The Shimmer Stakes Grade III

The Shimmer Stakes
Grade III
Six furlongs
Fast Dirt
$200,000
All horses, 4 years old and up

This is a soft graded race with three real contenders, and a few with a shot if they break out. Fourth and fifth place will be wide open, but don’t expect Mr Toms River NJ to falter in this one. The only shame is that Hennessey Titan and Mr Toms River NJ will not race each other this week. That is something I would love to be writing about this week, but it is just not going to happen. We do have an excellent dark horse in this one with Cranky Squirrel, and Lannister Gold can be dangerous if he returns to form. Band of Skunks seems to be a bit of a wild card to sneak into the top five. All in all it is an interesting race.

PP         Horse                                     Owner             Jockey           Odds 

1           PIETERSBURG                      cocalico            J Cool              8/1      

2           MAJESTIC SAKHEE(ENG)  factorx              M Perez           4/1      

3           BOY GEORGE(KY)              bluelights           Q Cassell         9/1      

4           LANNISTER GOLD(KY)      grrm                 S L Ledwith     7/2      

5           GREELEY HOLLOW(NY)    meguire6th        D Lakencher    14/1    

6           CRANKY SQUIRREL(KY)  isitingood           T Tippett          6/1      

7           MR TOMS RIVER NJ(KY)   honeyj               H Harzheim      9/5      

8           BAND OF SKUNKS(KY)    skunkfeed          R Sailor           17/1      

PIETERSBURG

JOHANNESBURG x CARSON CITY x ALLEGED

This six year old runner is a pretty fast allowance horse looking to make a jump now into graded racing 32 races into his career. It seems a bit much to me.

MAJESTIC SAKHEE

SAKHEE x POLISH NUMBERS x RUN THE GANTLET

This guy is coming off three consecutive stakes wins with speed figures of 109, 105, and 113. If he gets the early lead he is extremely dangerous. He now has 399k in earnings in just 26 starts. Race 27 could be the magic number for a real big run!

BOY GEORGE

GIACOMO x FORTY NINER x SELKIRK

Another solid allowance horse trying to earn some cash in a soft graded race. He finished seventh in the grade two Wicker Sofa Stakes last time out. At 24 career starts he may have one or two big peak races, so who knows. You could certainly justify the decision to enter this race.

LANNISTER GOLD

FORESTRY x SEEKING THE GOLD x DANZIG

Lannister Gold has won over 1.2 million in career earnings. At five with only 28 career starts it is hard to envision his career in steady decline, but that may or may not be the case. Last August this horse was running speed figures of 114, and this soft field may be just the ticket to get him back on top of his game. He will just have to get by the mighty Mr Toms River J.

GREELEY HOLLOW

GREELEY‘S GALAXY x BEAT HOLLOW (GB) x GREY DAWN II

He won the Blazing Saddles Breeders Showdown Sprint in November. He hasn’t been able to do a whole lot in graded racing, but he has been a solid soft stakes horse. His speeds don’t jump off the page, but at least he has some big game experience. He could factor in for fourth or fifth in this one.

CRANKY SQUIRREL

MARIA’S MON x A.P. INDY x MR. PROSPECTOR

Recently won the Cleveland Noon Special with a 109 speed figure. He has some very solid and promising speed figures for a 4 year old with just 16 starts. I expect him to factor in the top three in this race, and he may even break out with a huge speed figure.

MR TOMS RIVER NJ

STORM CAT x MR. PROSPECTOR x A.P. INDY

Currently one of the sims most dominant sprinters. This horse is outstanding. It is really a shame Mr Toms River NJ and Hennessey Titans are not racing one another this week. I’m not sure who is dodging who, if at all. This horse won the Breeders Bowl Sprint last year, and quite simply is pure class with earnings about to topple the 2 million mark. He will be heavy favorite in this one.

BAND OF SKUNKS

SWAIN (IRE) x DIXIELAND BAND x KINGMAMBO

Broke out with a big race in allowances last time out when he ran a best 105 speed figure to win by two lengths. With just 13 starts this horse is showing some excellent promise. I think he would really need a big leap to win here, but I think this is a great feet wetting race for a lot of runners here today. The soft field means Band of Skunks could very well make some noise, and win a little money. Solid horse here with potential for a very good future.

LEBOWSKI”S SELECTIONS: 7, 6, 2, 4, 8