Blitzkreig On Turf: The Grade 2 Rheinstone
Hang on to your hats, and fasten your seat belts. There’s going to be a turf war, literally, in Germany on Saturday. Usually, a mid-summer graded turf stakes race for stayers–like the $500,000 12-furlong Grade 2 Rheinstone–will provide you with one, maybe two, rematches of horses who have seen each other at least once before at some point in the last couple years of their careers, depending on their ages. That’s because major turf stakes races for stayers are huge world-wide events, and there are quite a few around this time of year for three year olds and up. We at the Black Type Bugler went to the trouble of looking it up for you. And we found that there are an amazing 7 graded stakes races between 10-16 furlongs for three year olds and up (open) this weekend and next weekend alone. So, owners can ship their horses around, if they’re of a mind to, avoiding rivals. That won’t be the case in Germany this Saturday. This year, in the 2011 version of the Grade 2 Rheinstone, we have five rematches for you, and those rematches don’t go back seasons. We’re talking about five rematches–count ‘em, five–in this race alone that have taken place since mid-May of this year. That makes this Grade 2 Rheinstone not just a simple two-horse rivalry race within a race, but a very personal duke-it-out, last-horse-standing rivalry race on more than a few levels–for more than just a few horses. We’re going to have a lot of major skirmishes for bragging rights going on within the big battle in Germany on Saturday. There’s Minot and Stray Dog, to start off with. Those two met last time out in the Grade 1 Greatest Show On Turf Stakes in South Africa. Advantage to Stray Dog who won that race, and now Minot is looking for some revenge after his fourth place finish. Then we have El Samurai and Unguentum, who met in the Grade 2 Yorkshire Plate in Surrey on May 14. Advantage to El Samurai, who won that race, and who also happens to be the hot horse coming into Germany Saturday, having won four straight. Unguentum, the longest shot in this race, has been resting since the Yorkshire Plate, waiting for a rematch with El Samurai. There’s also Red Fog here, who finished tenth last time out in the Grade 1 Kakarazuka Kinen in Japan, behind Iwillmakeyoufamous, who finished second there. Red Fog has revenge on the brain, no doubt, as he looks to rebound from a stinging defeat in that very rich Japanese race. Iwillmakeyoufamous pops up again on our rivalry radar with Consumed By Chaos, as those two met a couple starts back in Malaysia in the Grade 2 Singapore Cup on May 14. Advantage to Consumed By Chaos, who finished fourth there, with Iwillmakeyoufamous right behind him in fifth. And the last rematch we have taking place on Saturday is between Minot and Endzweck, who squared off against each other on May 28 in the Grade 2 Grand Prix in Deauville. Minot got the best of Endzweck on that day, when Minot finished third and Endzweck finished sixth. It’s so hard to keep up with all the rivalries in this race, that we’ll just call it The Paper-Covers-Rock-Smashes-Scissors-Cuts-Paper Turf War, German style. It’s going to be a very intriguing race on Saturday in Germany, with a ton of horses who are very, very familiar with each other–half of whom are looking to extract some sort of revenge on their rivals. Here is the field for the running of the $500,000 12-furlong Grade 2 Rheinstone, for three year olds and up, on Germany’s turf course on Saturday. 1 — TEN CIRCLE (KY) Owner: Checkmate2 Stables (checkmate2) Odds: 11/1 (Rock Hard Ten x Secretariat x Round Table) One of the few horses in here who doesn’t have a recent common race with any of the others is Ten Circle, a five year old son of Rock Hard Ten owned by Checkmate2 Stables. In fact, Ten Circle only has two graded stakes appearances his entire career and only one listed stakes win. He’s doing great in allowance company, and he’s been throwing some pretty nice speed figures there. His last graded try was in the Grade 3 Honey Do in April, where he was a well beaten tenth. Ten Circle is trying to use this race to break into the stakes club, so to speak. A win here would go a long way toward getting him some recognition in the long turf router division. He’s definitely not the longest shot in this field by any means, and he’s got a really respectable strike rate in his 30 starts (ten wins and nine other in-the-money finishes). He hasn’t seen the winner’s circle in a while, the last time being in a big money 11-furlong open allowance field in Kentucky in November of last year. A win here would go a long way towards putting this guy on the map. He’ll have to do it coming from off the pace, because that’s the way he likes to run. He’s been running mostly in 11 furlong races lately and gaining ground late, so maybe this extra furlong will help him here in the Grade 2 Rheinstone. 