That Toddlin’ Turf Classic!
The 2011 Windy City Turf Classic is LOADED with spectacular talent!
Three of the Top Ten in the Turf Router Division are in… There are graded-stakes wins galore throughout the Bugler PP’s… Only one of the runners hasn’t won at least one graded race, and he was 2nd in his only try.
This race should be a must-see on any Sim fan’s Raceviewer calendar!
COMEBACK CAT starts from the rail at 4/1. Ranked #3, all this guy has done is pile up five Graded wins since nemesis1 picked him up in a high-priced claimer 11 months ago. A son of the late, great Storm Cat, he loves the 10-furlong distance and looks to makes amends after his four-race win streak was snapped as the favorite last time out in the G1 Eclipsed Stakes.
MOSKOVSKAYA did just the opposite thing last time out; the 5th-ranked Dynaformer colt broke a four-race losing streak, and in truly impressive fashion. Comes back just 3 weeks after that effort. In this race, super10 hopes to have his star turn the tables on the “Cat”, having lost to him in the G1 Movieland Turf Cup two starts back. He goes at 9/2.
SANDOR is ranked #18 and has a solid record that would make him amongst the favorites in almost any field; not here, however. The 4yo New Approach colt, with a G1 win and a few near-misses in other graded races, is left at 10/1 by that mean ol’ CPU. Trainer sangster hopes his speedy colt will have enough left in the tank to hold ’em off late, but this is a tall order even though the only one to beat him last time out was none other than superb distance specialist Faraday Cage.
RICCIARELLI, ranked #24, finished a few lengths behind Sandor last time out and won the G1 Prince Of Whales for catspaw2 just before that. He goes off at 9/1 here, yet another testament to the overall quality of this bunch. This 4yo Pivotal colt has much game, but might be in a bit deep here. Still, can’t totally throw this one out of your exotic bets…
HOWLING WIND has had an unusual career full of longish layoffs; these seem to have only made him better! Back in the spring/summer of 2010, he took four months off and returned with a strong allowance win. He only raced two more times in 2010, both powerful allowance wins. Once again, he wasn’t seen on the track for over four months, but returned with a huge allowance win. Then, u2love kept his amazing 5yo son of Singspiel in training and brought him back a few weeks later to dominate in the G1 NY Island Cap with his 2nd straight 112 speed rating. This was his Graded debut; Just HOW good can this one be? Oh, yeah… It’s been nine weeks since that win, a mini-layoff. This is one interesting 7/1 shot.
OUTER HAVEN goes off as the lukewarm 7/2 favorite despite being one of the many that Howling Wind beat in the G1 NY Island Cap. Of course, he has raced since then and picked up his 4th Graded win of 2011 in the G3 Chicago Handicap, beating two others of today’s field in the process. Trainer checkmate2 wins a lot, but lost in the jockey shuffle for P Munoz to Comeback Cat. 5yo son of Mineshaft has questions, but should be in there swinging.
KING KAJINSKYHA comes in ranked #35, but has questions to answer after a disastrous G3 Weld Stakes effort just three weeks ago. Trainer newastin17 hopes to see a return to the quality of his 4yo King Kamehameha colt’s glistening G2 Kinsho Cho Classic win. He has run well in a number of previous short-interval races, so the 7/1 shot could be dangerous.
Despite being a winner of over $3 million, COZY BEND seems to have lost his way and will need a major turnaround to have much effect in this monster field. The rlogan trainee goes off at a relatively low 11/1, so the CPU respects the bloodlines and past-class of this 5yo son of Refuse To Bend.
POTOSI is taking another run at the bigtime after flirting with stardom during his 2009 and 2011 seasons. The 5yo son of Mineshaft had been dropped into allowance racing by gipper7, but did so well there that the trainer decided to take another shot and was rewarded by a strong 2nd in the G3 Chicago Handicap (to Outer Haven). He’s 5/1 here and has a good chance to add some cash to his pocketbook.
Okay, it’s time to try and handicap this very tough race…
After looking it over real hard… My answer is: “I have no clue!”
Therefore, I’m gonna play the “Let’s get a new superstar!” angle and go with the mystery horse, HOWLING WIND to find the winner’s circle.
COMEBACK CAT should be closest, as he tries to get back on that winning track…
OUTER HAVEN can grab the show dough.
Seeya at the Races!