Spotlight Race of the Week-Norway
In last week’s edition of the Spotlight racing article, we got back on track by nailing the winner with 3-1 Tootsie Bite who made it look all too easy. Tootsie rallied from ninth to win by over 4 strides, much of the gain coming in the last quarter of the race. Tootsie has now won 2 races in a row and was claimed out of the race, for the second time in a row.
2-1 favorite I Make it Rain looked like she was injured in the race, finishing last. I wasn’t surprised to see her also be claimed, but what was surprising was that she was instantly retired by her new barn connection and has already bred her first offspring.
Now on to this weeks race…The spotlight is on the road and has arrived in
1. Aerolink 11-1-makes 3rd start on grass, first was in April, finishing 3rd in short field of four. Last month finished 2nd missing by a stride with a much improved speed of 72. Sired by Sakhee where the offspring have raced favorably on turf. Does stretch out in distance.
2. Tappin Hard 9-1-two career starts, one on each surface. Ran out of the money in both starts. Doesn’t look like a serious contender in this race. Looks like this one will need a few more starts to find her stride.
3. Americanish 36-1-also has a pair of starts on both surfaces with best speed of 51 on grass. Has finished well back in both starts and will add quarter mile in distance in attempt to find something this girl might like. Risky bet.
4. Bantu Languages 7-1-mare has raced in a series of residency restricted dirt races with decent speeds from 62 to 71. Making debut start on grass and sire favors grass. Decent price for those that are interested in the wager.
5. Montjeudar 1-1-nicely bred grass runner came up a stride short last month in her only start going 7 furlongs with a speed of 74. The extra furlong will give her more than enough time to make it to the front and the outlook is promising.
6. Ariosta 22-1-first time starter out of Adlerflug, whose children ran for first time last year and showed a greater desire towards the grass. The breeding line doesn’t lift the eyebrow and I’d like to see what she can do before betting on.
7. My Red Eye 20-1-grass is in this mare’s bloodline, but in two starts, the best speed she has produced is a 53. She lost ground in each race and extends from 6.5f to a mile. I’m not feeling that the added distance will improve the outcome, but this horse has been sidelined for over 3 months and the added training time may actually improve the outcome…stay tuned!
8. Desp’s Dylan 5-2-a Dylan Thomas sired mare who will be running on the track for the first time. Shows promise as a first time starter based on the breeding factor. I’m a bit hesitant, but I always am with first timers.
9. Brissy Lass 13-1-a decent speed of 66 first time out on Christmas Day, facing others that had a few races under their belt resulting in 7th place finish. Could improve the speed number, but coming back to track awfully quick.
Hard to go against Montjeudar who is in very good spot to break her maiden. Jockey H. Knott was outstanding last week, delivering 7 winners and in-the-money 74% in 9 starts.
Bantu Languages has me intrigued to see how she’ll do on switchover from dirt. She’s my second choice and could find the turf to her liking.
Third spot I’m giving to Desp’s Dylan as the breeding may be good enough to get her into the money.