Wide Open Affair in Sydney Mile

Ready to crunch some numbers?

Horses, 8. Cumulative earnings, $8,950,304. Total wins, 55. Total stakes wins, 24.

These are the numbers you’re going to see when you look at the past performance charts of the horses running in the $2 million Grade 1 Sydney Mile on the turf here in Victoria on Saturday.

Pretty staggering numbers for a group of eight horses in one race, huh?

A stellar field is getting ready to descend on Victoria Race Course on Saturday, and each of the eight owners probably has one particular number in mind. $1.2 million.

That’s how big a payday the winning horse is going to collect for his owner, which really isn’t bad at all for a little over 90 seconds’ worth of racing.

Now, as far as the numbers go with the odds makers, Silver Stealth is the one to beat here in Victoria. But at 3/1, Silver Stealth isn’t regarded that much more highly than the rest of this field. You’ve got a couple of co-second favorites at 4/1 in Sadler’s Duke and Dooty Da Doo. And then you’ve got Dream Songs (5/1) and Navigation System (6/1) right behind that pair. And the longest shot in the race is only 10/1.

That makes the Sydney Mile a pretty wide open affair.

And when you throw out all the numbers, and the big paydays, and the odds makers, there’s still a sentimental horse in here, one the locals will be cheering for. The Aussie-bred horse, Argyle Star, is the longest shot in the race, and one who, despite starting out his career on the dirt, has finally somehow found his way home to Victoria to race on the turf for one of Australia’s bigger purses.

Here’s the field for the $2 million Grade 1 Sydney Mile.

1 — Dream Songs (ENG)   Owner: Given Stables

Odds: 5/1   (Pivotal (GB) X Storm Cat X Forty Niner)

The five year old son of Pivotal comes in here as probably one of the hottest performers of late, having won two of his last three starts. Dream Songs is throwing some pretty large speed figures, too. In fact, the winner of the $1 million Champions Mile in Hong Kong last season has dipped under the 100 speed figure only twice in his last 13 starts, and each time he’s done that, his owner has given him a break, and all Dream Songs has done is simply come back and responded with another tear of races with 100+ speed figures. This horse is on one of those tears right now, and at 5/1, he’s looking awfully good in this spot.

2 — DOOTY DA DOO (JPN)   Owner: Astins Place

Odds: 4/1   (T.M. Opera O X A.P. Indy X Danzig)

Talk about some blue blood flowing through the veins of the Astins Place entry here in the Sydney Mile. Dooty Da Doo comes in here with some monster speed figures also. Three starts back, he popped a 117 in winning the Grade 3 Buddy Boy Mile in Japan, his home stomping ground. That was just a tad better than the 116 speed figure he threw last November when he won the Breeder’s Bowl Mile Turf event. Dooty Da Doo has over $2.5 million in earnings, and he’s only four years old. This horse has a lot of quality racing, and earnings, in front of him, and he might just start adding onto his bank account Saturday here in Sydney. Keep your eye on Dooty Da Doo. If anyone’s going to upset the favored Silver Stealth, it could very well be this young Japanese-bred son of T.M. Opera O.

3 — SILVER STEALTH (KY)    Owner: Pick6King Stables

Odds: 3/1   (Silver Deputy X Medaglia D’Oro X A.P. Indy)

You have to go all the way back to October of 2009 to find a race where Silver Stealth has thrown a speed figure in less than triple digits. The five year old son of Silver Deputy is probably the most consistent horse in this field, having won over $1.6 million in his career. He and Dooty Da Doo have the most stakes wins under their belts coming into the Sydney Mile (5 each), so you can pretty much bet that neither of these is going to throw in a clunker here on Saturday. Silver Stealth’s biggest score to date was last year back in Hong Kong when he took down the Grade 1 King Kong Mile. He finished fifth behind Dooty Da Doo in last year’s Breeder’s Bowl Mile, so Silver Stealth might want a little revenge here on Saturday. Silver Stealth is super consistent, the most professional of race horses, and he’s going to be awfully tough to beat here in Victoria Saturday.

4 — NAVIGATION SYSTEM (KY)    Owner: Shamrock Stables

Odds: 6/1   (Henrythenavigator X Dynaformer X Storm Cat)

Shamrock Stables sends a four year old son of Henrythenavigator in here to Victoria for the Sydney Mile. Navigation System, who is just shy of the $1 million mark in career earnings, saw a couple of these the last time he ran on March 26. He met up with Sadler’s Duke and Dooty Da Doo in the $5 million Grade 1 Sand Castle Duty Free in Dubai. He finished ninth in that spot, behind both of those, but he still threw a 106 speed figure in that race. Remember, this horse is only four years old, and he’s still got tons of good racing ahead of him. And with that pedigree, you can bet he’s going to stash a lot more money in his bank account. He had a couple huge scores in his career including wins in the Grade 1 Irish 2000 Guineas last year, as well as a win in the $500,000 Blazing Saddles Breeder’s Turf Showdown. That win in the Blazing Saddles was the last time Navigation System won a race. He might be due for a big rebound here in Victoria on Saturday. You may want to keep your eye on this guy if you’re not a chalk player. At 6/1, this horse represents some pretty good value in this field.

