The McKinnon
Things kickoff in a big way in Victoria with the Grade Two McKinnon Stakes at a mile and one quarter. Eleven runners line up for the $500,000 purse which they will race for over a good turf surface. Favoritism lies with The Strangler, a Grade One winner last season. Three runners made their stakes debuts in their last start and another did it two starts back. The lineup pits these up and comers against older, more established stakes runners. Let’s take a look at the field!
#1 Seize The Star 25/1 bigmoose stables B Couzens rides
Seize The Star is a three year old son of Sea The Stars out of the f-grade Rainbow Quest x Fusaichi Pegasus mare Boudica. This is her only foal. Seize The Star has five wins from twelve starts, all at the maiden special weight and allowance level. In his last six starts he has won at distances of five furlongs, a mile and three eighths and a mile and one sixteenth. He’s tried stakes in his last two starts, finishing third in the Weed Rat Turf Dash at six and one half furlongs with a 101sp and ninth in the Grade Two Cherry Limb Stakes at a mile and one eighth with a 98sp.
#2 Funky Broadway 8/1 super11 stables J Kohlmorgen rides
Funky Broadway is a four year old son of Henrythenavigator out of the c-grade Giant’s Causeway x A.P. Indy mare Grand Causeway. A four time stakes winner as a dirt sprinter, the mare has produced two stakes placed offspring and one stakes winner from four foals. Funky Broadway did not start in his first stakes race until May of this year but he’s compiled a solid record of 6-0-3-1 since. His best race came two starts back in the Grade Three Rennen Classic at a mile and one quarter where he finished second with a career best 110 sp.
#3 Cold Day In Hell 6/1 trembling stables R Bailey rides
Cold Day In Hell is a four year old son of Forestry out of the f-grade Gulch x Sadler’s Wells mare Society Terrorizer. This is her only foal. Second dam was the a-grade Hushwing Hawk a two time grade one winner and earner of over a million dollars. Cold Day In Hell was a grade two winning two year old but he was available for a $25,000 tag late in his three year old season. Snatched up by trembling stables, he’s given his new connections five wins in starters and allowance races. He ran a career best sp of 110 when winning an allowance three starts back at a mile and one eighth. That is the longest he has ever run in his career.
#4 Oopsy Daisy 5/1 opus stables D Dowell rides
Oopsy Daisy is a five year old son of A.P. Indy out of the b-grade Affirmed x Nureyev mare Rhino Daisy. Rhino Daisy has produced two graded winners and one other stakes winner from seven foals. Amazingly her foals have earned over $5,000,000. Oopsy Daisy alone accounts for almost half of that total. This six-time stakes winner went on a tear last year, winning one of each grade of race in three consecutive starts. He has not shown that consistency this year, winning only once in six starts. He did finish fourth last out in the Grade Three The Cup Of Europe at a mile and one quarter with a 107sp, his best run of the year.
#5 False Motive 12/1 deuce2 stables S Nightingale rides
False Motive is a four year old son of Motivator out of the e-grade Dream Well x Out of the Way mare False Reality. He is the only stakes runner from four foals for the mare. False Motive made his stakes debut in his last start, finishing third in the restricted Queensland Derby at a mile and one half. His best career sp came in his previous start, a mile and one quarter allowance which he won handily with a 105.
#6 Goccia Di Limone G 9/1 buxpasser stables R Dogs rides
Goccia Di Limone G is a three year old son of Lemon Drop Kid out of the b-grade Dixie Union x Storm Cat mare Bellissima. He is the only foal for the grade three winner. Goccia Di Limone G also made his stakes debut in his most recent start. He finished second in the Grade Three Delaware Bay at a mile and one eighth with a 109sp, a career best. He has never tried a longer trip. Three of his last four runs have come with 100+ sps.
#7 Rainzapper Ted 19/1 puddinpuss stables B Euler rides
Rainzapper Ted is a four year old son of Ghostzapper out of the f-grade Rainbow Quest x Kris S. mare Rainbows Queue. This is her only foal. Rainbow Ted is the third horse exiting his stakes debut, although unlike the other two he was a winner in that race. He won the mile and one quarter Peter the Great Turf Special at this distance with a 106sp. That was his first time breaking the 100 sp barrier and also his first win of the year.
#8 Jubbly 6/1 tote stables R Kowalkowski rides
Jubbly is a six year old son of Shamardal out of the c-grade Red Bullet x Seattle Slew mare Burchell Hollandia. He is her first foal, the third a three year old of 2011 is already a stakes winner and earner of over half a million dollars. Jubbly was a stakes winner at age three and four but had his best season last year at five. His season was highlighted by a win in the Grade Three National Stakes at a mile and one quarter. This season he has one win from seven starts, an allowance at the same distance. He did finish second in the Grade Three Plaid Skirt at that distance two starts back running a season best 109sp.
#9 The Strangler 7/2 grrm2 stables D Evans rides
The Strangler is a five year old scratch-bred son of Pivotal x Sadler’s Wells x Sharpen Up. An earner of nearly $3,000,000, The Strangler won three stakes last year, topped by the Grade One Coxless Stakes at a mile and one quarter with a 116sp. His record this year is 8-1-1-3 running between a mile and one quarter and a mile and three eighths. His sole win came two starts back in the Grade Three Rennen Classic at a mile and one quarter with a 113sp.
#10 Grim Melee 11/1 cbr601 stables N Hartel rides
Grim Melee is a four year old scratch-bred son of Deep Impact x Deputy Minister x Round Table. Grim Melee was claimed by his current connections for $20,000 in June. Since switching barns he has a 6-1-3-0 record and recorded his first four 100+ sps in his last four starts. He was a strong second in the mile and one eighth Rusty Hawk Turf Route with a 107sp in his stakes debut and then finished fourth in the Texan A.P. Turf Route at a mile and one quarter most recently.
#11 Bad Blake 6/1 gregchilds stables J Cox rides
Bad Blake is a three year old son of Kingmambo based on the f-grade A.P. Indy x Danzig horse Poll Results. Bad Blake was a grade three winner last year but has gone winless in seven starts this season. He’s run solid races, finishing second in the Grade Three Moussac at one mile with a 109sp and ran an almost identical race when second in the Grade Three Untouchable at the same distance with the same sp. He tried running further than one mile in his most recent start, finishing fourth in the mile and three sixteenths Raw Robe Turf Route with a 105sp.
Good luck to all!