Virginia welcomes in Sim3K with the second annual running of the Tuff Gong(IRE) Memorial Stakes. The race is open to all horses three years and older and will run over six and a half furlongs of firm turf. A $55000 purse awaits the best of this field at the wire. Last year\u2019s inaugural race was won by Proper Parade<\/B>, going wire to wire and outlasting closers blazing down the stretch to capture it in a thriller by half a length. This year\u2019s edition draws a field of eight, ages three through six, with plenty of stakes experience. Oddsmakers are calling it no contest, assigning an 8\/5 favorite with a 5\/2 second choice. The rest of the field weighs in from 5\/1 to a 54\/1 longshot. Being told they don\u2019t have a chance is sometimes just what some of these horses need to shine, and Virginia always loves a longshot bet.<\/P>
PP 1) Restless Bay<\/B> Sired by Paynes Bay, Trained by countwilde. Restless Bay is a four year old colt running for the thirty first time in this race. After bouncing around the claim ranks early in his career, he proved to be a late bloomer and has spent a good portion of this year running in the stakes ranks. He\u2019s still looking for his first win at this level. In ten runs this year, he has a 2-0-2-2-1 record, breaking the 100+ barrier twice. His last start was a six furlong stakes in Georgia, where he finished last in a field of seven in a tight race. Turf has been his home since his two year old season, and while he has given dirt a number of tries, he just couldn\u2019t find the speed or success he experienced on grass. He\u2019s a pure sprinter, and the farther he stretches out, the lower his speeds get. This is his favored distance, with eleven top three finishes in eighteen starts in this distance range. He is a fast starter, who needs a piece of the early lead to have success. He faces some blazing early speed here, and he will be hard pressed to get a piece of that lead here. The first couple of furlongs are going to tell the story for him in this one.<\/P>
PP 2) Boricua Soy<\/B> Sired by Roanoke, Trained by carlos150. Boricua Soy is a four year old colt, and he will be making his twenty ninth career start here. He is a stakes veteran, dating back to his two year old season, and he has one prior stakes win coming in to this race. He\u2019s taken to the track eight times this season, putting together a 1-1-2-1-1 record, with one 100+ speed, earned in his first start this season. His last race was a six furlong stakes on an off track in Upper New York, where he finished third in a field of nine posting his second best speed of the season. He has made several dirt starts, and he began his career on dirt, but overall, his turf speeds have been an average of nearly nine points faster. He\u2019s shown the stamina to get out to eight furlongs, but this has been his range of choice, and the bulk of his starts have occurred in this distance range. He seems to prefer a stalker\u2019s pace, preferring to sit just off the early lead and picking off the flagging early speed. His short close has been very consistent, but he has had a problem holding it into the stretch. He may need a bit faster start, but there is too much ealry speed here to try it out in this one. He\u2019ll need another gear to be a factor here. <\/P>
PP 3) Borderlands<\/B> Sired by Carson City, Trained by mecke. Borderlands is a lightly raced six year old horse making his twenty sixth career start in this race. He has eleven wins in his first twenty five starts, including five previous stakes wins. He has twelve starts on the season, posting an admirable 7-2-1-1-0 record, breaking the 100 speed barrier nine times. His last outing was a stakes at this distance in Northern California where he just missed by a quarter length after storming down the stretch. He made his career debut on turf, but found early on that his calling was turf. Twelve 100+ speeds seem to reinforce that fact. A career sprinter, he is at his best distance here, putting up eleven top three finishes in thirteen starts at this range. He is a midpack to deep closer and his close has been quite good this year. His favored range looks to be four to five lengths out at the half. He has some pretty hot early speed to contend with here and his position at the half should make the difference between a win and just another paycheck.<\/P>
PP 4) Explosive Touch<\/B> Sired by Diamond, Trained by kibs. Explosive Touch is a three year old colt, facing his nineteenth career start here. He has four stakes wins among his seven career victories. He has run nine times this season, notching a 2-3-0-1-0 record, with a pair of 100+ speed figures. His last race was a seven and a half furlong stakes in Michigan, where he finished fourth in a very tight race. He made his first five starts on dirt, performing well, but he responded to a switch to turf by reeling off four straight stakes victories at the end of last year and beginning of this one. He has experienced his best success in a slightly longer race, but his two best speeds, both recent, have been in this distance range. He likes to run from just off the pace and his close has been consistent though not spectacular this year. He has some tough competition here, but his last two runs in this distance range have been very good. He good surprise a few here, and may be worth at least a show bet at 7\/1 odds.<\/P>