5 — ARGYLE STAR (AUS)      Owner: Tulloch Stables

Odds: 10/1    (Elusive Quality X Marscay (AUS) X Alydar)

Argyle Star started out his career on the dirt. In fact, he threw some pretty nice speed figures in his first two starts, both wins, and it looked like this son of Elusive Quality might be Triple Crown-bound. After a couple of disappointing finishes in two early three year old stakes races on the dirt, however, his owner saw the turf potential in his colt. With Marscay, a sprinter from the Star Kingdom line, as a dam sire, Argyle Star responded with a 98 speed figure in his first start on the turf, and that started a string of seven consecutive triple digit speed figure races, the biggest of which (117) was a win in the $800,000 Grade 3 Nippon Sport Stakes in Japan on New Year’s Day this year. Argyle Star may be the longest shot in this race at 10/1, but that’s probably only because he’s tossed in a couple of sub 100 speed figures in his last two outings, both major stakes events. If Argyle Star can bounce back to his previous form, when he was running all those triple digit speed figures, he could figure prominently in the Sydney Mile. This is a pretty interesting horse that Tulloch Stables has here, with lots of potential for the future.

6 — STAN THE CADDY (ENG)   Owner: Pompeya Thoroughbred Racing Corp.

Odds: 7/1   (Rainbow Quest X Sadler’s Wells X Gone West)

The highest speed figure this six year old son of Rainbow Quest has ever had is 111, which fits nicely with this field. Four times, Stan The Caddy has run 108’s, and luckily, two of those four came in his last two starts. Two starts back, he won the $100,000 International Stakes in Dubai and in his last outing, on April 2, he finished third in the To Die For Turf Mile Stakes in Portugal. Stan The Caddy has 29 starts and 16 in the money finishes in his career, but that win in Dubai was the only stakes win of his career. He’s only got a little shy of $200,000 in earnings in his career, but he’s got some nice speed numbers coming into the Sydney Mile. Can he run with the class of horses he’ll be seeing on Saturday? Time can only tell, since he’s really only tried this caliber of stakes company before, and that was way back in January of last year in the Buddy Boy Mile Stakes, a grade three event worth $800,000. Stan The Caddy isn’t the flashiest runner in this field, earnings-wise, but he’s certainly got the pedigree and the recent form to hang with this bunch. The only concern here might be a really quick turnaround from his last race.

7 — SADLER’S DUKE (IRE)    Owner: Royal Belgian Kempen Farm

Odds: 4/1   (Duke of Marmalade (IRE) X Sadler’s Wells X Secretariat)

While we’re talking about numbers, Sadler’s Duke has nearly $1.7 million in earnings in his career, and he’s one of the younger, and most lightly raced, horses in this field at 4 years old. Here are some impressive numbers for you. Sadler’s Duke only raced twice as a two year old, starting off with speed figures of 84 and 90. It sure didn’t take Sadler’s Duke very long to break the 100 speed figure barrier. Five races, to be exact. And he didn’t do it by ducking the tough races. He’s had five wins and three places in his 12 starts. His biggest payday by far came in his last outing on March 26. Sadler’s Duke finished second in the $5 million dollar Grade 1 Sand Castle Duty Free in Dubai, which is a half furlong more than he’ll be seeing here in Victoria on Saturday. But the one thing, out of all those big races and impressive numbers, that really sticks out on Sadler Duke’s resume is the consecutive number of races with 100 + speed figures. He’s had seven consecutive races with speed figures topping 100+. And he’s 7-3-3-0 in those starts. This horse blew out a 117 speed figure in his last race in Dubai, and if he comes anywhere close to that on Saturday, he could very well end up with the biggest number of all. The $1.2 million share of the winner’s purse.

8 — MOTEL COWBOY SHOW (KY)    Owner: Slowjet Stables

Odds: 7/1   (Medaglia D’Oro X Kingmambo X Giant’s Causeway)

Like Argyle Star, Motel Cowboy Show started off his career on the dirt, before his owner quickly switched him to turf. After three consecutive dirt losses, Motel Cowboy Show didn’t take long to show his owner he belonged on the green stuff, where he reeled off three consecutive wins, the last of which was a Grade 3 stakes win where he popped a 105 speed figure early last year. Since that April 24 stakes race last year, Motel Cowboy Show has only had one race where he’s dipped below the 100 speed figure mark. He’s only had one win during that streak on the turf since spring of last season, when he won a $26,000 allowance in Paris at 8.5 furlongs. Since switching back to a mile in his last three races, this 4 year old son of Medaglio D’Oro has seen his speed figures jump markedly, and he just might be ready to tackle this group here in Victoria on Saturday. Look for more improvement from Motel Cowboy Show in this spot.