Turf Sprinters Loaded Up for ‘Bear
The CVBear’s Hometown Turf Stakes (Grade III) is sponsored by sim fanatic CVBear. In 2006, CVBear founded the race, then styled the G3 CVBear’s Hometown Handicap, which was run at six furlongs on the main track. The race is named in honor of CVBear’s hometown, Floral Park, New York, and the eponymous stakes race run for many years (usually in September) at Belmont Park.
The inaugural CVBear’s Hometown saw a distinguished field of 12 – eight of which were graded winners at some point in their careers – go to the post. Longshot Aim for the Moon (Woodman) stopped the timer in 1:09 1/5 to take the honors on a crisp September day in New York. Benny Being Benny (More Than Ready) won the 2007 renewal, the first held on New Yorker Day; the multiple Grade I winner held off a determined Dublin Lass to take the prize. Benny Being Benny, a winner of nearly $1.5M, is still active today at age eight; her February 26 victory in Finland gives her at least one stakes win in six consecutive racing seasons. 2008 winner Furion Stage shocked the New York Day crowd, winning as the 12th betting choice in the 14-horse field (SP 109); the daughter of Speightstown won just two stakes races in her career, which was highlighted by her CVBear triumph.
In 2009, CVBear looked to change things up to give more opportunities to the sim by carding this race for the underserved fillies and mares turf sprinters’ division. (An extra half furlong was added to accommodate the layout of the local turf course.) The move turned out to be a great one, as a number of division stars came out for the 2009 edition, which was won by Unfabulous (Borrego), who had just won the G1 Liar Liar three months before. Unfabulous and two others in the field that day ended up winning over a million dollars lifetime, and the field included eight graded winners.
Last year’s race was the key to the late pick six and pick four wagers on a huge wagering day in New York, and was an incredibly difficult betting proposition: 12 horses, four 6-1 co-favorites. Ventrillaquist let her feet do the talking, with a stalk-and-pounce trip en route to an SP 110 victory. The daughter of Red Bullet validated her CVBear form in a win in the prestigious Senator’s Handicap (G3) that fall in California.
Par speed for CVBear’s traditional event is 109.
One of many closers in this bunch, #1 Fit To Romp 10-1 will be placing herself near the tail of the field. The six year-old Cryptoclearance mare hit her peak in the second half of 2009, winning a G3 event at six furlongs (SP 108) and placing in two straight G1 sprints (SPs: 101 and 102). Since then, she has a record of 10-2-2-1 on turf, with the two wins being in conditioned allowance races, and she hasn’t broken SP 100 on grass in 18 months. It’s nice to see that she won two straight against N1y and N2y company, which may act to boost her confidence, but she seems a cut below these.
This race’s benefactor sends out #2 Forty Great Guests 9/2, a seven year-old daughter of Great Pyramid out of the classy producer Nine Ghost (Be My Guest). (This one’s half-brother, I Come to Play, won the Grade 2 Insulin Cap in 2006.) She’s 42-10-9-9 lifetime on the grass for over $327k, and comes off a big 106 SP performance in an allowance race going a furlong longer. But this one hasn’t even tried a stakes race in nearly two years, and has no stakes wins to her credit lifetime… a tough pill to swallow at a short price. You have to give CVBear a lot of credit, though, for claiming this then-four year-old filly out of a $2,500 N2L claiming race! She’ll certainly have a lot of people rooting for her.
#3 Ignorify 9-1 has two recent attempts at the distance: an SP 101 victory in a listed stakes race last out in California and an SP 100 in running seventh in the G3 Las Vegas at that same track in April. She’s only surpassed SP 100 one other time – that in a third place effort at 1 1/16m in Wyoming – and has only one career turf sprint. Still, that win was in her last race, and the four year-old by Mineshaft has every right to step forward. But can she go from never graded-placed to Grade I champion so quickly, and at a distance that might not be her best? It’s a big ask.
#4 High Skunkarral 3/2 may give Arbor Day a good reverse speed-duel for who can be in last place early. This deep closer prefers more ground – in 34 career races, she’s only ventured under seven furlongs once – and why not? Sire High Chapparal won the Epsom Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Turf twice at 12 furlongs. The long-winded daughter of Sadler’s Wells has a tendency for throwing marathoners, and it’s this six year-old mare’s staying tendencies that have allowed her to grind out a couple of minor stakes wins at seven panels. Her closing style leads to a lot of minor awards (13 runner-up finishes vs. just seven wins). She was a good fourth last time out at 7f in a G3 event (SP 110). But can she do the job going this short?
#5 Bank on the Bucks 11-1 is quite a success given a fairly modest pedigree (Fairbanks x Action This Day), having won $253k in 22 races, all on turf. She was devastating here at a juvenile filly, winning the G3 Miss Brillo over this turf course at 1 1/8 miles, and she returned to the scene to beat older as a three year-old in October 2010 at 7.5f in listed company. Is she a sprinter? Tough to tell. Her best-ever speed figure (102) came at seven furlongs but her biggest accomplishment is at nine…ignore a sprint win in May of her two year-old year – when nothing longer was on offer – and she’s never won going this short. Her biggest asset is her horse for course status.
#6 Heaven’s Bells 6-1 (Fusaichi Pegasus) is 1-for-her-last-17. She finished sixth here in this event last year, running an SP 100… that’s a threshold she’s very rarely topped in the last year, and she has the look of an allowance runner at this point. Last stakes win was February 2010, but it was at this distance… while a machine at age three (five stakes wins), she’s really struggled of late and you have to think that this season will be her last on the track. Will make an excellent broodmare.
#7 Arbor Day 3-1 (Forestry) will be flying late if true to form. This four year-old filly by Forestry has beaten a total of three rivals combined to the first call in her last 14 races! When she gets her mind on running, though, look out – she was a hard-charging second in the G3 Las Vegas three back at this distance, closed to be third in the G2 Coolmore in Australia in March, and was third in the G3 Range Rover on Christmas Day in California. Twice a G3 winner (Darling Fred Stakes, April 2010, 7f, SP 93; Winter Gin Special, October 2009, 1m, SP 87) going longer, this filly actually seems to be at her at this distance or at seven furlongs. The SP 107 effort in the Las Vegas at 6 1/2f would put her right there with these. But the late-running style tends to cause a lot of problems at times, and you have to wonder if she needs too much racing luck to flash under the wire first.
If you throw out her last race on ‘good turf’ – which is inhospitable to closers, generally – Arbor Day has run SPs at this distance of 107, 105, and 107. I don’t know that there’s another horse in the field capable of doing that right now at this trip. Her lack of early speed – especially in this paceless field – is a concern, but she seems to otherwise fit here. I’ll tab her on top. Forty Great Guests smells of a sentimental pick but she does have a legitimate chance in here. While lacking in the class that you’d like to see at this level, she has caught a weak field and her last was very good. May be able to sit in behind the leaders and get the jump on the plodding types in here. High Snunkarral is a nice mare but this is too short for her, and she gets no pace to run at. She’ll be picking ‘em up in the lane but I don’t see enough pace pressure to tire many out. She would do a lot better w/ a rabbit stablemate in here. In a race with absolutely no speed, Ignorify may find herself on an uncontested lead. This one doesn’t have a lot of early foot but it is a mathematical certainty that someone will end up out in front. This filly normally stays within striking distance – something few here can say – and she might get very brave if she gets loose. The cagey rider F. Gossett will be well aware of the pace situation.