Warm and humid conditions will be just part of the battle in this year\u2019s running of the Man Of War Stakes, to be run at New York this week over 11 furlongs. The race record has stood since 2004, and is held by BRISTOL ROVERS, who notched an SP119 when he took out this $500k event. This year, the race looms as a close affair, with the morning line bookies sending out three runners on the top line of betting at 7\/2. The majority of the field has a preferred running style of stalking the early lead, so the jostling for positions early will be interesting, and tactics will play a big part. Lets take a look at the form of each of the runners…<\/p>\n
PP1 DYNAMIQUE (DYNAFORMER x MONTJEU (IRE) x KRIS S.) brightvalr 7\/1
Topliner who is struggling for his best form after a series of big runs to finish off last season and to start his 4yo campaign. Last year he was triumphant in the Grade II The Hogwarts over 12f back in May, which he followed up with a 2nd in the Japanese Derby. Wins in the Grade III Ark Trial and Grade II Flying Carpet Handicap meant he would be ranked as one of the top 3yo turf routers of last year. He held his form for placings in the Grade I King Kong Vase and Grade II Buck Dharma Handicap, before credentials suddenly took a dive, finishing down the track in his last 3 starts, not getting within 15 lengths of the winners. Is bred from a $1mil graded stakes winner in GRAND VICTOIRE, and is a $1mil stakes winner himself, who travels to New York from Australia. The others make more appeal on latest form, but if he can run up to his career best SP116, then he should be prominent at the finish.<\/p>\n
PP2 KING BEE (HENRYTHENAVIGATOR x GIANT’S CAUSEWAY x SEATTLE SLEW) super12 6\/1
The 5yo son of graded winner, SLEW\u2019S GIANT, remains in New York following his last start 6th in the Grade I NY Island Cap, in which he finished a disappointing 6th, and 14 \u00bd lengths from the winner. Before that he was a moderate 7th in the Grade III CEO Classic, where he was midfield throughout, and made no impact, running an SP101 for the 12f journey. Showed promise at his previous 3 starts, with 2nd placings in each, against listed stakes company, the best of which was an SP111 in the M. Radke Turf Route back in January. Has gone close at this level several times before, with on the board finishes in The Europe Classic, Tattersalls Gold and Mr. Met Cap during 2012. Needs to bounce back after two below par results, but has not been unplaced 3 times in a row during his whole career and is not the roughest.<\/p>\n
PP3 TREACHEROUS (UNBRIDLED’S SONG x MR. PROSPECTOR x GREY DAWN 2ND (FR)) redhill14 9\/2
Scratch bred roan 5yo who has just recently been stepped up in class after a series of impressive Allowance wins, his good form has coincided with his switch to turf and move up in distance. Showing his versatility, he put together 3 wins in a row at the beginning of the year, after sitting up on the speed, or coming from back worse than midfield. His superior performances against that class had his trainer confident he could shape up to graded level, and there was no disappointment, when he settled mid pack in the Grade III The Golden Bridge, and finished strongly in the stretch to power away by 2 \u00be lengths. He followed that up last time out in the Grade I The Saint Cloud Grand Prix with a competitive showing when he closed to within 1 \u00bd lengths on the wire after trailing by as much as 8 lengths to finish 3rd. Been racing in top form, and looks a big chance.<\/p>\n
PP4 CROSS CHECK (CAPE CROSS (IRE) x GALILEO (IRE) x UNBRIDLED) rtribbett 7\/2
5yo who is getting better with age, having been tried in stakes class early in his career with some modest results, but with his more recent form indicating he is right up to this level now. After three stakes wins in a row to round out the end of last season and start up his 2013 campaign, he was found wanting two starts ago in the Grade I The 5-Series, when he didn\u2019t bounce out of the gates with his usual dash, and faded throughout to finish midfield and 18 lengths off the winner. Not deterred by that result, trainer, Desperado, sent him out in the Grade II The M-Class at his next start, and he was well rewarded, with a gate to wire win by \u00be and running an SP111. He brings that form with him into this race and should get a nice run from a favourable draw. Finds himself in career best form, and should be prominent throughout with a forward early position.<\/p>\n
PP5 WEEKEND ROMANCE (DYNAFORMER x MR. PROSPECTOR x NIJINSKY 2ND (CAN)) chloedawg 7\/2
Monster blueblood, who is stuck on prize money of $1.999mil, and still finds himself searching for his first Grade I victory, which has somehow eluded him throughout his career to date. Last time out he never looked on song, when he settled toward the back of the field and made no impact, finishing 10th in the Grade I The Coronation Pilsner. Before that he was dominant in the Grade III CEO Classic, when he gave up more than 12 lengths to the leader at the 2nd call, before a huge run down the home stretch saw him hit the line at the perfect time to score a 1 length win, with an SP 108. Previously, he didn\u2019t like the soft going or the drop in distance in the Grade I Sand Castle Fee Duty, when he never threatened and beat just one runner home. Has a tendency to bounce back after a disappointing run, and looks ideally placed to do it again here. <\/p>\n
PP6 LEGIONARIO (DANEHILL DANCER (IRE) x DYNAFORMER x STORM CAT) ceclaim6 7\/2
Made it 4 Graded wins in his career last time out, including 2 Grade Is, when he took up a forward position and stalked the leaders, making a strong run from 6 lengths back at the 2nd call, and cruising to a 2 \u00bc length win in the The Prince of Whales. Before that, he sat right up on the speed, holding the leader out from crossing, but found himself in front far too early and was quickly overrun, battling on for a respectable 3rd in the Grade I Tattersalls Gold. It was a different story 3 starts back, when he got to the front very early in the Grade I The Good Day, and just lasted on the line holding onto a \u00bc length margin with an SP116. Rarely runs a bad race, and has got the credentials to keep winning at this level. Big threat.<\/p>\n
PP7 CITY OF PARIS (CHAMPS ELYSEES (GB) x REGAL AND ROYAL x AUREOLE (GB)) stallascot 17\/1
The outsider of the field, has been running consistently against lesser classes without winning and looks like he will be out of his depth here. Last start he was quick out of the gates and took the early lead before fading back to 3rd, beaten by 6 lengths in an Allowance. Before that, he sat just off the speed and was 3rd throughout, beaten by 11 \u00bd lengths in the listed Like a Porcupine Turf Challenge. It was a similar story at both of his previous runs, when he took a forward position off the speed, but was a little too dour to make up enough ground to really threaten. Will need a career best run to figure here.<\/p>\n
PP8 ESCAPING JUSTICE (MONSUN (GER) x PLEASANT COLONY x ROBERTO) blazsadcfo 7\/1
Two time Graded stakes winner, including the Grade I NY Island Cap last year, he got caught in a speed duel last time out but couldn\u2019t reach the lead, fading back to finish 5th as he tried to score a repeat in this year\u2019s running of the same race. Before that, he was dropped back in class and toyed with an Allowance field, finding some winning form, with an easy 2 length win. Only battled in Japan 3 starts ago in the Grade II The Sanka High, once again using up too much fuel early, without ever getting to the front, and then dropping out for a similar result as last time. Could have enough toe to reach the lead early here which may be to his advantage, although the outside gate makes things tricky. Has the ability to win this on his day, but can mix form. Not without an outside chance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sunday, July 14, 2013 — 3:00:00 PM EST | Race ID : 1048406<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16502\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}