Tess Carlisle Turf Mare Route draws four

Virginia race fans get treated to stakes racing again this week, with the first ever running of the Tess Carlisle Turf Mare Route.  The race, for fillies and mares four years and older, runs over eight and a half furlongs of firm Virginia turf, for the prize of $30000 purse.  The race has drawn a short field of four, ranging in age from four to six years.  Oddsmakers are calling it close, with the entries ranging between an even odds favorite and a 9/2 longshot.  There is plenty of stakes experience in the field, many of them are returning after a long stint at allownce level.  Should make for an exciting race here.

PP 1) I’m Thinking Turf(IRE)  Sired by Dylan Thomas(IRE), Trained by bashbush.  I’m Thinking Turf is a five year old mare, making her twenty fifth career start here.  She has two career stakes wins, and this will be her first stakes run of this season.  She is also riding a streak of fifteen straight top three finishes.  Over the course of her last ten starts, she’s gone 4-4-2-0-0 with five 100+ speed figures, capped with a 107.8 in her second start this season.  Her last race was a Nine furlong open allowance in Jamaica, Where she parlayed a picture perfect second half, coming from ten lengths off the pace, into a half length victory in a field of twelve.  Twenty three of twenty for starts have been on turf, and with a record like hers, I’d be thinking turf too.  She’s never finished out of the top two in eight starts in the mile range, and has shown the stamina to go a bit further if she needs it.  She’s a midpack to deep closer, and her close has been fairly consistent over her last several starts.  This is not the ideal field composition for her, with no real break out speed to lead her, but if she can hang back like she did in her last, she should be able to make a bid for it as they storm down the stretch.

PP 2) Xmas Cry(KY)  Sired by Street Cry(IRE), Trained by upperhand.  Xmas Cry is the baby of the field, a four year old filly making her fourteenth career run.  She’s no stranger to stakes company though, with five stakes starts and two victories at this level.  Her last ten starts have netted her a 6-1-0-2-0 record with three 100+ starts, topping out at 105.6 in her last start.  That race was an open stakes at this distance in Wyoming where she dominated a field of ten by nearly three lengths.  After making her first four career start on dirt, performing quite well, she switched to turf and never looked back.  She typically prefers to run from the head of the midpack, which should likely put her near the front in this field.  She’s proved that she can handle herself in this type of situation though, and that should work to her benefit here.  She riding a three race winning streak, and she coming off back to back career best speeds.  Worth a second and a third look here at her 3/1 odds.

PP 3) Pillars Of Kings(AUS)  Sired by Flying Spur(AUS), Trained by drsong3.  Pillars of Kings is a six year old mare taking her thirty eighth career trip here.  She looking for her first career stakes victory.  After bouncing around the mid-level claim and starter ranks for a good part of her three and four year old seasons, she really blossomed under current trainer drsong3, notching ten wins in her next sixteen starts.  She’s gone 5-1-1-2-0 in her last ten starts, with eight 100+Speed figures, with a best of 114.7 coming mid last season.  She had a number of dirt starts early in her career, but the grass has always been her bread and butter.  She’s a specialist in the mile range, with ten wins and fourteen top three finishes in nineteen turf starts in this range.  Her start would typically put her just off the pace, but in all of her recent starts, she has had at least a peice of the early lead.  She’s proven that she is not afraid to set the pace when given the opportunity, and has carried an early lead well into the stretch in her last six.  On the down side, she’s given up the lead late in half of those starts.  She’s not likely to see a big cushion here, and she is going to have some fast younger legs closing on her late.  Her recent speeds have been the most consistent in this field by a goodly margin, though, and with a little luck she could take this one gate to wire.

PP 4) Kensington Glory(KY)  Sired by Honour and Glory, Trained by aludra.  Kensington Glory is a six year old mare taking the gate for her twenty eighth career start.  This will be her first ever stakes start.  In her last ten starts, she’s put up a 2-1-4-1-0 mark with a best speed figure of 99.2 earned in the middle of last season.  Her last run was an A2y at nine furlongs in Maine, where she won a thriller by a scant head in a field of nine.  After a somewhat disappointing career debut on dirt, she switch to turf, and has never gone back.  The bulk of her success has gone in slightly longer races, and while sporting six top three finishes in nine tries, she has yet to win in this distance range.  She likes to run from just off the pace, and it has yielded mix results at best over her lst several starts.  She should have a hand in setting the pace here, but hasn’t as of yet shown the speed to be a threat here late.