Summer Dash Pits Nine Speedy Ones
Nine horses from all walks of Thorobred life have gathered at Japan this week in order to test their skills in a mad dash over 5 furlongs on the firm turf course. A large crowd is expected #7-ranked THOR’S ODDYSEY the heavy favorite, try to annex his third consecutive graded-stakes win.
Some worthy challengers have showed up to try to spoil the party. Let’s have a look:
PURPLE EMPEROR goes from the rail at 12/1. He was going great guns last autumn, but encountered several bumps in his road after taking a 3-month break this year. Trainer banockbarn has been working his 4yo Lammtara colt hard in hopes of reversing his recent form. Should he suddenly regain what he had going in November, he could contend here. Tall order, however, it’s been awhile.
The 5/2 second choice in the wagering is ROAD NOT TAKEN, a consistent sort who is the very picture of “Close, but no cigar”. The spectacularly bred Storm Cat colt has only managed one win this year, but has been in triple-digit speed figures nearly every time out. Trainer focusforce is hoping for an extra-big run today in hopes of taking the road to the winner’s circle today.
SAKI TO ME, a 78/1 longshot, is shooting for the moon here. The 4yo daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus will likely need a 20-point speed improvement to contend against these. Trainer jgaudet must think she’s got something up her equine sleeve; she’ll need to find a lot of speed to stick with this bunch, or maybe get ’em alll drunk on saki…
SLAM OF THE YEAR is 11/1 for trainer dogfarm. This 6yo veteran of 45 career starts seems to have found new life recently, winning a pair of minor-stakes turf sprints recently. The son of Grand Slam is taking a swing at the bigtime here. Will his recent sharpness be enough?
WILDOCROC is the longest shot here, at 99/1. He’s a 3yo with only 7 career starts, just one win (a maiden-claimer, no less), and $14k in his bank. Needless to say, a win here by this son of Wilko would be one of the great upsets in Sim history. Trainer acarigua4 says, “I think my colt has a shot at this, believe it or not. He’s just now coming into his own.”
BFAS is a 5yo son of Exploit trained by deuce1 whose career has had some interesting turns. Back in August, he was so impressive in winning an allowance that had been pulled off the turf due to wet conditions that his trainer decided to try a few more dirt starts. He was moderately successful, but has been back on the grass recently. This is a tough spot for him.
THOR’S ODDYSEY had a solid dirt career going, as his excellent pedigree might suggest he should have. However, trainer aaafarms decided to try his son of Unbridled’s Song on the grass last fall and found another dimension of speed right away, his colt dominating an allowance with a 113 speed rating. No need for dirt racing anymore; he picked off a couple of minor-stakes wins, then jumped into the bigtime with a pair of wins and a 2nd in graded-stakes. The colt is ranked #7 now, and is looking to dominate the division.
SLAY THE BARBARIAN is a 6yo son of Mineshaft, going off at 7/2. He’s been running strongly of late, but against weaker competition. Trainer snakebite knows that this race will require the best effort from his runner to stay in things as the wire looms. He’ll be a pace factor, however.
On the outside is WRONGWAY CORRIGAN, a promising 3yo son of Eurosilver. The sjmeola6 trainee is probably not quite yet ready to beat quality older stock, but this one will be worth watching later in his career. He goes of att 17/1.
Prognos… uh, Progna… er, Procknos… uh, Predictions, brought to you ny Porky Pig:
Despite all the early speed in this field, I think THOR’S ODDYSEY will emerge from the dogpile on the front end, then survive to the wire for the win.
Most of the other frontrunners will have more trouble hanging on, and ROAD NOT TAKEN will do what he usually does, pass almost all of them late to finish second.
SLAM OF THE YEAR will pick up the pieces for third.
As always, good luck at the races, and may all yours beat all the others except mine! 🙂