Small field for Grade 3 Blue Fountain
| A small field of young Turf talent take to the turf course in Paris France for the 2nd edition of the Blue Fountain. A G3 event at 8f. Last years’s top-3 finishers all posted 104 SP’s in a photo finish. Will this year’s edition field the same type of drama?
Let’s get on to the field… |
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| PP #1 – AHEAD AND ZILLION(KY) | Owner: mgfarms |
| Odds: 2-1 | (FUSAICHI PEGASUS x A.P. INDY x SADLER’S WELLS) |
| Div Rank: 27 | Career: 10-5-2-1 $404,640 |
| Comments: Started off career just about as good as you could hope winning 4 of 6, including a stakes and G3. The cherry on top was a start in the BB Juvenile Turf race finishing a competitive 6th. But added distance in the following 2 races did not yield positive results. However, a cut back in distance to 8f resulted in a career best SP (105) and an easy win. This weeks effort will also be at the same distance, but the concern here is if there will be a bounce after increasing SP 24 points and upping the career high by 8. |
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| PP #2 – LIGHT SWEEP(KY) | Owner: greg218 |
| Odds: 8-1 | (NORTH LIGHT (IRE) x STORM CAT x END SWEEP) |
| Div Rank:178 | Career: 9-2-2-2 $60,982 |
| Comments: Goes from first career stakes race that yielded a 2nd place finish, right into a G3 while still eligible for NW2. Last race was career high 90 SP, but others in this race run that on a bad day. Having said that, with a small field, it’s a good opportunity to get your feet wet and see if he can compete with the bigger horses in the division. |
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| PP #3 – BOGOESAWAY(AUS) | Owner: bobrba1 |
| Odds: 5-1 | (ENCOSTA DE LAGO (AUS) x KINGMAMBO x SADLER’S WELLS) |
| Div Rank: 96 | Career: 6-3-2-0 $184,630 |
| Comments: Lightly raced 3yo considering career started last February. Pulled a firm track today, which increases his opportunity to run his best having won 3 of 4 races on firm courses. Posted career high 99 SP with a closing kick to win an NW3L last out at this distance. Experienced graded runner, but did not get the best of footing in G2 two races back while struggling thru a yielding track. Bo won’t be going away this race!! |
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| PP #4 – PRIMO PRADO(KY) | Owner: landen2 |
| Odds: 11-1 | (EL PRADO(IRE) x MOON BALLAD (IRE) x STORM CAT) |
| Div Rank: 921 | Career: 5-3-1-0 $97,565 |
| Comments: Another lightly raced 3yo, but is a winner 3x winner in 5 races. Last out was a disaster having gotten squeezed at the start and never able to get in it with a field of 19. Basically held ground from the leader/winner, while passing some tired horses late. This marks his first race going 2-turns, but SP’s say he’s a notch below the top horses in this race. Will be running top-2 throughout, but not sure he’s got enough gas to hang on. |
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| PP #5 – ARCHIE BUNKER(KY) | Owner: boilerdave |
| Odds: 2-1 | (ARCH x EMPIRE MAKER x SEATTLE SLEW) |
| Div Rank: 88 | Career: 9-4-3-0 $132,520 |
| Comments: Winner of a stakes last out, posting a career best 105 SP which is competitive with anyone in this field. But the same thing has to be mentioned with him as talked about with ‘Ahead and Zillion’ in that he upped his best by 8 points and it was in his first (and only) stakes effort. Closing kick will give him a chance to at least finish on the board, |
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| PP #6 – EMPIRE DREAMER(ENG) | Owner: bbudgies7 |
| Odds: 3-1 | (OASIS DREAM (GB) x EMPIRE MAKER x RED RANSOM) |
| Div Rank: 12 | Career: 6-4-0-0 $990,880 |
| Comments: Class on the race here, yet you get a bargain at 3-1 odds (not ML fav). Closing in on $1m earned in a short 6 race career while having scratched off a G1 and G2. But, yes there is always a but, last race was first around 2-turns and while it was a G1, is a by far his best effort upping previous career high SP by 15 points. If you take that race away for arguments sake, which it’s hard to do, others in this race look more promising. Was last race a perfect storm, or was it a coming out party? |
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| My Selections:
You have a millionaire waiting in the wings with Empire Dreamer, you have a Breeder’s Bowl runner in Ahead And Zillion, and the you have a bunch of horses trying to make a name. The easy exacta is to take Empire Dreamer and Ahead and Zillion, but I’m not looking for easy. I’m looking for someone who goes away, but keeps coming back. That’s right, my choice to win is BoGoesAway. While he doesn’t have the glamour of the fore mentioned horses, he appears to be sitting on a big race. The distance, track condition and running style fit very well here in my opinion. To round out the exacta, i’m going with Ahead And Zillion and if you’re looking for a triple, put Archie Bunker in there, with a fading Empire Dreamer possibly holding on for third. |
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