The 6th<\/SUP> annual Grade III Lapel Pin Stakes<\/B> has drawn the smallest field to date with only 9 runners. Historically this race has drawn a lot of talent and despite the smaller field this year is no different.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Eight of the nine horses racing for a piece of the $175,000 purse here have already won a stakes race.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The other returning story; a longstanding jockey rivalry that gets ignited every time V. Townsend<\/I>, Mo Johnson<\/I> and N. Linville<\/I> race against each other.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Mo Johnson<\/I> has historically picked horses in this race that everyone expected to do well, but for whatever reason didn\u2019t make it into the money here.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>N. Linville<\/I> claims that this is due to his lack of courage when it comes to big races.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He says his record proves he doesn\u2019t have that difficulty (three in-the-money performances in five years) and that\u2019s why shangrila2<\/I> opted for him to ride the favourite PRINCESS JENNAH<\/B> Saturday.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>That choice left V. Townsend<\/I> with the second favourite PREACHINUPASTORM<\/B>, whom he says \u201cmay not be the best in this field but nobody\u2019ll know it on race day because I\u2019ll be onboard.\u201d\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Tall words from a tiny jockey, but perhaps he should have confidence as he is defending his title won last year atop WAKI NOTION<\/B> in a nail biting last minute come from behind. He\u2019s also quick to point out he\u2019s the only jockey in Saturdays field to have won this race \u2013 will his experience give him an advantage?<\/P> \u00a0 Lets take a look at the names that already appear on the Lapel Pin Stakes<\/B> Plaque in hopes it may shed some light on Saturday\u2019s field:<\/P> \u00a0 2000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/SPAN>\u2013 MS. PROSPECTOR<\/B> \u2013 trained by slewbetcha<\/I> and ridden by B. Coleman<\/I> \u2013 1.2 million lifetime earnings with 9 stakes wins and 3 graded wins. To top it all off\u00a0she has already produced two stakes winning foals.<\/P> 2001 \u2013 MS. PROSPECTOR<\/B> \u2013 returned to defend her title going wire-to-wire.<\/P> 2002\u00a0<\/SPAN>\u2013 RHINO DAISY<\/B> \u2013 trained by opus<\/I> and ridden by F. Fraser<\/I> \u2013 844k lifetime\u00a0earnings with 7 stakes wins and 3 graded wins.<\/P> 2003 <\/SPAN>– PRIESTESS OF HELM<\/B> \u2013 trained by woodsmen<\/I> and ridden by W. Mafit<\/I> \u2013 1.3 million lifetime earnings with 10 stakes wins and 3 graded wins.<\/P> 2004 – SHAKY LEGS<\/B> \u2013 trained by bigspruce<\/I> and ridden by C. Brubaker<\/I> \u2013 684k in\u00a0earnings so far and she\u2019s still racing at the stakes level.<\/P> 2005 – WAKI NOTION <\/I><\/B>\u2013 trained by looney1<\/I> and ridden by <\/SPAN>V. Townsend<\/I> \u2013 2.3 million\u00a0in earnings to date and she is still running at the grades stakes level. \u00a0 Now for this years runners:<\/P> \u00a0 PREACHINUPASTORM \u2013 <\/B>trained by kyclocker3<\/I> \u2013 4\/1<\/P> A daughter of PULPIT<\/B> out of Adam\u2019s Cat, a STORM CAT <\/B>x RAISE A NATIVE<\/B> mare, this filly has far exceeded her mother\u2019s limited success.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s coming off an un-graded stakes win at 9f and has been out of the money only twice this year.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Although she\u2019s been putting up speed ratings in the low 100\u2019s pretty consistently of late, her performance at 10f in week 2776 concerns me.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>It was a long time ago, but she was beaten by 12-3\/4 furlongs.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>On the plus side if anyone can save enough to get her down the stretch it\u2019s jockey V. Townsend<\/I> who drove into the winner\u2019s circle last year.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She needs to keep the front runners in sight to have a chance here.<\/P> \u00a0 JHIQUI<\/B> \u2013 trained by khalasar<\/I> \u2013 7\/1<\/P> Ranked 44th<\/SUP> in the long dirt division, this filly has plenty of experience with the distance and has three wins in her last four races.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Last time out she ran 10.5 furlongs and posted a 101sp.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Watch for her to make a move in the stretch and cross your fingers that she doesn\u2019t run out of room.