Virginia opens track to all comers in the Mario’s Logs Challange

The juveniles cede the track to their elders in Virginia’s highlight race this week, the Mario’s Logs Challenge. This stakes challenge is open to all horses, three years old and up, covering the biggest cross section of the horse pool. A purse of $60000, tying the biggest purse of the year, awaits at the end of ten long furlongs of firm turf. The race has drawn a good mix of nine males and a female, ranging in age from three to six years. We have well run stakes veterans, as well as some up and comers looking for their first taste of stakes victory. The favorite goes off at a long 3/1, with six of the remaining nine entries coming in at under 10/1 odds. With a longshot of only 24/1, no one is completely out of the race here.

PP 1) Morgadio(IRE) Sired by Galileo(IRE), Trained by zielissimo. Morgadio(IRE) makes his twenty ninth career start in this one. He has a 2-1-0-0-2 record in his last ten, with one stakes victory. His best speed over that stretch is a 101.1, earned in an A3t at 9 furlongs on dirt in Delaware four starts back. He comes off a fading fifth place finish in a dirt stakes at this distance in West Virginia in his last try. This is his first start on turf since early last season, and he has had the bulk of his success on dirt. That could be a big factor for him here. The distance shouldn’t bother him, as he has shown stamina out to twelve furlongs. He seems at his best in the eight to nine furlong range, though, and he goes a furlong beyond that here. He is a leader/stalker type of runner and he needs at least a share of the early lead to be effective. He’ll need to find the form he showed toward the end of last season, where over an eleven race stretch he fired of ten starts of 100+, never missing the top three. He hasn’t shown that same form this year, and the switch back to turf most likely won’t help that. The break should tell the story for him here.

PP 2) K’aleidoscope II(IRE) Sired by Noverre(IRE), Trained by ledwith. K’aleidoscope II(IRE) makes his twentieth career run. He returns to turf here, after making his second career dirt start last outing, where he won an A3n at this distance. Overall in his last ten starts, he’s notched a 3-1-1-1-3 record, with two 100+ speed finishes. This is his first stakes start in over a year, and he is looking for his second career stakes victory, with his first coming late in 2003 at the end of his juvenile season. He is a veteran turfer, and likes the surface, although two of his best speeds of the season have been on dirt. He looks to be right in his preferred distance range here with four of his eight victories and all three of his 100+ speeds coming in the nine to ten furlong range. Three of his last five starts have been in that range, and he has victories in all three. He isn’t breaking any speed records, but he has been quite consistent, and is a good fit in this field. He is another fast starter, who will also be looking for a piece of that early lead to find success. He faces some other early speed in this one, and he will need a sterling effort to outlast the field here.

PP 3) Gove The Governor Sired by Royal Academy, Trained by tizdubai. Gove The Governor is the sole filly in this field, making her twenty second start here. She steps back up to stakes level after spending her last three at allowance level. She has rolled up a 0-1-2-2-3 record in her last ten, and seeks her first stakes victory here. She has no 100+ speed figures this season. Her last start was an open allowance right here in Virginia, where she finished second, holding on tightly over this same distance. She is definitely at her best on turf, not liking the harder dirt surface at all in her sole try there. This seems to be a bit beyond her distance range, though she has only run beyond eight and a half furlongs three times. The bulk of her success has come in long sprints with moderate success in the eight furlong range. She runs as a closer, and her close has been consistent, but not powerful. This normally indicates either that she is looking for less distance or a lot more. Judging by her performance at fourteen furlongs, it seems likely that she is looking for a sprint. Off track may have helped her here, but on this fast track she is going to need to show more than she has thus far to be a factor here.

PP 4) Record Setter(IRE) Sired by Montjeu(IRE), Trained by pg48. Record Setter(IRE) makes his seventh straight stakes start of the season here in his thirty four career start. In ten starts this season, he has compiled a 4-2-1-1-1 record with no 100+ speeds. He comes off a lackadaisical tenth place finish in his last outing, a ten and a half fulorng turf stakes in Texas. Starting the year in the high level claiming ranks, he quickly caught fire for his new trainer, mowing through allowance and stakes fields alike when he stretched out to longer distances. He’s had problems in his last two starts though, losing by well over ten lengths in both outings. Turf is definitely his surface of choice, and he has shown a much higher average speed than on the harder dirt surface. He has shown stamina out past twelve furlongs, and is right at home in this distance range, with his last four wins all coming in the nine and a half to ten and a half furlong range. He runs from off the pace, comfortable from stalking distance ut to the front of the midpack. His close has been fairly consistent, but he just hasn’t been able to fire in his last couple. If he can return to form, he could threaten here, but it looks like he may need a good long rest to get his jump back.