2 — MINOT (KY) Owner: Timmn Stables (pirat) Odds: 11/1 (Street Cry (IRE) x Giant Glory (Giant’s Causeway x Danzig)) Minot has a couple common races with two others he’ll be facing on Saturday in Germany. He finished fourth behind Stray Dog when that one won the Grade 1 Greatest Show On Turf in South Africa on July 2, and before that, Minot finished third in the Grade 2 Grand Prix in Deauville, just ahead of sixth place finisher Endzweck. Minot’s only four years old, but he’s won five of his 18 starts, including a win in the Grade 3 Classic Trial in Surrey in April of last year. That’s his only graded stakes win to date. He went nearly a year after that before he would see the winner’s circle again, in an 11-furlong allowance event in Japan back in March of this year. Minot’s had some pretty decent speed figures lately, especially when he popped a 110 in that allowance win in Japan in March. In his last seven starts, he’s only been under the triple digit speed figure mark twice, and one of those came in that fourth place finish last time out in the big South Africa. He’s another here who really needs this win to get his career kick started. Unlike Ten Circle, Minot has a graded win, but another here in Germany this weekend wouldn’t hurt the colt owned by Timmn Stables at all in his quest for recognition on the world stage. 3 — STRAY DOG (IRE) Owner: Houseriot Riot (flemington) Odds: 9/1 (High Chaparral (IRE) x FSU Bulldog (War Chant x Mr. Prospector)) The five year old son of High Chaparral is ranked 14th in the long turf older males division, despite having only two graded wins on his resume. The main reasons he’s ranked as high as he is? (1) Both of his wins are grade 1’s, and (2) he’s also had a string of 11 consecutive races where he either won or finished in the money over a span of 14 months dating from August of 2009 to October of 2010. This shows exactly how consistent a top flight runner can be when handled properly, and Houseriot Riot knows how to handle their horses. Stray Dog got his first graded win in the $500,000 Grade 1 Jockey’s Weapon Stakes in Italy in October of last year. That was the last race of his streak of 11 win or in-the-money finishes. The streak ended immediately after that in the big $6 million Andrew Cote Japan Classic. But Stray Dog has been coming back lately, especially after he threw the highest speed figure (110) of his career last time out, when he won the Grade 1 Greatest Show On Turf in South Africa. That was probably the best race of Stray Dog’s career. He stalked the early leaders, laying about six lengths off the pace midway through the race before pouncing on the leaders on the turn for home. He drew off and beat The Bodyguard, who’s got over $1.4 million dollars in earnings in his career. If that race didn’t take too much out of Stray Dog, look for him to perform much the same in this spot in Germany on Saturday. 4 — CONSUMED BY CHAOS (KY) Owner: MTK and GALLOPLAZ SIM Joint Venture (mtkplaz2) Odds: 8/1 (Bernardini x Peacefull Predator (Storm Cat x Pleasant Colony)) Consumed By Chaos has been hitting the graded stakes trail–and hitting it hard–of late. His last three races have all been huge. He ran sixth in the $1.2 million Sanka High in Japan three starts back, before he finished fourth in the $2 million Singapore Cup two starts ago. Then in his last start, he scored his first graded win of his career in the Grade 2 Einstein, right here in Germany, where he’ll be racing on Saturday. And he did it in wire to wire fashion, beating $7 million dollar earner Portman’s Perfect. The four year old son of Bernardini started off his career on the dirt, where it took him five starts to break his maiden, and when he couldn’t win an allowance in two tries, his owner put him on the grass, and he blew up on that surface. Three starts into his grass career, he was finishing third in the Grade 1 Irish Derby, and then Consumed By Chaos followed that up with a couple of second place finishes in the Grade 2 Guillaume and the Grade 2 Early Months Stakes, where he threw the highest speed figure (111) of his career up to that point. That streak of three in-the-money-finishes in big graded events took its toll on the son of Bernardini, but he’s back in form now, throwing triple digit speed figures once again. He looks like he’s ready here. He’s going to be on the front end Saturday, that much is fairly certain. Consumed By Chaos has a lot of early speed. And he’ll have to be careful he doesn’t burn himself out too early Saturday in the 12-furlong Rheinstone. There isn’t a whole lot of early speed here to run with him, so he’ll likely find himself all alone on the front end early. This is going to be a pretty dangerous horse here Saturday, if his speed figures of late have any say in the matter. 