Welcome to Louisiana for the 8th running of the G1 Explosive Bet Stakes. The first two years it was only a G3, although it drew G1 quality fields even then, as evidenced by the fact that the legendary Huge Tale won the second running. The first two years that it was a G1 were both won by Making The Cat, who also finished third in the 2003 edition while attempting to capture it for the third time in a row. Last year’s winner was Tern Of The Wheel, who is still active and ranked in the top 100 in this division. A nearly full field of 13 has turned out for this year’s running, and it looks be quite an exciting matchup. Let’s take a look at the runners. <\/br><\/br>On the rail at 5\/1 is Othfly’s Mambo<\/b> (Kingmambo x Sadler’s Wells x Blushing Groom(FR)) owned by othello<\/i>. She is a 5yo mare and is ranked #27 in the turf classic division. She has won 10 stakes races in her career, including three G3, and just missed in another last time out, losing by only 1\/2 length. A pure frontrunner, she will be breaking fast and heading right to the lead.<\/br><\/br>In post two at 25\/1 is War Desert Chant’s<\/b> (War Chant x Green Desert x With Approval) owned by greatdane2<\/i>. He is a 4yo still in the beginning stages of his career. The odds may be long, but don’t take him too lightly. He has only started 7 times, and won all three of his starts this year, by a combined 10 lengths and a nose. His last race was a NW4x allowance at today’s distance, and he won a stretch battle by a nose with a 102 speed figure. <\/br><\/br>In post three at 6\/1 is Top Jimmy<\/b> (Peintre Celebre(Ire) x Vice Regent x Shirley Heights(GB)) owned by sdmf2<\/i>. He is a 5yo and is ranked #24 in the turf classic division. He was on a real streak last year, with a win in the G1 Windy City Turf Classic the highlight, before he took a bad step on DelPenn Champions Day. He is back on track now, scoring a listed win last time out to prove his soundness, and ready to pick up where he left off.<\/br><\/br>In post four at 9\/1 is Neon Swan<\/b> (Festival Of Light x Nureyev x Coastal) owned by db<\/i>. He is a 4yo and is the only graded winner from Festival Of Light’s two crops, having won the G2 Jockey Club Classic in Sweden last year. He’s wheeling back on two weeks rest, which surely means he is sharp. He likes to close from near the back though, which may be tough in this one with Top Jimmy wanting to do the same. <\/br><\/br>In post five at 6\/1 is Cry Of The Fox<\/b> (Dayjur x Ahonoora(GB) x Nijinsky II) owned by redback<\/i>. He is a 6yo and is a G3 winner, with G1 and G3 placings to go along with it. He already has a G3 placing this year, running third in the G3 Strange Brew Turf Handicap. He likes to stalk near the front, which should be a good tactic today if he can stay close enough to the leaders.<\/br><\/br>In post six at 5\/1 is Woette’s Delight(Ire)<\/b> (Falbrav(Ire) x Sadler’s Wells x Desert Wine) owned by totje<\/i>. He is a 4yo and has been in high class races from the start, debuting in a stakes, which he won, and winning a G3 in his third career start. He spent the better part of his 3yo season in G1 company, hitting the board in three and cashing a check in two others. He has been within 1\/2 length of scoring another graded win twice, including this season’s debut in the G3 Sussex Handicap. He is a likely candidate to hit the board again.<\/br><\/br>In post seven at 27\/1 is Octopus’s Garden(Ire)<\/b> (Theatrical(Ire) x Darshaan(Eng) x Shareef Dancer) owned by 2die4<\/i>. He is a 4yo and has made only three starts in his short career. He won his debut and an allowance, and finished third last time out, although that was in a sprint. He certainly has the pedigree, and the allowance win was at 10f, so he has the distance ability. <\/br><\/br>In post eight at 9\/1 is Fluminense<\/b> (Deputy Minister x Alydar x Secretariat) owned by miltinho<\/i>. He is a 5yo, is ranked #52 in the division, and has racked up nearly half a million dollars in earnings. This in only his second appearance in a graded race, but the first was a second place finish in the G1 Eclipse. He has won two listed stakes in his career. Like Othfly’s Mambo, he will be breaking fast and trying to wire the field.<\/br><\/br>In post nine at 10\/1 is Heidelberg Heights<\/b> (Dance Bid x Machiavellian x Run The Gantlet) owned by wish<\/i>. He is a 4yo out of the gradedplaced mare La Run, who regular readers of the Ireland previews will recognize as the dam of the stakeswinning 3yo filly Dumb Donut(GB). She must be quite a mare, as this guy is Dance Bid’s only stakeswinning progeny. He’s no one hit wonder either, with 6 stakes victories on his resume as well as two graded placings. In his best races he has been within a half dozen lengths of the pace, so his jockey will need to place him somewhere near the leaders.<\/br><\/br>In post ten at 14\/1 is Glittering Sumer<\/b> (Summer Squall x Crystal Glitters x Dewan) owned by corza4<\/i>. He is a 4yo and has one stakes victory and one graded placing. He seems to be best at a mile, although he has a stakes placing at 8.5f. Whether the extra half furlong will do him in or not remains to be seen, but he has been improving recently.<\/br><\/br>In post eleven at 14\/1 is Don Pedro<\/b> (Danzig x Unbridled x Buckpasser) owned by afc2<\/i>. He is a lightly raced 4yo who is on the improve, having won both of his allowance races this year. He also has learned to stalk the pace, which would be a good position to be in for this race. Both of his victories were at today’s distance, which appears to be right where he belongs.<\/br><\/br>In post twelve at 7\/1 is Ollie’s Quest<\/b> (Rainbow Quest x Lear Fan x Danzig) owned by beamnreasn<\/i>. He is a 5yo out of grade 1 winner Fantastic Ollie, also the dam of graded placed 3yo Ollie’s Gone. He didn’t begin his career until he turned 4, but he opened his career with four wins in his first five starts, and a G2 placing in his sixth. He has also placed in three listed stakes, and appears to be well on his way to success in this division, as long as he can avoid off tracks.<\/br><\/br>Rounding out the field at 27\/1 is Far Beyond Driven<\/b> (Forestry x Dynaformer x Private Account) owned by soulbleed<\/i>. He is a 4yo, and was stakesplaced as a 2yo, but has been racing in the allowance ranks since then. He has done alright, but has been sprinting, and his one race at this distance didn’t go very well. One race isn’t much to go on, so we don’t really know what he’ll do here.<\/br><\/br>That is our field. We have everything from very lightly raced newcomers to the G1 winner Top Jimmy. With Othfly’s Mambo and Fluminense both wanting the lead, we could have quite a battle up front, which may open it up for stalkers like Cry Of The Fox or for closers like Top Jimmy to run them down in the stretch. This one has lots of possibilities for an upset. Good luck to all the runners, and may they all come home sound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
27th Ranked Female Aims to Take Down 24th Ranked Male<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":362,"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-1959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959","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\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}