PP 5) Digging The Grave<\/B> Sired by Silver Ghost, Trained by zewango2. Digging The Grave is number two ranked older turf sprinter in the world, racing in his five year old season. This is his twenty eighth start and his fifteen career wins include eleven stakes wins, seven of which came at graded level. He has nine starts this season and is at the top of his game, putting up a 5-1-0-2-0 record, with seven 100+ speed runs. He had a single career dirt start, which came earlier this year. He posted a decent speed but it doesn\u2019t even come close to his turf performance. He\u2019s posted 100+ speeds figures from five and a half furlongs out through eight furlongs. This range has been his range of choice though, and in fifteen turf starts has thirteen top three finishes. He\u2019s an explosive starter, breaking hard from the gate, and has more than enough stamina to hold off the closers when threatened. He has broken out in the lead in his last twelve straight, going wire to wire in six of them. With his speed, he\u2019s going to be tough to catch in this one.<\/P>
PP 6) Greater Slew<\/B> Sired by Pulpit, Trained by acesacres. Next to the race favorite, we have the longshot, Greater Slew, a three year old colt running here for the sixteenth time. This is his second career stakes start after starting this year in the claiming ranks. He is looking for his first victory at this level. He has eleven starts this season, going 1-1-1-1-3, posting a best speed of 92.3 in a claiming race earlier this year. His last race was a ten furlong stakes right here in Virginia, where he finished a distance fifth in a field of five. His dirt and turf speeds have been comparable, though he seems to have a slight edge on turf. His two career victories have come at eight and nine furlongs, and he has one second place finish in two starts in this distance range. He runs as a deep closer, but his close has been less than stellar outside of the claiming ranks. He appears to be in way over his head in this race. He\u2019ll need a miracle to challenge in this field.<\/P>
PP 7) Machiavellian War<\/B> Sired by War Chant, Trained by poppop2. Machiavellian War is a five year old horse, making his thirty eighth start in this race. He is ranked 13 in the older turf sprint division and has eight previous stakes wins to his credit. In eleven starts this season, he has put together a 5-0-0-3-0 record, with four 100+ speed outings. His last race was a stakes race at this distance in South Carolina where he finished fourth while slowly closing down the stretch. Twelve dirt starts netted him two wins and a best speed of 93.6, while he has excelled on turf, winning elven of twenty five. He has shown speed out to eight furlongs but this distance range is his range of choice. He has eleven top three finishes in seventeen turf starts in this distance range. He is a deep closer, and his close has ben very consistent. Recently, though, he hasn\u2019t been able to make any real distance in the second half. He displayed some excellent speed early this year, but seems to be wearing down as the year progresses. He will need to find that form again to catch the early speed here.<\/P>
PP 8) Five Grouse<\/B> Sired by Bionic Prospect, Trained by jockfan02. Five Grouse is a six year old horse, making only his twenty third career start here. After starting the year in mid to high level claims, he rewarded his new trainer\u2019s faith by two allowance wins and two stakes wins, the first stakes of his career. He boasts nine starts this year, with record of 5-0-2-2-0 record and four 100+ speed figures. His last start was a stakes at this distance, where he took a field of six wire to wire to win by a quarter length. He debuted on dirt, but switching to turf in his second start, he improved his speed by nearly thrity points, and never looked back. He is at his best in a shorter sprint, and has placed in the top three eleven times in fourteen starts in this distance range. He generally starts in the mid pack, but has shown he can go wire to wire as well, and his last four wins have all been in this fashion. This horse is one of the hottest in this field as of late, and if anyone can contend with the early speed here, he is the one. An early speed duel could hurt both of the contenders though.<\/P><\/BODY><\/HTML><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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