5 — RAPID APPROACH (ENG) Owner: Foto Finish (redhill2) Odds: 8/1 (New Approach (IRE) x Mill Reef x Irish River (FR)) Rapid Approach’s career has been rather like Consumed By Chaos’ career of late. This four year old scratch-bred son of New Approach was doing rather well early on in his career before he switched to a couple of dirt races, and he really hadn’t been involved in the stakes scene at all–until lately. In March he started in a string of five consecutive stakes races, three of them of the graded type. He’s won three of the five, all in pretty convincing fashion, including the Grade 2 Sandy Ray Stakes and the Grade 2 Longstickgoboom Stakes in Berkshire two starts back. He threw the second highest speed figure of his career in that race (111). All in all, if you throw out his last start–an eighth place finish in the Grade 1 King Geoff And Queen Beth’s Emerald Stakes, this horse has been on a major league tear, winning seven of his last ten starts. He was facing the cream of the cream last time out in that Grade 1 King Geoff’s race in Berkshire, where ten of the fourteen starters had won a million dollars or more in their careers, including King Tachyon, Signs Of Change, Out Of Spite, and a few others who are way up there in the ozone layer in earnings. We don’t think Rapid Approach did badly at all in that race, considering that Signs Of Change and King Tachyon, the first two finishers, were ten-plus lengths ahead of the rest of the field at the wire. Those two simply outclassed that bunch. Rapid Approach won’t be dazzled by a ton of millionaires here in Germany on Saturday, that much is certain. And he just might be ready to win this Grade 2 Rheinstone. The only concern here is the quick turnaround (July 23) from that start. If he’s recovered sufficiently, there’s very little evidence to contradict a return to his winning ways. 6 — RED FOG (KY) Owner: Jeffsbarn Stables (bigspruce) Odds: 5/1 (Seeking The Gold x Theatrical Fog (Theatrical (IRE) x Danzig)) Consider this. Since March of last year, Red Fog has run in 14 consecutive graded stakes races–and he’s won a ton of money doing it ($25,000 shy of $5 million). Of those 14 races, eight were grade 1’s, four were grade 2’s and two were grade 3’s. Wow! There’s little wonder this guy is one of the co-favorites here at 5-1. What’s more incredible is that this five year old son of Seeking The Gold has only 22 career starts, with 16 top three finishes. Considering that 14 of those races were graded types, that’s a staggering statistic. He stumbled badly last time out, when he finished tenth in the Grade 1 Kakarazuka Kinen Cup in Japan, a race he finished second in a year ago. But don’t let that last start fool you. It was only the second time in those 14 graded starts that he didn’t pick up a check. And it was the first time in 18 starts that he didn’t throw a triple digit speed figure. What an incredible run for Red Fog it’s been. Is he wearing down now? We don’t think so. With only 22 career starts, this guy still has plenty left in the tank. And let’s not forget that he’s ranked 17th in the world in the older males long turf division. He might be due for a bit of a break, but it’s been a long time since we’ve come across a horse like this who’s been able to run as consistently well for this extended a period of time–and earn a ton of cash while doing it. A very dangerous one in this spot indeed, Red Fog is simply oozing class coming into Germany. 7 — BEEZAL (NZ) Owner: Tees (Whisper) Stables (kela) Odds: 12/1 (Zabeel (NZ) x Club Wondering (Sadler’s Wells x Explosive Bid)) Beezal is like Red Fog, in a way. He, too, didn’t take long at all to jump into the stakes scene after starting his career as a late two year old. After he broke his maiden and won an allowance race in his first two starts, he hit the stakes scene immediately. His first big graded win wouldn’t come until November of 2009 when he won the Grade 1 Vicky Derby in Victoria with a speed figure that equaled the highest of his career up to that point (106). Since then, he’s only won two races, both allowances, in November and December of last season. But this five year old son of Zabeel has been running in some tough company. He’s got a little over $1.1 million in career earnings in 28 starts. He’s a little inconsistent in the speed figure department, unlike Red Fog, but he’s still throwing some nice numbers. He’s 12/1 in this spot, but let’s remember what he did last time out when he was 10/1 in the $750,000 Grade 1 United Countries Handicap. As the third longest shot in that race, he was ten lengths behind the leaders halfway through the 11-furlong United Countries. And on the far turn, he put on a spectacular rally, swinging off the rail and going four wide, to lose by a length and three quarters in finishing third in that spot. He’ll get an extra furlong here, and that might be just what he needs to get into the winner’s circle on Saturday. He was flying late last time out, and he’ll probably be doing the same here. He might need a speed duel on the front end to help him out a bit. Beezal could do some serious damage here in Germany on Saturday. This is precisely the kind of race he likes. 