The We Gotta Handicap
Welcome to Nippon! The land of the mighty Samurai and the well known mountain Fuji, of course there are more things to talk about when it comes to Japan and in this case we are going to bring some information about a certain race, the only graded race on Japan track for this week. The race is ironically called “The We Gotta Handicap” and is available for horses who like turf and are 3 years old or more.
1. KEVORKIAN(5/1)(FUSAICHI PEGASUS x NORTHERN DANCER x BUCKFINDER):This is the first of two mares in the race and she have been very solid since 2 years back, performing numbers over 100 all the time. It seems like she won’t be able to win the race, but since she is such a solid performer I think she will take the third place. She likes both the distance and the surface, but she haven’t faced male horses that many times.
2. CYRNO(10/1)(KINGMAMBO x JOYEUX DANSEUR x KRIS S.):This Kingmambo sired 4 year old is sort of a rookie compared to the other horses, at least in stakes races, it has won a stakes race this year and also been placed in a graded, I doubt this horse will win, but it might be in the top-5 after the 10 furlongs are completed.
3. REIGN IN BLOOD(12/1)(POINT GIVEN x MR. PROSPECTOR x SECRETARIAT):This 5yo who have raced 36 times and have won 11 of them probably have its best racing behind him and not in front, this year he have been running in allowance only and have won 2 races, I do think that compared to the rest of the field he should be happy if he are among the 5 first spots.
4. CLUB FORTUNE(5/1)(MINESHAFT x DANZIG x LYPHARD):This Mineshaft sired 5yo have had a pretty tough last year with only one win. The win came in the last race and I think this is what the horse needed, as we saw the horse did when he was 4, he won one race and then he won a few in a row, I guess now it is the time for the a streak to start again. This is my winner of the race.
5. CAPITAL KINDNESS(5/1)(NORTH LIGHT x MACHIAVELLIAN x SHADEED):This mare is the second mare in the race and she have performed some really solid numbers over the last years on turf, she been under 100 one time since more then a year back and then it seemed she got injured. This solid mare is for me the potential winner, but I will put her second since she only faced male horses once before.
6. IN EVERY SHADOW(6/1)(PURIM x DIESIS x GREEN DESERT):This 5 year old horse some really good speed as 2yo, continued as 3yo with some really good numbers, but have from time to time not performed that well, the last 2 starts now seems like the horse is going into a really good form performing 109 and 111, could this horse increase the speed a few and get some luck it will probably be in the fight for the win, due to uneven performances I will not have this horse in the top-3, but he may as well win.
7. TRY AND JUSTIFY(5/1)(MEDICEAN x DANEHILL DANCER x LEAR FAN):This horse have the nicest pedigree in the race according to me, beautiful mix and influences. This 5yo is pretty light raced compared to many of the other horses in the race and the only three starts were it was below 100 was the first three starts, it has been solid ever since, but haven’t been impressive, but still solid. This is my outsider of this race, if it can take the next level it would be able to win the race.
8. OOPSY DAISY(5/1)(A.P. INDY x AFFIRMED x NUREYEV):This horse is another one of the horses that have some really nice pedigree, sired by versatile A.P. Indy. This seems to produce decent numbers over 10 furlongs, but his best performances seems to be connected to 9 furlongs races, it may be in the top-5 for this race, but I doubt that he will be able to win the race.
9. POPE’S CREEK(6/1)(GEORGE WASHINGTON x SADLER’S WELLS x ALYDAR):This 5yo is sired by the sire who have disappeared from the sim, George Washington. This horse have made 35 starts and have never started a graded race before, the trainer probably wants to max out all classed before moving into the next one. It is coming of 2 stakes win in a row, and winning 2 allowances before those races, so he is on winning streak. He would be able to win this race if he comes with something extra that the other horses doesn’t have, but will this be enough?
Seven of the horses have been foaled in Kentucky (the home of racing in US?), one is foaled in England and the last one is foaled on Ireland. Do we say that this is a Kentucky battle going on in a foreign country? I dare to say that it is, there are a lot of sires standing in Kentucky so its not a surprise, but there should be a few more horses foaled in Europe, Asia or Australia, since it seems to be the correct distance and surface for most of the sires.
This will be the top 3 from my view and I also have my outsider for the race:
1. CLUB FORTUNE
2. CAPITAL KINDNESS
3. KEVORKIAN
Outsider. TRY AND JUSTIFY
/Daniel