The Last Jump Handicap

This week in New York we have the Grade III Last Jump Handicap. This is a 9 furlong race on the fast dirt for fillies and mares, 3yo and up. They will be racing for a share of the $125,000 purse. We have an incredibly evenly matched field today with many of the 10 racers looking for their first graded win. They will also be trying to break the race record time of 1:47 3/5 set last year by Alyskye with a speed of 110 with jockey T Johnson in the irons. Alyskey was trained by ma2nature.

Let’s meet the field:

PP1 SWEET SISTER MERCY (Kingmambo x Nijinsky II x Secretariat)

Trainer: zwango1 Jockey: B Child Odds: 6/1

This 6yo mare began her career on the turf back in 2005 where she broke her maiden her first time out on the track. After three more runs on the grass, she was switched to the dirt where she continued to improve every time out. She has two Allowance wins, 3 Non-Graded Stakes wins, one Grade II win back in May, 2008 and 3 Grade I wins including the 2007 Breeder’s Cup Distaff. She reached a career high speed of 112 back in March, 2008 in the Grade I Orange Blossom, another one of her Grade I wins. She has not, however, had another win since her win in the Grade II Painful Thorn Stakes in May, 2008. Her last two times out were both on off tracks where she didn’t seem to like the surface much and she stayed at speeds in the 90’s and finished 11th in one and 3rd in the second. She is due for another win and with this fast track she just may be the one to beat.

PP2 BRAIN TRICK (Indian Charlie x Danzig x Phone Trick)

Trainer: bigarnie Jockey: L Hoskins Odds: 11/1

This 4yo has only had 11 career starts and out of those she only has 2 wins, her maiden and an Allowance win. After reviewing her last two races, one 9 furlong and one 10 furlong and seeing that her Allowance win was a 14 furlong race, I have to wonder if 9 furlongs is not enough distance for her. Since her 14 furlong win, she has been kept at races just around a mile, either a little over or a little under, and has not brought home another win so this is a very high possibility. She can manage speeds over 100 with a career high of 107 made back in the 10 furlong, Grade II Help…Mike’s Fallen and He Can’t Get Up Stakes back in February, 2009. She is a nice looking mare with good breeding but I just think that this distance may not be to her liking.

PP3 NEXIS POINT (Point Given x Cat Thief x Compliance)

Trainer: deftones Jockey: J Keisler Odds: 9/1

This 7yo has spent her entire career in Allowance company and has 5 Allowance wins out of a career or 26 starts to show for her efforts. She has wins at 9 furlongs so the distance will not be a problem. She has not raced since November, 2008 and at that time her high speed was 107 with speeds over 100 in only 3 of her races. She began her racing career in 2004 and only raced 4 times that year. Then after racing from January, 2005 through July, 2005, she had an almost 3 year layoff before being put back on the track in January, 2008 where she raced all of last year. Three of her wins came in 2008 where she won in January then again in September on an off track and then her last time out in November. I’m very curious to see how this layoff will affect her performance this week. The time to rest may work in her favor but then again, it may work against her.

PP4 DERBY CAT (Storm Cat x Rubiano x Raja Baba)

Trainer: rtribbett Jockey: Odds: 9/2

After breaking her maiden in September, 2006 then going on to win an 8 furlong Allowance race, this 5yo was tried in both Non-Graded and Graded Stakes for a few races but the best she could do was a second in the Grade II Boca Stakes in December, 2006. She was put back into Allowance races and added 2 more Allowance wins to her record but these wins didn’t come until April and May, 2008. Since then she has been raced consistently in Graded races, mainly Grade I, all at 9 furlongs but has still only managed to bring home a second as her best. She achieved a high speed of 110 in July, 2008 and has remained in the 100’s since. She’s got an excellent shot at bringing home her first Graded win this week in New York.

PP5 KOTTON KANDY (Cryptoclearance x A. P. Indy x Nureyev)

Trainer: 375stud Jockey: P Lewis Odds: 6/1

This 4yo broke her maiden her first time out in October, 2007 and immediately followed that with an Allowance win and then a Non-Graded Stakes win. Four Non-Graded Stakes races later she would bring home another Non-Graded Stakes win. She has since competed in only one Non-Graded Stakes, one Grade II and the rest Grade I’s and has faced off against other mares in this field in several of her races. She brought home the win in the Grade I Delaware Distaff, beating out Derby Cat, who finished 7th and Sweet Sister Mercy who finished 11th. This race was also where she reached a career high speed of 109. Her last time out was in the Grade I Vermont is 4 Lovers where she would face off against Derby Cat once again. This time, however, Derby Cat got the better of her finishing 3rd ahead of Kotton Kandy’s 5th. The main difference between these two races was that the Distaff was ran on an off track which may have played more in this mare’s favor. With a fast dirt track this week, we’ll have to wait and see if she can outrun everyone again and bring home another Graded win.

