\u00a0Like all the other races here in Italy, the yielding turf track will cause all kinds of question marks for the Frank Dettori<\/I><\/B><\/U>, a 7 furlong Equinic race on the turf. The runners in Post Position:
PP 1 <\/B>The Ohio Thoroughbred Racing<\/I><\/B> entry starts out on the rail with a daunting task. Land Ahoy(GER)<\/B>‘s last two races have been claimers, this daughter of Lando(GER) from the teds<\/I> stable, <\/I>has never raced on a yielding turf course before (his only off-track experience was a 9th on a track labelled ‘good’), and he’s yet to hit the board in three sprint tries. All that said, his last effort, though in a 35k claimer, was a hard-working, wire-to-wire win with a 97 speed fig. If he can handle the spongy turf, he’s gonna want the lead, and with the congestion in a 19 horse field, anything can happen.<\/P>
PP 2 <\/B>Next to Land Ahoy is the Down Under Racing <\/I><\/B>entry, Goodbye Kiss. <\/B>This 5 year old royally mare (by Sadler’s Wells out of a Blushing Groom mare) comes to the race from the donut<\/I> stable, and comes in here with a very real shot as well as a nice value at 9\/1. She’s dropping back closer to her preferred distance, and she’s got some back speed figures that can definitely win here if she run back to it. She’s got some nice tactical speed to either stalk or close a bit, and she’s even had success on an off-turf track (including a 2nd on a yielding surface). A very real contender. Look for some kind of medal here.<\/P>
PP 3<\/B> In the third slot is another longshot, 35\/1 Nexis<\/I><\/B> entry, Ahoartax. <\/B>She’s had some success in allowances, but this filly from the goldcity <\/I>stable will have her hooves full with a field like this. And she hasn’t had a whole lot of success in a couple of off-track forays either (0-0-0 in 2, including a 4th on yielding turf as a 3 yr old). She’ll try to stay within closing distance, but this one’s got to hope for a whole lot of things to go right for her to get a check here.<\/P>
PP 4 <\/B>Fourth from the rail is NWRC’s<\/I><\/B> 12\/1 shot, Grass and She.<\/B> One of three millionaires in the field, the heythere <\/I>charge will need a pretty radical change in form to get up for this one. She’s definitely capable, if she runs back to her best races (her last two at this exact distance were 112 and 116 speed figs), but those times were a lot of races ago. And her one race on an off track was a nice stakes-placed finish. She’s a veteran who knows how to win, but she’ll have to reach down and recapture some of the old magic to get a medal here.<\/P>
PP 5 <\/B>In the next slot is the morning line race co-favorite, DelPenn’s <\/I><\/B>entry, Red Tejas<\/B>. This is also one of the two glamour girls of this race. She’s stablemate to horse of the Year Horseshoe Bay, and charge of Trainer of the Year texasace<\/I>. And more relevant, she’s also one heckova good racehorse. She’s close to winning her second million dollars. She’s finished ITM in 25 of 33 lifetime starts (including 15 wins), and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, having just won a Grade I sprint two starts back (where she beat co-favorite Elsinore by 2 lengths). And in case that wasn’t enough, the red lady from Texas has wins in her only two lifetime off-track starts. She’ll be flying down the stretch, probably right next to Elsinore. The only variables here are traffic issues and racing luck that might separate her from the medal stand.<\/P>
PP 6 <\/B>Next to the co-favorite is Viking Racing’s<\/I><\/B> entry Tete Saxon(FR)<\/B>. This longshot from the therion <\/I>stable has some familiar characteristics to other longshots in this race: A couple of very solid speed figs running mostly in allowance\/ungraded stakes company. One interesting angle for this 4 year old is that she’s one of the few here that have won on not only an off track, but that off track was a yielding turf course. She stays near the top of the pack, and with a nice clear run and if some of her more highly regarded peers don’t take to the track conditions, this little chestnut Norsehorse may surprise some folks and contend for a medal.<\/P>
PP 7 <\/B>In the 7th post is the entry from the Benelux <\/I><\/B>residency and the thierry<\/I> barn is the 5 year old mare Wondergirl Chipre<\/B>. This daughter of Silver Ghost out of a Polish Numbers mare is an interesting proposition at 14\/1. First and foremost, she looks like a horse nearing a form peak, always a good sign in an important race. She’s had improved numbers for two straight, the last time out being in a Grade I sprint. She’s also got some nice tactical speed as well, able to stalk or close from deep if she has to. And finally, she’s had one race on yielding turf, and it was a win in an ungraded stakes race. One to watch with some excellent value if\u00a0 the favorites go off their game for any reason.<\/P>
PP 8 <\/B>8th from the rail is the CR Racer’s<\/I><\/B> entry, Quiet Little Drink. <\/B>This 7 year old is the ‘senior citizen’ in this group, and probably the most inconsistent in speed figs (she’s had a range of 25 speed points in her last 6 races) but she’s a tough campaigner from vampire4<\/I>‘s stable. The question here is going to be the class in this race. This is Quiet Little Drink’s first foray into Graded stakes, although she’s been very tough in the ungraded variety. She also has the variable in her handling of the off track. She pulled a nice 2nd in her only turf off-track, but it was rated as good, not yielding. <\/P>
PP 9 <\/B>The Kentucky Horsemen <\/I><\/B>bring in a very interesting enigma in Glackiano<\/B>, a booberry <\/I>trainee, especially for those who believe in the angle of running back to a horse’s favorite conditions. She’s classy, having won a Graded stakes, and her only attempt at a yielding turf was a very nice 3rd in the Grade I Rock of Cashel (two races back), finishing only 1 3\/4 lengths back of the winner. A lead\/near the lead type, she’s looking like a nice bargain at 15\/1. Definitely a shot here.<\/P>
