Spearville, Run With The Pack co-faves at North Dakota
North Dakota– Some easy money to be made this week in the featured $40,000 Secret Hill Bonanza for 3 year olds and up. Only five runners target the grassy 10 furlongs — still it’s a good opportunity to pick up not only cheque, but also a possible black type winner’s circle prize.
On the rail, darthmaul stable sends out the richest runner in the field: Hawk’s Heir (5/2). The veteran 6YO Kingmambo horse should provide the pace and attracts top jockey W. Von Wedel. The horse’s biggest claim-to-fame was his win in 2004’s Windy City Turf Classic(G1). It’s multi-million-dollar purse boosted Hawk’s bankroll to way over $1-million at the time….. but he hasn’t won much other than that. Indeed, he’s only won once in his past 8 outings — could be slowing down while approaching 40 career starts too.
On the other hand, mark881’s Run With The Pack (3/2) is still in his prime. The Raise A Man son is a 6YO too, but he only has 27 starts in the bank. A pretty good grass sprinter, the big boy’s recently returned to route running. He sprung from midpack a few starts ago to capture a listed event over 9.5f in good time. Excellent chance to record his 9th career win if he can wear down the soft pacesetter Hawk’s Heir and outgame closer Spearville to the wire.
And closer Spearville (3/2) breaks from post 3. The A.P. Indy colt has been to the post 29 times despite being a young’un in this field at age 4. Spearville predominantly tests a furlong less than the classic 10f…. but the colt did close to just miss in Grade 2 company starts back over this distance. The vampire3 trainee hopes to bounce back from running a 100 SP# as an also-ran over 9f graded comapny LTO. Great spot with a top jockey in the irons — will have to keep Run With The Pack within his sights in order to outrun the stalker to the wire.
The race’s pair of longshots close out the field in posts 4 and 5 respectively:
- Troync2’s Former Devil (20/1) could be a live sleeper. The 4YO colt broke his maiden after 6 outings when he at long last had 10f to navigate. The Dynaformer son hasn’t looked back since, winning three straight 10f ALWs in dominating fashion. Pretty low SP#s though, but, hey, that’s all he needed! Hmmm… look for ‘Devil alongside fellow closer Spearville. Has to pass the class test, but this is a great spot for his black type debut. Interesting.
- At age 3, ajr13’s Blushing Dubai (7/1) presides as the baby of the field…. even though he’s been to the post more than Former Devil (14 starts to 9). The Dubai Destination son is another sleeper. He finally found his groove, bagging three straight 10f ALWs, including a triumph over his elders. The far off pace closer has yet to break the 100 SP# barrier, but could approach it here in this soft spot. Excellent race spotting after the Grade 2 debacle. Very interesting.
Snowchief’s Picks:
Spearville seems to be the best closer of this bunch at the moment. Hawk’s Heir is past it, so Run With The Pack should easily pick up the place. Then again, one of the closer longshots could light up the tote with a career best performance.
Win: Spearville
Place: Blushing Dubai
Show: Run With The Pack or Former Devil
Good luck to all.