And the Windy City Gold Cup Goes To…

The Windy City Gold Cup, a G2 10-furlong race is open to all horses 3 and up.  A half a million is up for grabs in this dirt race which does require top-notch speeds to win the race.  In the 11 years it has run, speeds of 115 or higher have been achieved by the winner 7 times.  In fact, the average speed for this race is also 115. Aragon Ransom narrowly holds the record with a speed of 119.793, set in 2001, just a few notches better than Sad Sal’s attempt to better that in 2003, coming up shy with a speed of 119.583.   Speeds below 110 have occurred only twice with the slowest winning speed happening in 2006 by Open The Gate who ran a speed of 106.

1.  Well Groomed  5-1

Well Groomed is not the quickest of starters and will be watching the early stages of the race from the back.  He took a shot at this race last year, and finished second and a speed of 114, which, ironically, happens to be his career best.  He’s got tons of late speed, but in his last two starts has failed to show it.  He’s won 4 races this year, one being a graded event, in 8 starts.  Capable if he can shake off his last two.

2.  Precizionist  6-1

Precisionist also has late speed and has just set a personal best speed of 114 in a non-grade stake win at 10f.  2010 has been a good year with a record of 5-1-1 in 8 starts.  The only race off the board this season was his only career graded stake race where he finished 3^rd for 9.5 furlongs and speed of 103.  If he can repeat the speed again in this race, he could walk off with the cup.

3.  Second Sight  8-1

Second Sight will be making a rare graded stake appearance, his 5^th start in his 46^th race.  His best performance was a 4^th in early 2009.  He ships in for the race from Taiwan, where he won an allowance race with a speed of 106 going 10f.  The travel shouldn’t effect him much, as he’s done it before with success.  But history has shown a speed that speeds over 110 needs to be achieved to win this race, and Second Sight has only hit this number once.  Looks unlikely.

4.  Gran Tourino  19-1

In 11 starts, Gran Tourino has picked up purse money in each of his starts.  With a record of 4-1-2, this 3-year old will be making his debut at the graded level.  He has surpassed the 100-speed level three times in his last four races and could improve on his career best of 105 he set back in July.  But the big question, can he make it over the 110 level?  I think it’s still a bit early for him.

5.  Urban Sakhee  5-1

Back in 2009, trainer Lidman1 was able to snag this horse for a claiming tag of $15k.  The horse has reached his racing best since the claim and has moved on to the big time.  He has been in 6 graded races and has a record of 0-1-2 with a pair of forths included.  He has topped the 110 speed level three times, most recently this past July.  He only has one race below 100 since May of 2009, showing very good numbers.  At the age of 7, Urban is in great form and stands a chance.  Jockey McCants will be in the saddle and he won the inaugural running of this race in 1999.

6.  Seven More Days   6-1

Seven More Days has struggled at the graded level.  In 8 starts, he has a record of 0-1-1.  But his speeds have been consistently over 100 since July of ’08 with a handful of races in the 110+ range.  His race history shows that he performs vastly better with top-line jockeys.  Unfortunately, jockey N. Bonus (7% win) is not one of them.  He needs a smart jockey and the smart money says to stay away. 

7.  B Minus   9-1

This horse’s name reminds me of my school grades for some reason.  He has appeared in 11 graded races and recorded a record of 1-0-3, his sole win in the Toilet Scrubbers Anonymous Handicap (9.5f), this past January, and a race name that I find amusing.  He scored a career best speed of 112 in this event.   He also has 3 races over this track with mixed results.  Although he won an allowance race (9.5f) in his last start with 101 as a speed, he hasn’t done much else this year other than these two races.  In 9 starts this season, he is 2-0-1.  But he does get Joceky R Logan (19% win) who has won this race 3 times, including last year.  Overall, I give his chances to win as a B-.

8.  Sheltered   13-1

In the early part of 2010, Sheltered ran in 4 graded starts with the best results being a 3^rd and a 4^th.  However, In late August  Sheltered ran in the G1 Travelers Stakes and pulled off the upset at 14-1, winning with a career best speed of 112.  He has won 4 in a row and Jockey P. Munoz (23% win) has opted to accept the mount.  Munoz won this race in 2000 and 2001 and is ready to win again.  Longshot players may like his chances.

9.  Silver Star Road   5-1

With the exception of one race, Silver Star Road has not run a sub-100 speed race since May of 2008.  Of all the entrants, he has the largest earnings with claims to over $3 million.    He has a record of 2-2-3 in 19 graded starts.   He has had difficulties as he won the CA Classic in August, 2009, but since then, has a record of 1-0-1 in his last 10 starts, both times hitting the board in non-graded stake races.    Tough call on this one.

10.  Hoosick Falls   8-1

Hoosick Falls is part of an entry from Chloedawg2 and looks to be the better part of the entry.  Gotta love a horse named after a town in upstate NY!!!   In his last start, Hoosick established his career best speed with a 112 in a short allowance field.  Despite the speed number, he still came up short, finishing second in the 9f race.  He hasn’t been close in 2 graded starts that he has made, but if Hoosick can show the same ability as in his last race, anything is possible.

11.  Second Edition   12-1

The second part of Chloedawg2’s entry is Second Edition.  This horse may be the home-town favorite as his last 5 starts have been at this track where he has produced a record of 3-0-1.  His speeds during this run have ranged from 100 to 107.  The 107 is his best speed and occurred in a G3 race at 9f where he finished third, the only time he’s been on the board in 2 graded races.  I like this horse but he just seems to be a little out of his element in this race.

No real standouts pop out at me in this race.  I’m going with Sheltered to pull off another upset on the heals of his victory in the Travelers Stakes

Precizionist has been showing good form and may be up to the task and has a decent shot at the winners circle.

Well Groomed could get his things back in line and has a good track record with consistently high speed numbers.

Silver Star Road gets the saver selection in this race based on experience and ability to hit higher speed numbers.