So who is the best 10-furlong older horse on turf in the sim? We tend to know who dominates over 12 furlongs and we kinda know who the best milers are, but can anyone definitively say that we have a dominant 10-furlong campaigner? Over the course of the season we have had a number of G1 events over the distance and fortunes have ebbed and flowed, as contenders have staked their claims and then disappointed in later races. Saturday\u2019s race is the only $2 million race over the distance in the calendar, and has brought together a quality field of pretenders hoping to stake their claim as the best 10-furlong turf horse around. Let\u2019s try and figure out who will finish top of the pile.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 \u00a0 JACQUES\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 Top-ranked 5 in the division, this imposing son of Danehill has run with credit in all his races this season with the highlight being his last-gasp victory in the Sand Castle Fee Duty(G1)<\/I> where beaten rivals included Dreaming Of Lauren<\/B> 1.5 lgths 3rd<\/SUP>, Desert Oasis<\/B> 18 lgths 12th<\/SUP> and Bigtate Child<\/B> 21 lgths last of 14. All known evidence to date seems to suggest that he might find this trip a little too far and although he can be guaranteed to run his race, a win might be just out of his reach. Place claims.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 DIME SAK\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 A real shot in the dark by connections with this one, as he has never gone further than a mile in his life. He has a G3 win to his credit over 6 furlongs but only has the one victory in the last 9 months. His odds reflect his chances and although he\u2019s likely to be cutting out the early pace I would be amazed if he was still in the hunt at the business end of the race.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 NEALE DANIHER\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 Top-class 3yo whose form tailed-off towards the end of last year. Connections have done well to bring him back to his best form, with a head defeat in the Prince Of Whales(G1)<\/I> being the pick of his form this year. Has a touch of seconditis at the moment but that should soon be remedied in the near future. Running over his best trip he will likely be seen fighting out the finish.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 ABE HOLLANDIA(IRE)\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 Had an awesome start to his career when winning the first 8 of 9 runs including 3 graded victories! Even more incredible is that he has won only 2 of his next 12 races. His last attempt at 10 furlongs was in this race last year where he faded tamely to finish 17 lgths off the winner. Unless he has found extra reserves of stamina in the interim period I think we\u2019re likely to see a duplication of that run this Saturday.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 ARKANSAS TRAVELER\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 Firstly, connections should be congratulated for seeing the potential in this son of Pine Bluff and picking him up in a maiden claimer for a meager $10k. He has made steady progress since those humble beginnings with the pinnacle being two placed efforts in graded company this term. He finished behind rival Swingshift Sal<\/B> in Japan recently and I see no reason why he should turn the tables on that rival this time. A progressive sort, we still haven\u2019t seen the best of him but I doubt if he\u2019s progressed enough to win this event.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 TOP JIMMY\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 Throw out his run in the United Countries Handicap(G1)<\/I> where the 11 furlongs may have been against him and this one must hold every chance of victory here. He defeated rivals Swingshift Sal<\/B> and Arkansas Traveller<\/B> in the recent \u2018Smackdown<\/I>\u2019 series over this very trip and that form entitles him to respect. 4 wins from 6 attempts on the grass prove his mettle and he is making swift strides in the division. One to watch.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 WHODOUTHINKIAM\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 Lightly-raced son of Langfuhr, 3 wins from 10 outings shows he has talent and a 3rd<\/SUP> place in the Cash Reserve Stakes(G1)<\/I> is an indication of how quickly that talent is being utilized. But, and it\u2019s a big but, what happened on his only attempt at 10 furlongs where he finished virtually tailed-off? Throw out that race and he holds every chance but there are question marks against him.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 DREAMING OF LAUREN\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 Following a nice win in the Marcos Footwear Handicap(G3)<\/I> at the beginning of the year, the son of Lear Fan was escalated into the rarified atmosphere of G1 competition where having taken a little time to adapt he scored his first G1 success last time out in the Turf Invaders Stakes(G1) <\/I>where beaten rivals included Neale Daniher<\/B> 2 lgths 2nd<\/SUP> and Jacques<\/B> 4 lgths 4th<\/SUP>. His penultimate run in the Prince Of Whales(G1)<\/I> is a concern but I feel he is on the upgrade and is another who is likely to be there or thereabouts at the death.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 DESERT OASIS\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 The impressive winner of a G2 event over 10 furlongs as a 3yo, he has been running with credit since but has been unable to add to his initial graded success. Recent runs give cause for concern as he is running well but not winning, in races where you would expect him to clean up. In light of that, it would be asking a lot of the horse to step up from running 2nd<\/SUP> in an ungraded stakes race to winning the most prestigious G1 over 10 furlongs in the calendar.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 BIGTATE CHILD\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 This fellow provided what was probably the biggest shock of the whole season last year when winning The Pennsylvania Handicap(G1)<\/I> at odds of 76\/1! There\u2019s no doubt that on his day he\u2019s a good horse but those days come around as often as Christmas and his racing schedule has not helped in that respect, he ran 21 times last year and has already racked up 12 races this year. The horse must be suffering from exhaustion with such a vigorous campaign.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 EXTORTIONIST\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 Unexposed son of sire-of-the-moment Red Ransom whose only test at this level on grass was in last years GSR Derby<\/I> over 12 furlongs where he ran a creditable 5th<\/SUP>. He was then roughed off for the first 6 months of this campaign and has come back to win a stakes race at the second time of asking. Not one to be taken lightly and could go on to be a major player on the surface. Dark horse.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 SWINGSHIFT SAL\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 Consistent type who is only a step or two off the highest class. He can always be relied upon give his best effort and is a decent yardstick especially over 10 furlongs. He gained an overdue first G1 win in the Prince Of Whales(G1)<\/I> over that trip earlier this year and is closely matched with rival Neale Daniher<\/B> on past form. Must be nailed on to finish in the money.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 TEQUILA WITH LIME\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 The second string from the sdmf<\/I> stable conglomerate, this guy falls into the same category as rival Dime Sak<\/B> in that he has done most of his running over sprint distances. However, when you scrutinize his mile efforts and review his pedigree you realize this could be a middle-distance monster just waiting to happen. Connections couldn\u2019t have chosen a more difficult spot to test his middle-distance aspirations and it will be fascinating to see how he performs on Saturday. He could win pulling the proverbial cart or could simply fade out of the picture altogether. A very interesting contender.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 AT THE CHATEAU(GB)\u00a0<\/FONT><\/STRONG>\u00a0 If this race was over 11 furlongs, then this guy would be my pick. Scared the life out of my own horse Rain God in the Royally Modest Cup(G1)<\/I> last time out when his run just faltered close home, getting beat \u00be length. He falls between 2 stools at this level and the Man Of War<\/I> in a couple of weeks would be ideal for him. Even so, I expect him to put up a bold show here, coming late with his usual powerful run. Whether that run is successful is open to conjecture but I would be disappointed if he wasn\u2019t in the frame at the end of proceedings.<\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 How do you start to make predictions when there is so much talent on show. On their day, half the field could prevail but I will give my prediction based on\u00a010-furlong performances over the course of the season. <\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0 \u00a0 High-class field assembled for $2 million event<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"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-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","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\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Summary<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/H1>