8 — EL SAMURAI (JAP) Owner: Fernando Empire (fpv) Odds: 10/1 (King Kamehameha (JAP) x Leilia (Danehill x Gone West)) El Samurai can say one thing that no other horse in this race can say–if he could talk, that is. I’m on a four-race win streak, and none of you are….so there! No, seriously, it’s 8:19 in the morning, Central US time, and my husband is making fun of my pink snuggie on Skype, while Craig Ferguson was just talking about the three questions you should ask yourself before you type anything on the internet: (1) Does this need to be said? (2) Does this need to be said by me? (3) Does this need to be said by me now?. And of course, I’m totally ignoring the Scottish comedian here, because here’s what needs to be said by me now about El Samurai. This four year old son of King Kamehameha is one serious racehorse who is really starting to heat up. He really didn’t do much as a two year old, or even as a three year old, except maybe make everyone angry that they didn’t claim him for $5,000 in April of 2010 when they had the chance. (And there were also eight other chances to claim this horse, albeit at a considerably higher price.) If someone had claimed him, that person would be the proud owner of a horse who just won two graded stakes races in his last three starts and who also threw the highest speed figure of his career in his last win in the prestigious Grade 2 Princess Of Whales Stakes (112). And three starts back, he beat the number one ranked horse in the older males long turf division, Out Of Spite, in the Grade 2 Yorkshire Plate. Not bad for a former $5,000 claimer, eh? He only has six triple digit speed figure races in his entire career, but five of those have come his last five times out. He’s gone from 100 to 112 speed figures in those five races, and his owner is pretty darned smart. This owner saw this coming and literally pounced on the stakes races. Here’s another impressive number for you. El Samurai has not finished outside the top five in his last 21 starts. This horse can win this race, and we’re not kidding. The other thing we think we know about El Samurai is that we seriously doubt anyone will ever have a chance to claim this horse again. That ship has already sailed, so don’t even go there. El Samurai is a serious horse in a serious race that we think you‘re going to be hearing a lot more about in the future. 9 — PROUD SOULS (KY) Owner: Desperado Stables (desperado3) Odds: 7/1 (Awesome Again x A.P. Indy x Northern Dancer) Proud Souls is pretty much the antithesis of El Samurai. He’s been to all the places that El Samurai wants to go, and he’s probably won most of those races in most of those places. He’s a six year old son of Awesome Again who didn’t start racing until October of his three year old season. He’s got 29 starts, and he’s thrown triple digit speed figures in all but six of those 29 starts. Unfortunately, two of those non-triple digit speed figures have been in his last two outings. He did win last time out, in a $22,000 allowance race in Italy. But he was probably pretty much geared down late in that spot, and he also probably wasn’t running full blow while doing just enough to win. Proud Souls has won nearly $6.6 million in his career, so this guy deserves a big round of applause as he heads into the twilight of his career. He really does. And let’s not totally discount his chances of winning this Grade 2 Rheinstone in Germany this Saturday. He’s won far bigger races than this, against far better horses at the time. He’s been there, done that, got the t-shirt. In fact, he’s got just about all the t-shirts. This horse has picked up a check in 15 graded stakes races during his career. And that deserves a lot of respect. Let’s also not forget that this horse has thrown speed figures like 110 and 108 as recently as three and four starts back. And that, my friends, might just be good enough to win this race on Saturday–if he can run back to that form. 10 — ENDZWECK (IRE) Owner: Astin’s Other Place (mharris) Odds: 8/1 (Sadler’s Wells x Dela Groom T (Gone West x Blushing Groom)) This five year old son of Sadler’s Wells can break the million dollar mark in earnings with a top two finish here Saturday in Germany. He’s been around a while, not as much as Proud Souls, maybe, but he’s been in a few graded stakes races in his 24 starts–17 of which, by the way, have been in the money. He hasn’t raced since May 28, so he’s coming off a bit of a rest. This horse still has some good racing left in him. His crowning achievement came in July of last year, when he won