PP6 PARTHIAN SHOT (Malibu Moon x Turkoman x Sea-Bird)

Trainer: lawman3 Jockey: A Sailor Odds: 51/1

When looking at this 3yo’s record the first question that comes to mind is “What in the world is this filly doing in this race?” She has only won one Allowance race right after her maiden and has competed in Non-Graded Stakes since but could only finish 2nd at best with a high speed of 97 and has never even fun any farther than 8.5 furlongs. But, I know there is a reason why every trainer puts their horses in situations that they really seem like they shouldn’t be in so I dug a little deeper and reviewed her last couple of races. I believe I found the reason for her being here. She is a great come from behind filly who pours the speed on during the last quarter to make that final run for the wire. She just always seems to run out of racing room before she can reach the finish. So, the change to 9 furlongs is very understood but I’m not too sure about the jump to a Grade III. She is the longshot in this race but has been improving every time out on the track and it will be interesting to see how she fares against the more Graded experienced and faster horses. She just may pull it off.

PP7 SOUTHERN HILLS (Kingmambo x Saint Ballado x Irish River (FR))

Trainer: chilichili Jockey: N Painter Odds: 6/1

For the first half of her career, this 5yo mare made an excellent Allowance horse on the turf. But when she was switched over to the dirt, she switched into a totally new gear and 9 furlongs seems to be her favorite. She achieved a career high speed of 111 at this distance back in April, 2008 in her first run on the dirt and brought home another Allowance win. She would go on to capture two more Allowance wins and 2 Non-Graded Stakes wins to add to her career total wins of 9 out of 19 starts. She’s also only placed out of the money once in all of those career starts. Her last time out was the 9 furlong, Grade III Malibu Miner Special where she only managed to place fourth, 2 3/4 lengths off the lead with a speed of 108. This race will be her second Graded attempt and could be her first Graded win as well.

PP8 RENO (Gone West x Northern Dancer x Graustark)

Trainer: jimdscott Jockey: R Michales Odds: 9/2

Reno is a 6yo who began racing in June, 2006. She has 30 career starts with 7 wins. With the exception of her maiden win, all but one of those races were Allowance wins. She has one Non-Graded Stakes win back in July, 2007 where she also reached a career high speed of 111. She faced off against Sweet Sister Mercy in the 8.5 furlong, Grade I Superfilly Handicap in September, 2007 and finished 6th, 6 3/4 furlongs behind Sweet Sister Mercy who stood in the winner’s circle that day. She has a few Graded attempts in her career but the best she could do was 3rd. She won her last race out, a 9 furlong Allowance race back in February and is hoping to make it two in a row this week along with achieving her first Graded win.

PP9 PRIMEVAL LIGHT (Rahy x Seattle Slew x Bold Ruler)

Trainer: steller2 Jockey: P Davis Odds: 7/1

This 5yo likes to lead the pack around the track and a lot of the times, never relinquishes that lead. She has 9 career wins which include both Allowance and Non-Graded Stakes wins, although mostly Allowance wins. She has raced most of her career at 9 furlongs so the distance is nothing to her. She reached a career high speed of 106 twice in her life, the second being her last time out in the 9 furlong, Non-Graded Stakes The KNOWN SEATTLE Memorial where she brought home another win and was almost an identical performance to the Allowance win she caught the race just before that. It’s of little doubt that she will be the one leading the pack around the track right from the gate but it is a question as to whether or not she’ll manage to hold off the rest of the field by the time they reach the finish. This will be her first Graded attempt.

PP10 THIS IS THE WAY (Afleet Alex x Storm Cat x Buckpasser)

Trainer: kaif014 Jockey: J Dundey Odds: 9/2

This nicely bred 5yo has 6 wins out of 25 career starts since she began racing back in August, 2006. Of the wins, one is her maiden, one is a Non-Graded and the rest are all Allowance wins. She has achieved a high speed of 109 back in January and almost matched that her last time out with a 108 in the Grade II Ramp Art Handicap that was run earlier this month and where she placed 3rd. She faced off against Brain Trick in that race who placed 6th. That was one of two Graded stakes attempts for this mare, the other being the Grade I, Three Smokestacks Stakes where she placed fifth, three places behind Derby Cat who placed second in that race. The drop down to a Grade III try may be the wise decision for this mare as she continues to show improvement in speed as well as the ability to be consistent with her speeds. All of her wins, however, have been at distances greater than 9 furlongs. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

DERBY CAT x THIS IS THE WAY x RENO

I’m really just going by gut instinct on this one. This field is extremely evenly matched with very similar racing records for each horse. This should prove to be an exciting race to watch.

Good Luck and Happy Racing!!!