PP 10 <\/B>The folks from the Minnesota <\/I><\/B>residency line up errandboy<\/I>‘s Cars and the City<\/B>, almost the opposite of Glackiano. Another proven winner in Graded competition, this 5 year old closer failed to fire on the yielding turf in that same Rock of Cashel, although a year earlier she won a non graded stakes on a yielding surface. All depends on how she takes to the surface this time, but with a good footing and a hot pace, this one also has a chance,\u00a0 but for my money, I’d have to wait to see that she can still handle the off-going.<\/P>
PP 11 <\/B>Still another with footing questions is the GR Simsters<\/I><\/B>‘ representative, Man on Fire.<\/B> This 4 year old filly is coming off of a very nice 107 speed figure race where she faded a bit to 2nd at 7.5 furlongs. She definitely is capable of running with these, but hasn’t had much success against Graded calibre competition. For one reason or another, she fires her best races at the ungraded level, losing upwards of 10 speed points or more when moving up in class. She’s also never had a go on off turf, so there’s still reason for the Simsters to be optimistic here.<\/P>
PP 12 <\/B>The small-but-growing Fun and Friends Stable Club<\/I><\/B> bring in jockey20<\/I>‘s Little Ms Starfish<\/B>, the longest shot in the field at 74\/1. There’s still something to like about this ‘Eddie The Eagle’ type underdog: She’s a good closer, and while she’s never run on off turf, her off-track efforts on dirt have produced a 1-1-0 record in 2 starts. This entry will probably be a ways behind the medal group, but she’ll have a vocal cheering section backing the efforts of the ‘little horse that could’.<\/P>
PP 13 <\/B>The folks at EAAA <\/I><\/B>send kevoman2<\/I>‘s 4 year old filly Stonehenge<\/B> in, also battling some high odds at 23\/1. This filly’s got some hurdles to overcome, like never having won a sprint before (she’s primarily been a miler), but since her form is off right now, the step back in distance might just be what the doctor ordered. She’s also never attempted a yielding turf before, but her one outing on good turf (LTO) was a bit of a disappointment. With the same huge number of unknowns here, there’s a shot, but will have to have the race of her life to bring a medal home here.<\/P>
PP 14 <\/B>wombat <\/I>stable sends the other glamour girl in this race to represent the co-host of these Equinics, the Vermont <\/I><\/B>residency. Elsinore, <\/B>DOUBLE Eclipse award winner (Champion turf sprinter and older mare). Her record is as well-known as it is impressive (16-7-1 in 35 starts, including an astounding 8 (!) Graded Stakes wins IN A ROW), but, from the ‘what-have-you-done-for-me-lately’ department, some questions nag at the co-favorite in this race: Her last two outings have been exceedingly un-Elsinore-like, a close 5th place in a Grade I two back, and more incredibly, a 4th place finish in her only start this season, in an allowance no less. The other big question mark is the fact that she’s never attempted an off track, on either surface. But she’s still Elsinore, and will no doubt be flying down the stretch at the end.<\/P>
PP 15 <\/B>The defending Equinics champs, GSR<\/I><\/B>, send nj50<\/I>‘s fleet 4 year old filly Kacymygirl <\/B>to the post. She’s only had 2 turf starts, but handled them both well, and the next question answered will be how she handles the yielding surface. This Macabe daughter has some very versatile tactical speed, and should be well equipped to handle any sort of pace on the off track. She hasn’t had a lot of Graded experience, though she did win a Grade II last year (she’s 1-0-0 in 3 Graded starts). This girl has as good a shot at a medal as any here, provided the turf doesn’t foul her up.<\/P>
PP 16 Great Plains <\/I><\/B>sends ajr15<\/I>‘s Lake Bemidji<\/B> to represent them in this tussle. She’s a nice 4 year old filly who had quite a nice win streak interrupted two races back (she had won 7 in a row, 3 allowances and 4 ungraded stakes), but she regrouped to take a nice 2nd LTO in an ungraded stakes. The question becomes class, as her only Graded attempt was a 9th in DelPenn’s Grade I Lightning Ladies Sprint, where several of her current competitors did better).\u00a0 And of course, the off-track variable, as she’s never had an off-track attempt. <\/P>
PP 17 <\/B>The folks in the mountains at Alpine Turf Club<\/I><\/B> line up nitrocavy<\/I>‘s A Polish Forest<\/B>, another 4 year old with an impressive record (7-1-1 from 14 starts, including a string of 5 1st place finishes in 6 races). She got a nice 3rd in a Grade III LTO, but she’ll have to improve the 99 speed fig she got there to medal in this race. If she likes the yielding turf here, she has the ability to make waves here as a front-runner or stalker.<\/P>
PP 18 <\/B>Another very small and very new residency, Epsom Downs,<\/I><\/B> sends in the 2nd longest shot in the race, jrth’s<\/I> Special Pine. <\/B>Much like co-longshot Little Ms Fish, Special Pine will need a perfect trip, gobs of racing luck, and some well-placed prayers, but she’s also never tackled an off track, so maybe there is lightning in a bottle somewhere here. But it would be a feat of Herculean proportions, considering this filly has no stakes starts, 1 non M\/C\/O\/S win, and a lifetime high speed figure of 92.<\/P>
PP 19 Queensland <\/I><\/B>\u00a0brings another longshot to the party in sorrento<\/I>‘s Dubious Tazmin<\/B>, a 5 year old mare with no Graded stakes experience and her best stakes finish on turf has been a 6th. Still, she never has raced off track, and she likes to hang close enough to the leaders that this one might have a shot. But it’d take a perfect trip and her best race ever for her to cash a check here.<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elsinore, Red Tejas Lead Field of Hopefuls<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":392,"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":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1681","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\/392"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1681\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}