G2 Pablo Verces Handicap

CA, Race ID 4197.0114 : Pablo Verces Handicap Grade II   All horses, 4 years old and up, Six furlongs on the Fast Dirt Course, Purse : $150,000

PP 1 – 6/1 ANTIQUE GOLD(KY) ID# 130506   J Nabbs ( 12 – 2 – 2 – 3 – 17% )

Antique Gold was bred from an “H” mare and is the co-favorite in this field of 14.  He is a speedball who has led at the first call in 25 of the 26 races he has been in. He came close to getting his first G1 victory in his last race The Ireneo Lequisamo but weakened towards the end and finished ¼ lengths back in second. Not too much other speed in today’s race so he might be looking at an easy lead which might lead to an easy win.

PP 2 – 8/1 HOWDY STRANGER(KY) ID# 176271   J Dekeyser ( 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – N/A )

Howdy Stranger is a scratch bred making his first start against graded competition today. He comes into today’s race with a 2 race win streak and seems to have found his stride as a sprinter posting back to back 110+ speed figures. He would like to see a speed duel happen as he likes to come from off the pace but that may not happen today.

PP 3 – 8/1 GRAND ARBITER(JPN) ID# 121991   T Bates ( 22 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 5% )

Grand Arbiter is a scratch bred and one of two horses entered that just turned six. He is a hard knocking horse who had several close finishes as a youngster in G1 sprints but hasn’t had much success recently against top level talent. He won several confidence boosting allowance races before finishing 7^th in the G1 DCPD Sprint Championship last out.

PP 4 – 6/1 PROCEDURE(KY) ID# 146837   F Gossett ( 36 – 7 – 7 – 6 – 19% )

Procedure is a scratch bred and is the other co-favorite in this field of 14 and deservedly so. In his last race he took the G1 DCPD Sprint Championship with a 113 speed figure giving him back to back stakes wins with 113 speed figures. He is sort of an inconsistent type runner as he some good wins and some clunkers thrown in as well. He has never won more than two races in a row so this might be a good time to play against.

Magical Danz was bred from an “F” mare and comes into today’s race with a nice record of 11 wins from 29 starts. The problem is that most of those wins were against allowance competition. I’m not sure this horse is primed for the best today and he will need to race near his top figure of 111 to be competitive today.

PP 6 – 11/1 GILBRETH(KY) ID# 138905   J Pimental ( 7 – 1 – 0 – 1 – 14% )

Gilbreth was bred from an “F” mare and another horse that likes the lead. Only 1 of his 5 wins did not come wire to wire so that doesn’t bode well with the 1 being the clear speed in the race. His running style will doom him for this race.

PP 7 – 10/1 PALMERO(KY) ID# 143298   S Webb ( 7 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0% )

Palmero was bred from a “D” mare and has 1 sibling that is stakes placed and another sibling that is a stakes winner which is what Palmero is trying to become today. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening in today’s race. His top speed figure of 110 came in his last race and over a sloppy track and that top still might not be good enough to win today.

PP 8 – 10/1 PRAYER LAKE(AUS) ID# 135016   A Dominguez ( 3 – 0 – 1 – 0 – 0% )

Prayer Lake is a scratch bred making his graded stakes debut today. He ran a top of 111 last race out and still fell short in a listed stakes race. He will most likely need to run in that range again to be competitive today and he seems to be more of a horse that picks up checks instead of the winning race.

PP 9 – 16/1 SAINT ALLEY(KY) ID# 138160   L Brock ( 1 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0% )

Saint Alley is a scratch bred and the longest shot in today’s field of 14. He looks to be in bad form right now as he wasn’t able to break triple digit speed figures in his last two races.

PP 10 – 15/1 FIGHTER JET(KY) ID# 79070   R Simcox ( 17 – 0 – 4 – 1 – 0% )

Fighter Jet was bred from an “F” mare and is the first foal from that mare and already a graded stakes winner. He won the G3 The El Canseco last race out and has run 4 races in a row with triple digit speed figures. His top of 108 is a little on the slow side though he just turned 4 and can possibly post a better number.

PP 11 – 13/1 INDY STREET(KY) ID# 152291   M Staples ( 30 – 7 – 5 – 3 – 23% )

Indy Street was bred from a “G” mare and comes into today’s race with just 2 weeks rest. Recent form isn’t much to talk about and will most likely not be a factor in today’s race.

PP 12 – 12/1 STARRING ROLE(IRE) ID# 157060   A Lewis ( 29 – 9 – 2 – 8 – 31% )

Starring Role was bred from a “G” mare and comes into today’s race with 6 straight triple digit speed figures. He scored a top 111 as a three year old and will need to be around that number today to have a shot at winning. After beginning his career on turf and trying routing on the dirt he seems to have settled in as a nice dirt sprinter.

PP 13 – 13/1 MASTER FULL(KY) ID# 172666   R Hoffman ( 2 – 1 – 1 – 0 – 50% )

Master Full is a scratch bred and has nice record of 8 wins from 13 starts. He has a nice top of 115 as a three year old but couldn’t get near that number in his next two races. He had a nice easy prep last out defeating a 4 horse allowance field. He can certainly surprise in his first start out as a four year old.

PP 14 – 13/1 CABLINASIAN(ENG) ID# 48640   O Brim ( 14 – 2 – 2 – 1 – 14% )

Cablinasian was bred from an “A” mare and acquired some of those good genes from his mama as he has a record of 10 wins from 18 starts. He has been competing in mostly listed stakes and allowance races as a three year old but takes the step up today as a 4 year old trying graded stakes competition for the first time. His top of 112 puts him in range of the other tops in this field and he has been racing well recently.

Handicapper’s Picks:

In what looks like a paceless race I’m going to choose #1 ANTIQUE GOLD to get the lead and never look back. Now most of the times I’m wrong so I’m sure one of the improving recently turned 4 year olds will beat him but I’m going to pick two of them to come in 2^nd and 3^rd. I’m going to go with the nicely bred #14 Cablinasian for 2^nd and #2 Howdy Stranger for 3^rd. If there was some more speed I might’ve picked against the #1.

1^st: 1

2^nd: 14

3^rd: 2

Handicapper’s Record:

New Year, no record which is a good thing. I won my first race last year and didn’t hit another one after that out of about 7 or 8 races. Let’s see if I can start off with a win again.