. This stalker is going to need to pick it up and take to the jump in class. He may be overmatched in this one, but is a nice horse nonetheless.
ALL THE KING’S MEN
ARCH x FORTY NINER x PIRATE’S BOUNTY
Career: 18 4 5 3 $161,402
He is coming off a big win in the West Lease Special, and before that finished second in the Lone Reject Special. Both those races he put up fine speed figures of 113, and 111, so he has the speed. His start speeds are some of the slowest, so he will more than likely need a big comeback down the stretch.
READY TO BITE
MORE THAN READY x RED RANSOM x FORTY NINER
Career: 14 4 2 2 $93,865
Ready to Bite may lack some of the big race experience as others in this race, but his recent 114 speed figure in stakes says he is for real. Before that race he won stakes with a 111 speed figure. He will stalk and try and pounce late. As the name implies, he just might in fact be ready to bite!
ROMAN PLUTONIUM
ROMAN RULER x
Career: 20 8 4 2 $1,007,318
Last year won the grade one Corkscrew stakes, and finished eight in Breeders Bowl Dirt Mile. Roman Plutonium is accustomed to running a mile or more against tough competition, so taking it back a notch to seven furlongs may be just the ticket for this excellent runner. If he wants the lead here though he won’t get it, but he should be near the lead early in this one.
LION HEART x
Career: 12 5 1 2 $58,439
This lightly raced four year old Lion Heart horse has a ton of promise, but will need to step up to Graded racing here in this one. His gate speed suggests he can’t get the early lead in this one, but will try and stalk just off the lead. Tabasco Lion is the longshot here, but who knows the hot sauce could start flowing at anytime, and he may explode!
GHOSTOWSKI
GHOSTZAPPER x THE MINSTREL x ELA-MANA-MOU(IRE)
Career: 27 5 5 3 $224,295
What do you get when you take a beautiful pedigree, season it to perfection, and put McJulien up? Well we shall see, but it looks like the perfect storm to me. This Ghostzapper is coming off a stakes victory in which he ran 112 at this very distance. The big question here is whether Ghostowski enjoys the roll over to age five or if it kills his momentum. He will be another stalker in a field full of stalkers.
THE PRINCIPAL
EDDINGTON x SEEKING THE GOLD x DANEHILL
Career: 28 6 4 5 $267,665
He will battle Brave Birdie for the early lead, and is my pick to set the pace. With only two front runners in this one he has a shot to try and run away with this one. Last year he won the NWRC Cavalcade Dirt mile with a 114 speed figure. The real question is whether turning five is taking its toll, as his last speed figure from this year was a meager 101. Seven furlongs may be the way to go though, and he will contend.
Lebowski’s Picks: 6, 5, 2, 13, 14