Champion Stakes A Real Turf Classic!
Ireland’s Grade 1 Champion Stakes is looking to be a GREAT one!
Many of the top-ranked older turf routers, many of which have been bashing heads with each other all season, will face each other yet again in a battle for the largest portion of the big $1.5 million purse. Four of the Top 10 older male turf routers and the #31 female turf router are in this magnificent field.
PUPPET REGIME, who starts from the rail, is the “grand old man” of this field. The 8yo horse by Kingmambo, winner of over $5mil in Sim purses and an incredible twelve Graded stakes, still has plenty in the tank despite having faced the starter 53 times in a long, glorious career. He’s trained by the powerful wrecks2 stable, no doubt a factor is his 9/2 morning-line odds; Honest old guy rarely fires a bad one, and could very well be dangerous today.
WAKI’S A. P. is a son of the legendary A. P. Indy out of a extremely successful A-graded mare who won over $2.5mil on the racetrack. While he hasn’t won since January of ’09, he has been 2nd in several strong races and it wouldn’t be a total surprise to see him get into the hunt today. The CPU places the trotter4 trainee at 7/1.
It’s been awhile since PLAY STATION THREE won a Graded race (Last October, to be specific), but he has knocked on the door in two of his last three attempts. He does have two Graded wins on his resume and it certainly would be no surprise to see him getting a portrait here. Trainer shamron8 says of his 4yo Monsun colt: “I think ‘PSP’ is just starting to figure things out now; I hope that Windy City bombout was a fluke.” Might be a bit of an overlay at 8/1.
COZY BEND went into the Windy City Turf Classic race on a huge roll, gathering all of his four graded-stakes wins in his previous four starts. Unfortunately, he finished far up-the-track that day. Should this 4yo son of Refuse To Bend return to his previous form, he’ll be tough to handle here. Trainer rlogan says, “I think my colt got a little stale with the extra week between races last time. We’re back to 4 weeks this time; maybe we’ll see his true colors again.” The CPU seems to agree, placing him at 5/1.
DEATH AMONG US is a 4yo son of Ghostzapper from the barn of high-percentage trainer grrm2. He ran off four consecutive impressive wins to start 2010, but when he tried the G1 Prince Of Whales Stakes facing most of the top ones in today’s field, he came up empty, running last. After a 2-month layoff, the colt returned to the racing wars in a 9-furlong allowance race. His familiar closing rush came up just short that day. “He came back to the barn after that bad run a little sore and we gave him some time off. He was in front a foot after the wire the other day in his comebacker, and I think he’s set up to run big today,” said grrm2. If that assessment is correct, 7/1 is pretty juicy.
7/2 favorite PRINCIPE DE VIANA almost certainly will set the fractions in today’s race, and just might be able to hold off all comers in the lane. However, it does appear that today’s distance is just about the top edge of his capabilities, at least when facing elite Grade 1 company. The son of Medicean is ranked #1 amongst older turf routers and owns six Grade 1 titles and a $4.3mil Sim bankroll. Trainer andros is confident: “He’s taken a couple small breaks this year including 8 weeks before his last, and I think he’s a bit fresher than most as the big late-season races start up.”
THE STRANGLER is a speedy colt by Pivotal who started 2010 with four straight wins, just like his stablemate, DEATH AMONG US. The 7/1 shot be on the front end battling for the lead, just like he did last time in the Windy City Turf Classic when he helped set up things for the late-closers. Trainer grrm2 said, “Believe it or not, this colt’s not here just as a rabbit; I think he can win this thing.”
Defending Champion Stakes titleist PUSH OF A BUTTON, winner of three Graded stakes races and just over $3mil in Sim money, comes in off a somewhat sub-par performance in the Windy City Turf Classic. Toss him out, right? Better look again… He ran in last year’s Windy City Turf Classic and turned in his worst performance in over a year, then followed that with his dynamic win here. This 5yo son of Elvstroem is very capable of pulling it off again, and trainer mav1763 knows what he’s doing (stable group has over 17% wins). He is yet another at 7/1 in this closely-matched field.
TARA is a 6yo mare who has earned over $2.5mil and two Graded races, but she has slipped some this year, only managing to cash once in four 2010 starts (A 4th in the G1 Movieland Cup). Before this year, she was finishing close-up in major races but unable to find the winners’ circle (she hasn’t won since 2007). Trained by bredtosell, the daughter of Generous will have to improve quite a bit to contend here. 9/1 seems a bit low in this powerful group.
Predictions:
COZY BEND is my pick here, but I’ll keep the bet light in this wide-open race
DEATH AMONG US might be sitting on a big effort
PRINCIPE DE VIANA should be able to hold on for part after the expected pace duel
Enjoy the races on that nice new viewer!