The Our Invader Special
One of D.C.’s feature races this Saturday is the Our Invader Special. Eight fillies and mares will run a mile over a good dirt course for a purse of $15,000. 1 (2/1) – It’s not hard to see why NEHI ORANGE is the favorite. The royally-bred daughter of Unbridled’s Song is a Grade I stakes-winner and has earned over a million dollars. In her last race, the Country Spring Special, Nehi Orange ran a sky-high speed number of 112 – no other filly in the field has equaled that. This is no done deal though – as recently as January, Nehi Orange ran an uncharacteristically poor 99 speed number in the Grade III Sabian Handicap. That type of effort would be unlikely to yield a good result. Nehi Orange likes to lead wire to wire, but Hawkeyestateofmind, Inclusive, and Just the Way I Am probably will make her work for it. 2 (8/1) – PAINT THE SKY has picked up three allowance wins for owner/trainer horsechaos of Houseriot Stables – not bad at all for a $10,000 claim. With her top speed numbers just above 100, it’s unlikely she’ll win today, but she seems more consistent than some of her competition and could hit the board if others were to falter. 3 (7/1) – Six-year-old mare SWITCHBLADE is by far the most experienced horse in the race, with forty-six starts. She’s run speed numbers as high as 107 before, but it seems to be hit-or-miss for her; sometimes she can only manage a number in the low-90s. She did quite well in her last race, the Skip Dancer Memorial, where she finished fourth. She’ll need to put two good races together to do well here. 4 (7/1) – HAWKEYESTATEOFMIND looks to bounce back from a disappointing showing in the High Park Handicap, where she finished seventh. Much like Switchblade, she can put forth a good number – she’s run a 105 twice – but doesn’t always show up on race day. She likes to lead, but will have to battle with Nehi Orange and Inclusive to get it. 5 (4/1) – Second-choice EL GRAN GOLD CON has come close to matching Nehi Orange’s top number of 112, running a 111 in the Huge Slew Handicap last spring and a 110 in the Princess Gretchen Bonanza in the fall. Perhaps she didn’t need to run faster, as she won both races. Notably, the win in the Princess Gretchen came on a good dirt track, proving she has no problems dealing with a slightly off surface. However, El Gran Gold Con hasn’t done very well in either of her 2009 races, finishing up the track against allowance company. The good news is that El Gran Gold Con has a more versatile running style than her main competition – it’s unlikely Nehi Orange will have an easy lead. 6 (8/1) – FUNNY SMACK has spent most of her career in allowance races, but after a win in a NW2X, owner/trainer jedi of Galileo Stables tried her in the Alyluck Handicap. Funny Smack picked the perfect day to run her best race ever, making a strong move from the back to finish third. A repeat of that performance could throw her in the mix Saturday – or was that just a fluke? 7 (9/2) – INCLUSIVE was a stakes winner on turf, the surface on which she raced exclusively until December of her three-year-old year. Despite her success, owner/trainer rlogan of Oneworld Stables decided to take a gander on a different surface – and Inclusive rewarded him with a victory and a 109 speed number in the Minnesota Oaks. She didn’t perform as well in her two subsequent dirt tries, but Inclusive could certainly jump up again and run well. 8 (8/1) – JUST THE WAY I AM hails from LordPye’s powerful Big Oil Conglomerate. This is only her second try in a stakes race. The filly had an impressive streak going last fall, winning twice and finishing third once with three-digit speed numbers in all those races. This year she has not been as successful, dropping down to numbers in the mid-90s in her past three races.