<\/P> \u00a0 NATURE UNLEASHED<\/B> \u2013 trained by super22 <\/I>\u2013 17\/1<\/P> This daughter of WAR CHANT<\/B> has run her last two races at this distance and although she hasn\u2019t posted speed ratings in the 100\u2019s like some in this field she won The SENORITA CLAN Memorial<\/B> last time out with style.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>In that race she came from being 11-1\/4 furlongs out of it at the mid-way point to leading by 3-1\/4 at the wire.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>With a little improvement she could be a contender.<\/P> \u00a0 DECEMBER SHADOW <\/B>\u2013 trained by topicount2<\/I> \u2013 9\/1<\/P> This daughter of A.P. INDY<\/B> is ranked 266th<\/SUP> in the long dirt division despite some recent success.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Her last race at this distance came way back in 2881 and she won it handily in a time of 2:02 1\/5.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Although R. Tatersall<\/I> may be tempted to put her right in the front and try to win wire-to-wire there are too many quick closers for this strategy to be effective.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019ll have to find a way to reconcile her desire to be in the front pack with a need to conserve some energy for the stretch in order to steer her into the money in this one.<\/P> \u00a0 SAINT THUNDER \u2013 <\/B>trained by con10der3<\/I> \u2013 9\/2<\/P> Another one coming off a win last time out, this time in the 9 furlong QUEEN GUENEVERE Challenge<\/B>.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s posted some consistent numbers in her last five, but hasn\u2019t tackled a 10f race since 2601.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>In that attempt she was significantly slower.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This filly is really handy at about a mile to 9f and her stamina and conditioning may not be up to the task this Saturday.<\/P> \u00a0 PRINCESS JENNAH \u2013 <\/B>trained by shangrila2 <\/I>\u2013 5\/2<\/P> The favourite has posted huge speed ratings in her last three \u2013 all over 100.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>None have been at distances quite this far, but if the Grade III Country BB Handicap<\/B> is any indication she\u2019ll probably take the extra \u00bd furlong in stride.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>In that race she lost by only a nose and the extra distance would have given her the edge.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>If she can stay consistent she\u2019ll be tough to beat.<\/P> \u00a0 JARRAH<\/B> \u2013 trained by taztiger<\/I> \u2013 7\/1<\/P> Taztiger<\/I>\u2019s star has been a consistent classic distance filly, ranking 84th<\/SUP> in that division.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019ll try to stretch her out this Saturday relying on her SADLER\u2019S WELLS<\/B> blood.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Her last time out at a mile and a quarter was in 2650 and although she succeeded in cracking the money she was far from winning back over four lengths.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This is another one who likes to comes from behind, but what she\u2019ll have to remember here is that with the front runners setting a quicker pace she\u2019ll have to stay in touch in order to compete.<\/P> \u00a0 BETTER THAN HEAVEN<\/B> \u2013 trained by cvbear<\/I> \u2013 5\/1<\/P> A light grey filly out of SKIP AWAY<\/B>, she\u2019s had lots of success in long races of late.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Although she\u2019s only ranked 114th<\/SUP> in the division, I expect a good performance here will push her up in the rankings. She has yet to finish out of the money in a race longer than 10f this year and I\u2019d be surprised if this race was any different.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>B. Renfroe<\/I> agrees he\u2019s got a contender in this one \u2013 he\u2019ll most likely try to replicate her win in The LADY JOHANN(FR) Special<\/B> and lead wire-to-wire.<\/P> \u00a0 NORTHERN IDEAL \u2013 <\/B>trained by bushmonster<\/I> \u2013 14\/1<\/P> This daughter of RAHY<\/B> hasn\u2019t turned out a really solid performance in her last two and hasn\u2019t been in the money in a stakes race since 2734.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>If she can repeat her performance from week 2895 she may have a shot, but I suspect she may be overtaken by all the good late speed in this field.<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Can jockey V. Townsend win two years in a row?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"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-3230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3230","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\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3230\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}