the Grade 1 United Countries Handicap. His last two starts have been pretty impressive, speed figure-wise, at least. He won the Grade 3 CEO Classic in America in April, throwing a 110 speed figure in that race. Then he ran into a pretty tough bunch in the Grade 1 Grand Prix (his last race) back in May, where he finished sixth, but he still threw a 103 speed figure there. Endzweck probably needs a bit of a rest to return to the proper form that we all know he’s capable of. And the odds makers must think pretty highly of his chances Saturday, because they made him 8-1 in this spot. Watch out for a horse like this coming off a rest. In the past, Endzweck has shown he might need a start off a layoff before he really gets rolling again, but you never know. He could jump up and surprise this group on Saturday. 11 — UNGUENTUM (IRE) Owner: Dimitri Stables (dimitri) Odds: 16/1 (Dylan Thomas (IRE) x Mama Robin (Dixieland Band x Mr. Prospector)) The longest shot in this field is Unguentum, a four year old son of Dylan Thomas who only has three triple digit speed figure races in his career. Three starts ago, Unguentum threw a 109 speed figure, the highest as well as the first triple digit speed figure in his career, while romping to an easy win in a 12-furlong allowance event in Ireland. After that, he came back and tossed a 104 speed figure while romping to his second consecutive open lengths win in the first stakes race of his career, the 13-furlong Mighty Dancer Turf Endurance Stakes in Taiwan. Then he shipped back to Europe and tried graded stakes company for the first time in the 14-furlong Grade 2 Yorkshire Plate. He was beaten pretty soundly there, but that race was probably a lot longer than this guy would like, not to mention the fact that the field was loaded with tough, seasoned graded stakes horses, including a couple of million dollar plus earners in El Samurai and Out Of Spite, who finished 1-2 in that race. He’s dropping back down to 12 furlongs now in Germany on Saturday, and if he can throw the kind of speed figure he did three races back, Unguentum might just be around to pick up the pieces late in the Grade 2 Rheinstone. At 16/1, it’s not totally out of the question to think this horse can rise to the occasion in this spot. 12 — IWILLMAKEYOUFAMOUS (KY) Owner: Willyam13 Stables (legion lurk) Odds: 5/1 (Kingmambo x Fromrockstorubble (Rock Hard Ten x Dynaformer)) Willyam13 Stables sends out the other 5-1 morning line co-favorite in this race. His name is Iwillmakeyoufamous, and you know what? He probably will make this stable very, very famous. You usually don’t see a horse like this in this type of race installed as the co-favorite on the morning line, simply because he doesn’t have a whole lot of stakes experience, like a few of these here do. But what Iwillmakeyoufamous does have are some outrageously high speed figures. Holy moly! This guy is rounding into shape at just the right time here. He threw his first triple digit speed figure race almost exactly one year ago to the day that he’ll take the track on Saturday in Germany, when he finished second in a $46,000 allowance event in Kentucky. It didn’t take this guy long to make a big impression on the turf world after that. Two starts later, he was tossing a 119 speed figure in the 10-furlong Grade 3 Allison Stakes in New Zealand. That’s right, you read it correctly. A 119 speed figure! That race sure opened up a few eyes in the turf world and made more than a few people sit up and take notice of Iwillmakeyoufamous. His speed figures went south just a tad in his next two starts. Then, three starts ago, he went on a speed figure rampage again when he popped a 113 in the 10-furlong Grade 2 Hardcourt in Paris in March. He won easily there, over a pretty nice bunch. After a sixth place finish in the $2 million Grade 1 Singapore Cup in Malaysia, where he threw a 107 speed figure while finishing just behind Consumed By Chaos, he again went crazy wild with the speed figures in his next start. On June 28, in the $2.5 million Kakarazuka Kinen Cup in Japan, he went off the wall, throwing a 113 speed figure but losing by a ¼ of a length to Detox Poncho, who has won nearly $2 million on the track and is the 27th ranked horse in the older males long turf division category. This guy has been throwing some silly high speed figures, and if he goes off on this bunch Saturday, he could easily win by open lengths. This field is not nearly as tough as that bunch in Japan last time out, so look for Iwillmakeyoufamous to be a serious contender here on Saturday. This horse could win this race, and you could be waiting a second or two before the second place finisher crosses the wire–if he throws the kind of speed figures he’s shown he’s capable of in the past. Watch this one on Saturday. He’s dangerous horse that’s on speed figure rampage of late.