PP 5) Windshielded Sired by Sadler’s Wells, Trained by cream. Windshielded climbs back into stakes ranks after running his last two at open allowance level. He been having a good year and boasts a record of 2-4-2-0-1 in his last ten starts. He is still seeking his first stakes victory. He comes off a disappointing sixth place finish in an open allowance run in Argentina at ning furlongs in his last run, breaking a streak of eight straight top three finishes. He has only been off the turf once in his career, that being on a sloppy track early last year. He is quite at home on the turf. He has router written all over his pedigree, and has lived up to it, performing at his best in the nine to eleven furlong range, and three top three finishes, two of them wins at twelve furlongs and beyond. He’s a midpack closer, but his close has been spotty at stakes level. He has still, however, managed to finish in the top three in the majority of his stakes starts. He doesn’t face a preponderance of blazing speed and this one, and may be worth at least a show bet at his juicy 14/1 odds.

PP 6) Woodly Sired by Woodman, Trained by turfsurf. Woodly gets the oddsmakers’ nod in this one, walking onto the track as a 3/1 favorite. He drops back in class from graded competition in his last two starts. He shows off a 2-1-0-2-2 record in his last ten, with nine of those starts being at graded level. He’s broken the 100 mark six times in that stretch. He comes off a fourth place finish in an eleven furlong Grade III romp in Oklahoma in his last trip. He has shown the ability to excel on both surfaces, but turf routes have been his bread and butter. Distance wise, he seems to prefer longer than he has here, with much of his success coming at eleven furlongs and beyond. Interstingly enough, he hasn’t broken the 100 mark at less than eleven furlongs on turf, although one try was at Grade I level, and he appears to have sustained a slight injury in the other. He has been running as a midpack closer/stalker, but while he has shown a lot of stamina, he hasn’t shown a lot of close. With a slightly faster jump from the gate, he could probably build up a decent cushion to hold off closers and this distance with his stamina.

PP 7) Santa Claus II Sired by Miesque’s Son, Trained by highstakes. Santa Claus II is another well run veteran of the graded stakes ranks, making his forty fourth start here. He has a 0-0-1-2-3 record in his last ten starts, breaking 100 three times. He comes off a long out fifth place finish in a short field open stakes at nine furlongs in Tennessee in his last run. His performance has been somewhat on again, off again, and he hasn’t shown much form over his last four. Turf is definitely his preferred surface, with a marked improvement over his performances on dirt. The distance seems to be towards the outside of his range here, though his career best run and only career stakes victory came at this distance two years ago. He has been running as a stalker to midpack closer, but he has shown very little inclination to close in his recent outings. If he can repeat the performance he gave in the Movieland Turf Cup earlier this year, he is more than capable of challenging here. He will have to shake off his recent slump to do that, though.

PP 8) Junior Debit Sired by Jovial Turn, Trained by wee. Junior Debit makes his first stakes start in nearly a year, and only his fourth turf start in thirty three career starts. In his last ten, he sports a record of 3-1-1-1-1, with four 100+ starts. All of those speed runs have been on dirt. He comes of an allowance win at nine and a half furlongs of turf in Tennesee in his last run. He is a veteran dirt runner, but his limited turf experience has netted him two top three finishes both in the high nineties in three starts. The turf is a wildcard for him here. Distance wise, he is at the outside of his range here, experience his best success in the seven to nine furlong range. He like to run from just off the pace, and he needs to keep things fairly close to be effective down the stretch. Turf seemed to give him a bit more purchase in his last, allowing him to close a bit more of a gap than is usual for him. If he can survive the early speed here, that could make him a factor in the stretch.

PP 9) East That Phoenix Sired by Grand Circus Park, Trained by shagfarms. East That Phoenix makes career start number fifty here, and comes in as the longshot. He seeks his first stakes victory since early in 2003. He has garnered a 0-1-0-1-1 record in his last ten starts, with no 100+ speeds. He seems to be in a bit of a slump, coming within ten lengths at the wire only once over that period. Turf is his surface of choice, and that is where he has had the bulk of his career success. He seems to like a bit shorter race, with his best efforts coming in the nine furlong range, though he has shown the stamina to get out to eleven with some decent speed. He runs from just off the pace, but recently has found himself going backwards more than forwards. He hasn’t shown any break out speed since his four year old season in 2003, and it doesn’t appear he will challenge here, unless he has a serious return to his glory days.

PP 10) Delere Sired by Deputy Minister, Trained by epcotlen. Delere is the young upstart of this field, a three year old colt, making only his twentieth career start. This is his first ever start on turf, and it should be a challenge in this field. His breeding is overwhelmingly dirt, though Deputy Minister has thrown some nice turfers in his time. In his last ten starts, he has a 4-0-0-3-2 record, with three 100+ starts. He comes off an eight place finish in a ten furlong dirt stakes in West Virginia in his last run. There is no way to judge how he might fair on turf, with no experience even on an off track to judge what he might do on a softer surface. He has run a fairly even distribution of distances, and seems at his most comfortable in the nine to ten furlong range and that is where he has goten four of his six wins. He is about the only solid deep closer in the field, and his close has been quite consistent. He’s been finding himself with way too much ground to make up recently, though, and he may need a slightly faster break to find his striking distance. If he can find purchase on the softer surface, and survive the early pace, he could be threatening down the stretch in this one.