Small Deauville G2 field

Five older horses will line up on Saturday in the Deauville G2 which will be run over a firm turf course for a mile and five eighths. What do you get for finishing first after a thirteen furlong trek? A piece of the $250,000 purse, worth $150,000 to the winner not to mention graded winner status. This group is made up of allowance and graded stakes winners, but it really is anybody’s race. Let’s meet the field.

Megabps sends out the Great Awakening, looking to make some mega breeding points from this race. Great Awakening is four year old son of Galileo out of an Irish River mare. With six wins in thirteen tries, Great Awakening has only finished off the board in four tries. Shortening up by three furlongs from his last race and victory look for Great Awakening to be in stalking position throughout the race. At 8/1 most of his wins have been against allowance competition, and he is cutting back in distance which may hamper his running style. He needs to be running early to be there in the end.

Prometheus sends out K’s Kunaviche a four year old son of Smart Strike out of a Nijinsky II mare. With fourteen races under his belt, K has won seven of those tries, while finishing off the board only twice. Both of those off the board finishes came on the dirt, so he is perfect (on the board wise) on the turf. K’s Kunaviche is a grade two winner at a furlong less than this distance, and finished second in a listed race at this distance last time out. Typically K’s Kunaviche is a few lengths off the pace, but not as far off the pace as Great Awakening. At 5/2 a dead giveaway of if K is going to win the race is if he’s in the lead at the third call, if he hasn’t gotten there yet don’t expect to see him in the winner’s circle.

Chilimac sends out the favorite, Naked Boot. Naked Boot is a five year old son by Woodman, out of a Nureyev mare. With thirty one starts to his name he is the most run horse of the field, and has accumulated nine wins during that time. Naked Boot is a grade two winner going fourteen furlongs, and an allowance winner at ten furlongs. Naked Boot is the speed of the race, and will be free running waiting for the other runners to catch him. At 9/5 Naked Boot has proven to love the fourteen furlong distance, but has never been tested at this distance, sometimes even the smallest of cutbacks in distance is too much for a horse.

Malekfarms sends out the four year old As The Walls Fell. The son of A.P. Indy out of Apprehended, a Sadler’s Wells mare has won five times in twelve starts, but with only two tries, and one win on the turf. A grade three winner going a mile and a half, As The Walls Fell is a deep closer, the announcer will think that he’s given up all hope, but then unleash the charge. At 7/2 its hard to tell if the turf is his destiny, or if he has got lucky in his last start. Only time will tell.

Cooldude saddles the outside post positioned Madrigal, a four year old son of Monsun out of an Unbridled mare. Madrigal is the winner of five races in twenty eight starts, including a grade three at this distance with a speedy 112 last time out. Since switching back to the turf five races ago his speed figures have shot up. Madrigal is yet another closer in the race. At 5/2 I like that he has a win at this distance, what I don’t like is that three of the five horses in this field are closers, so it could make it a close race at the end.

That’s the small but talented field. it’s a tough field to handicap but my choices are Madigal, Naked Boot, and As The Walls Fell. Good luck to all the trainers, may your horses run fast and return to the stable sound.