Red Tejas Challenge sets up to be a close race
Virginia race fans get a look at up and coming fillies thisweek in the second annual running of the Red Tejas Challenge. The race invites three year old fillies to battle it out over seven furlongs of turf, aiming to grab the lion’s share ofthe $35000 purse. We’ve had another beautiful week of weather leading up to the first day of Spring, and the turfwill be rated firm for the event. Oddmakers were right on the button last year, with race favorite Swingingwithsatan(ENG)taking the field gate to wire, holding off a couple of hard charging closers to hold on to a three quarter length victory. This year’s edition draws a well matched field of five fillies,with four of the five entrants falling between 3/2 and 7/2 on the morningline. A 9/1 longshot rounds out the field and even she can’t be totally written off. Bettors aren’t likely to get rich off this one, but there could be some profit to be had for a savvy handicapper.
PP 1) Southern Melody(JPN) Sired by Stravinsky, Trained by kingajay. Southern Melody(JPN) makes her seventh career start here. She’s not short of stakes experience, but she’s still looking for her first win at this level. Her first six starts have watched her run up a 2-2-0-1-1 record, with a top speed number of 86.8, earned in her final start last season. Her last run was a six furlong dirt stakes in Maine, where she just never seemed to get into the race, trailing the field of five home by just over eleven lengths. This will be her third turf start, and she has put forth good efforts in both of her first two. This will be her longest start by a full furlong, and the extra distance may not be her friend here. She tends to be a fast starter, off to an early lead in all but her most recent start. She’s found herself having problems holding on to her leads late though, since her first couple ofstarts. She’s a wild card here, andit’s hard to gauge how she’ll react. She turned in excellent speed in her last turf start, and landed only two and a quarter out against a quality Grade I field. Her other turf start was on a yielding surface, where she showed no great speed, but really didn’t need to, running away from the short field by two lengths. Distance on the other hand could be more of an issue. Her sire, Stravinsky has tended to throw winners at shorter distance, and she’s already finding trouble holding leads at a furlong less. This field is front loaded and should be tight throughout. Think she will still be in the mix heading into the stretch and if she puts up the same fight she did in her last turf effort, she could be right in there late.
PP 2) Beckinsale(IRE) Sired by Galileo, Trained by rohan. Beckinsale(IRE) takes the gate for start number eight in this race. Five of her seven start have been in stakes, three of those graded, and she has a Grade 3 victory to her credit. Overall in her first seven she has a record of 3-2-1-1-0, capping her speeds with a nice 91.2 in her last start. That was an open stakes at seven ad a half in Japan, where she trailed avery good field of nine home by seven and a half. All seven career runs have been on turf, and she appears to be quite comfortable with the surface. Her breeding has distance written all over it, but her wins have all come at this distance or less. She has also been facing tougher competition as she has stretched out. She tends to a start speed that would put her just off the lead, but outside of her two year old graded win, she’ shown little inclination to close when she finds herself off the lead, doing much better when she’s been a factor early. If she makes her typical break, she could find herself in the midpack at best early in this one, withsome good speed out in front of her. That scenario hasn’t played out well in her last pair, and if she has to play catch up here, it could be a tough race for her.
PP 3) Blueblood Schill(KY) Sired by Artie Schiller, Trained by br2stable. Blueblood Schill faces her eighth career field here. Five of those have been against graded competition, and she has a pair of Grade 3 wins and a Grade I place on her resume. All those came as a two year old, and this will be her first run of her three year old campaign. She brings a 4-1-0-0-0 recordto the table here, with a best speed number of 93.7 mid year last year. Her was start was in the six furlong DCPD VIII Super Gold, where she turned in a relatively close tenth place finish in a very competitive field. She’s neverbeen off the grass, and with the way she started, it looks like a good fit forher. She’s turned in decent speeds from six to eight furlongs, and distance shouldn’t be an issue here. She’s a stalker type, and is at her best threatening the early lead. She finished the year on a rather alarming slide last year, facing some of the bestin the world, and she comes off quite a long rest here. The drop in class should definitely benefit her, but the question is in how well she will hold up against fillies who havebeen steadily maturing over the past three months while she’s been idle. I’d like to see her get a race under her belt before I put my money on her.
PP 4) Captain Awesome(KY) Sired by Awesome Again, Trained by lasthope. Captain Awesome(KY) makes her ninth career run in this race. Another veteran stakes runner, she has a Grade I win from the DCPD meet last year, as well as a Grade 2 earlier, just before the Breeder’s Bowl. She cobbled together a 4-1-2-0-0 record in her first eight,showcasing a best speed of 94.8 two starts back. Her last start was an open stakes at this distance on dirt in New Mexico, where she settled for second in a short field, one and a quarter out. This will be her first turf start,a somewhat surprising move from her trainer, though her pedigree says she could be versatile enough to handle it. Her best success has come a bit longer, and she may have been served better by something a bit longer here. She likes to close from the mid pack, and she’s done it quite consistently. She’s the only true closer here, and the front loaded early battle, and her stamina should hold her in good stead here. The biggest question is how she will adapt to the more giving surface, without even an offtrack outing to gauge how she might react. She’s shown the most consistent recent speed numbers in the field, so whether she can get the traction to mount a second half drive here on the grass will tell the story.
PP 5) Song Of Dublin(KY) Sired by Unbridled’s Song, Trained by dublinlad. Song Of Dublin(KY) makes her ninth career start here. Her last three starts have all been at graded level, and she has a win and a place to show for them. She went 3-4-0-0-0 in her first eight, posting a best speed of 94.3 two starts back. Her last run was at Equinics in the six furlong turf, where she faded throughout, turning in a seveteenth place finish in the nineteen horse field. She boasts wins on both surfaces, but has arguably been at her best on the turf. This distance range has been her happy medium, and she had some of the best races of her career at seven furlongs. She has generally been a fast starter, and it’s worked well for her, though she’s also shown she can come from just off the pace if she is close. She had a big bounce in Equinics, but she steps down in class here, and should be right in her element. With all the question marks in this field, think I’ll have to put my money on her to bring this one home.