Virginia hosts inaugural running of Zion Turf Sprint

Stakes racing returns to Virginia this week, with the inaugural running of the Zion Turf Sprint.  This dash for cash is open to all three year olds, and runs over a short five and a half furlongs of firm turf.  A $30000 purse awaits a the finish line.  The race draws a field of six, and although they are young and lightly raced, there’s no lack of stakes experience here. They look to be well matched, fairly evenly distributed between a 2/1 favorite and a 9/1 longshot.

PP 1) Tale Of The Scale(AUS)  Sired by Beaufort Scale, Trained by coqui.  Tale Of The Scale makes his fourth career start here.  He has one stakes start to his credit, at DPCD, and he’s looking for his first stakes win.  He has one win in his three starts and hasn’t collected a check since.  His top speed is 85.1 earned in a dirt sprint.  His last race was an A2L in Ottawa, where he finished in the midpack in a full field, five and three quarters out in seventh place.  This will be his first turf start.  His sire is a second year sire, who’s first crop showed a marked preference for turf, and a higher than average percentage of sprinters, even for a freshman sire.  Tale of the cat on his dam side doesn’t add a major turf upside, but adds a bit of stamina and a bit of good speed, as well.  He’s never run further than six and a half furlongs, but this will be his shortest career start too.  He likes to start from the midpack, but after a nearly picture perfect run in his first, he hasn’t shown much inclination to close when he has found himself deeper out at the half.  The shorter rae may help in this regard.  His response to the turf will be the story here, and if he gets a good speed bump and finds his close again with the surf switch, he could surprise.

PP 2) Miesque’s Boy(IRE)  Sired by Montjeu(IRE), Trained by dabears.  Miesque’s Boy takes his field high eleventh trip in this race.  He’s no stranger to stakes competition, with eight of ten starts coming in stakes company, four of those graded.  He has one stakes win, in a short field Grade 2 early last year.  Overall in his ten starts he has gone 3-1-1-1-0 with a top speed number of 92.0 two starts back.  His last run was an open stakes at seven furlongs on dirt, where he trailed a short field home by thirteen lengths.  That was his only dirt start, and only served to highlight his preference for turf.  He has run at distances from five and a half to nine and a half furlongs, and while the bulk of his success has been in sprints, his best speed figures have come at route distance.  He’s a midpack to deep closer, but his sweet spot seems to be about two to three lengths off the pace at the half.  Any deeper and he doesn’t seem to get any second half jump.  Both his speed and his close have been somewhat erratic, But he has been facing high levels of competition and varying in distance.  Should be in the mix, but there are more consistent runners in this field.

PP 3) Quint(AUS)  Sired by Sharkbite(AUS), Trained by willbeglue.  Quint takes the gate for start number ten is this race.  Five of nine starts have been in stakes, four of those graded, and he still seeking that first elusive win.  He sports a record of 3-2-1-1-0 in his first nine, with his speed topping out at 92.7 two starts back.  His last run was an A3t at five furlongs in Connecticut, where he bested a short field in a thriller by a half length.  All nine career starts have been on turf, and he shows a high comfort level on the surface.  He’s never raced over six and a half furlongs and he’s been in the mix in every start outside of graded level.  He generally prefers a fast start, though he showed good form coming off the pace in his last.  He’s been at his best when he can open up a good cushion early and has had problems when he is challenged early.  With some excellent early speed to his outside here, he might want to consider trying to come from off the pace again here.  If he challenges early, I see him doing no better than rounding out the trifecta here.

PP 4) This Here Gun(IRE)  Sired by Cape Cross(IRE), Trained by seedly.  This Here Gun steps to the track for start number five here.  This will be his first try against stakes competition.  He’s gone 1-2-0-1-0 in his first four with his speeds capped by an 83.9 in his second start.  His last run was an open allowance at a mile in Arizona, where he blew a big lead late settling for a four length out second place in a short field.  After a decent debut on the dirt, he switched to turf and never went back.  He’s run distances from six to eight furlongs, but his best were in the shorter sprints.  He likes to run from the head of the midpack, but treads a fine line between falling out too deep and pressing the pace too early.  He hasn’t really exhibited the speed he’ll need to seriously challenge in the field, and the composition doesn’t favor him here either.  Think this could be a long day for him.

PP 5) Je Ne Sais(KY)  Sired by Elusive Quality, Trained by homedfrog.  Je Ne Sais takes his ninth career trip here.  This will be his first try against stakes competition.  His first eight starts yielded a 3-0-2-1-0 record and a best speed of 89.1 in his final start last year.  His last race was a six furlong A2x in Upper New York where he ran away froma field of eight early, holding off the closers for a length and a quarter win.  After making his first two starts on dirt, he switched to turf and rewarded his trainer with a three length win.  He’s gone distances from five and a half furlongs to a mile, and has arguably been at his best in a longer sprint.  He’s a front runner, and has had at least a peace of the early lead in all eight of his starts.  He’s shown himself vunerable to closers if he can’t get a big cushion, something he’s not likely to get in this short race.  He has the highest average speed here by a good margin, and should control the early pace.  Look for him to be praying for the wire as they run down the stretch.

PP 6) Ikeepsaprivatejet  Sired by Dansili, Trained by seattlesle.  Ikeepsaprivatejet makes his seventh career start here.  This will be his third stakes run, and he has a Grade 3 win in the Les Paul two starts back.  He’s 3-1–0-1-0 in his first six, notching a top speed of 92.9 in his last outing.  That race was the Epiphany Too at DCPD, where he finished eighth in a field of twenty, eight lengths out at the wire.  After putting up two relatively mediocre speeds on dirt in his first two, his speeds took a major jump in speed with a switch to turf in his third, and his speeds steadily improved for the rest of the season.  He’s also been stretching out, winning at five, seven and eight furlongs before stumbling in his last.  He likes running just off the pace, and has shown a strong second half drive in most of his starts.  this is his first start as a three year old, so he coming off a long rest.  Could have a bit of rust to shake off here, but if he picks up where he left off, he could walk away with this one.  I’m going to go out on a limb and put my money on him to take the win here.