Grade 1 High Flyer Stakes – Wide Open Affair
Sorry for stealing and already way-too-often-stolen poem, but…
’twas the week before Breeder’s Bowl, and all thru the Sim,No big races were running, the race-cards looked grim…
Um, WAIT! That might be an at least some valid statement on the North American side, but the full 14-horse field entered in the Grade 1 High Flyer Stakes demonstrates that there is plenty of fine racing abroad. Quality and potential abounds in this group of 2yo colts and one filly that will face off over a grassy mile at Surrey; while they may not be running in the “Sim racing Super Bowl”, any of these, maybe even several of them could very well prove good enough to be among the Sim Elites in the near future.
This incredibly deep and wide-open affair should be a great one for viewing…
GIANT RACK has the rail and 8/1 odds. This Giant’s Causeway colt had a little trouble breaking his maiden for redhill9, but blossomed when stretched out to 2-turn racing and is undefeated in such races. He has settled just off the leaders, then blown past them in both his wins. He tries stakes company for the first time here, but has a good shot at a minor upset.
EVEN THE COUNT has plenty of experience, but no stakes wins to his credit; however, he’s ranked #35 and just missed in the Grade 2 Summertime Stakes last time out while earning a highly-competitive 88 speed rating. This Even The Score colt doesn’t appear to have a lot of company in the pure-early-speed department here, and the bushmonste trainee will be dangerous if he’s able to break free on a long lead. The 11/1 odds are rather tempting for one with a chance to “steal the race”.
SEISMOGRAPH is looking to shake up the 2yo turf world (Sorry, sometimes I can’t help myself) for walmtk at 10/1. He was a close-up 4th behind EVEN THE COUNT last time out, but his odds are slightly lower, probably due to his fashionable Indian Charlie x Storm Cat pedigree. Maybe the CPU thinks more improvement is possible… Could be, who knows?
ROZELLE MILAN won a restricted stakes last time out, beating a huge 20-horse field in a style similar to that of GIANT RACK and earning a nice 88 speed rating. This is only the undefeated Medaglia D’Oro colt’s 3nd start, and could be headed for a fabulous Sim career. Just how good is this bjbanditbp trainee? He’s one of three 8/1 third-choices in this fabulously wide-open race.
BUDA DEL SOL faded to 10th last time out in the Grade 2 Royal Dodge stakes, but only was 5 lengths back at the wire while improving to an 86 speed rating. The kiwi trainee has only a maiden win, but has accounted well for himself in all three of his 2-turn attempts. The Redoute’s Choice colt will need a bit more improvement to cash in here at 11/1, but is not without a shot to do some damage.
TOO DISCREET is the only true longshot in this field, getting 31/1 odds from the CPU. The Discreetly Mine colt made his turf debut last time out, running a decent 3rd in an allowance while getting his fastest-ever speed rating at 75. Obviously, this adschus04 trainee is “in deep” and would be a big surprise.
M.A.S.H. has a career profile remarkable similar to that of GIANT RACK; trouble breaking maiden until waking up bigtime when stretched out, then taking two straight wins. Even the speed numbers are nearly identical, and the racing styles are pretty similar. Were these two separated at birth? This Dylan Thomas colt, trained by willowisp3, gets longer 12/1 odds, but certainly could get this done on his best day.
SOME KINDA DANCER gets 9/1 odds off his fine pair of out-of-the-clouds wins and makes his stakes debut. Trainer vinery has procured a strong 27% rider for his Shamardal colt, who also makes his 2-turn debut. Lots of questions, but this guy could very well have the right answers when all is said and done.
DEEPHOLM has the fastest speed rating here, an 89 earned while finishing 4th last time out in the Grade 2 Royal Dodge stakes at this distance. Of course, that only one point better than ratings several others here have earned; this shows just how wide-open this race is. The tazvshags-trained Deep Impact colt is one of the 8/1 bunch. Can he take advantage of his apparent home-course edge? Maybe…
SKUNK CROSSING is a Cape Cross filly who seems to be getting better with each start, but her top speed of 83 is a bit short of the top ones here and she will need her very best effort and then some. Trainer skunkbred wins a high percentage, though, and can’t ever really be counted out. Still, the 10/1 odds in this loaded field seem a bit low.
MINED is the most-experienced here in terms of Graded racing, but he has only one 3rd in those four Graded tries. Of course, we can toss the first try, he appears to have hated the stuff, but that still leaves those other three… The digginin trainee has shown some closing ability, and the Came Home colt tries 2-turning for the first time, so maybe… 14/1 odds on this guy, which seems pretty accurate.
TWIN OF QUEENSLAND has an interesting career pattern… The Twining colt started pretty nicely on dirt, but bombed in a Graded try. Trainer he ran in the same 20-horse restricted turf stakes won by ROZELLE MILAN where he responded with a huge closing rush to be 2nd. Apparently, graywolf6 decided that the distance was the greater factor in his colt’s improvement and he sent him to America for the prestigious Grade 1 End Of The Line Futurity. He did improve a little to an 86, but finished 9th. Now, he comes back just four weeks later after re-crossing the Pond to take on this bunch. Ya never know, it could work… But it’s asking a lot. The CPU responds by making him a 7/1 co-favorite, showing yet again how wide open this race is.
SO MANY CHANGES had a lot of trouble finding the winner’s circle early on, but he’s finding his stride nicely now in 2-turn turf racing. Like TWIN OF QUEENSLAND, he last raced four weeks ago at Eastern Kentucky and flies over for this chance. The Eavesdropper colt is trained by tigereyes and gets 14/1 odds. Might be coming into his own now, but will need to progress a good bit.
SOLOMON SEA is the other 7/1 co-favorite, and is also the main threat to any attempt by EVEN THE COUNT to grab a long early lead. Sired by the ultra-hot Sea The Stars and trained by excellent conditioner lasthope, he tried Graded company last time out, and faded badly in the slightly longer Grade 3 Wooden Reserve stakes. Despite the low odds, this one appears to have quite a bit to prove in order to be around at the end here.
Wow, quite a field! Now I gotta handicap this…
Yeah, right! Could very well have a eight-horse photo!
My wild guesses are: SOME KINDA DANCER, EVEN THE COUNT, and ROZELLE MILAN.
Good luck all!