Grade I action comes to the Pacific North West this weekend with the 1st running of The Look To The Heavens Special Stakes, a 6.5 furlong sprint on the turf for 4 year olds with a purse of $500,000. Eleven entries have passed the entry box for this race which goes off as the 16th and last on Saturday’s card.<\/P>
Let’s take a look at the field:<\/P>
1)UNKEPT RESTROOM—6\/1—<\/STRONG>isitingood sends out this 4 year old filly out of GULCH\u00a0with a record of 19-7-5-2 and lifetime earnings of $364,647. This only\u00a0filly in the race\u00a0will try to race with the boys in today’s event but has had some success before while winning an overnite stake event in Minnesota last year versus the other sex albeit in a short 4 horse field. She has 4 wins in 12 lifetime stakes tries but has a best 2nd place finish in 4 Graded events. Last time out she won a 7.5 furlongs stakes in europe matching a lifetime best 106 speed rating that she also posted in her 3 year old campaign finale. She seems to be in peak form right now and is ranked 42nd in her division. Wolff (18.8%)\u00a0will have this one up front early and hope to continue his very succesfull season so far this year.<\/P> 2)A SAINTS DAY—7\/1—<\/STRONG>irt sends out this 4 year old colt out of A.P. INDY with a record of 13-7-1-0 and lifetime earnings of $171,090. This colt was unraced at 2 and ran on the dirt in 4 of first 5 lifetime races. His speed ratings spiked 20 points upward when he was finally switched to the lawn for good. He enters this race with a 4 race win streak, with the last 3 being overnite stakes events. In his last he set a lifetime best 105 speed rating over 6.5 furlongs in a wire to wire effort over 13 other rivals. This race will be his Graded Stakes debut and Murray (13.2%) will have this one winging out for the front where this one seems to perform best. This race will be his North American debut after shipping over from across the pond.<\/P> 3)WIPED CLEAN(AUS)—14\/1—<\/STRONG>scout4 sends out this 4 year old colt out of RESET(AUS) with a record of 13-2-5-3 and lifetime earnings of $66,655. He started his career on the dirt in his 2 year old season and swithed to the turf at 3. This\u00a0402nd divisional ranked colt\u00a0seems to have come to his own in his last 3-4 starts including his last 2 which have been his only stakes starts so far in his career. In both of those he has stalked the pace while finishing 2nd posting back to back 102 speed ratings, his current lifetime best. In his last he actually had the lead in the mid stretch before being caught at the wire. That race was 7.5 fulongs, and the shorter distance of today’s race may be to his liking. Baynes (16%) will be aboard for today’s race.<\/P> 4)STARFALL(IRE)—7\/1—<\/STRONG>given3 sends out this 4 year old colt out of GIANT’S CAUSEWAY(IRE) with a record of 12-6-2-0 and lifetime earnings of\u00a0 $215,720. This 70th divisional ranked colt was unraced at 2. He has won 4 out of his last 5 starts and has 4 stakes victories in 6 lifetime tries. This race will mark his Graded stakes debut. He has shown some versatility in running styles by winning both from running near the front and closing from further back which could prove to be very usefull in today’s race. In his last race hs posted a lifetime best 104 speed rating in a 6.5 furlong overnite stake here in Washington and will enjoy the fact of being stabled here and not having to go thru the task of shipping in for this race. Simien (28.8%) will bring his impressive win percentage along with him in today’s race.<\/P> 5)KNOWN SKY—12\/1—<\/STRONG>karen sends out this 4 year old colt out of SKY CLASSIC with a record of 16-5-3-2 and lifetime earnings of $92,130. This 637th divisional ranked colt was a $75,000 claim for the local connections from last year and enters this race having won 3 out of his last 4 races, all allowances. This will be the stakes race debut for this horse today. He may be in tough as all 4 horse inside of him show excellent speed and this one is another who is quick out of the gate which will make for a very speedy start to this race. Posted a lifetime best 103 speed rating in his last as he makes his North American debut here in Washington State today. Spitulski (8.1%) gets the call in the saddle for today’s race.<\/P> 6)EGG NOG—11\/1—<\/STRONG>pick4 sends out this 4 year old colt out of E DUBAI with a record of 18-5-3-2 and lifetime earnings of $108,329. This 363rd divsional ranked colt started career with 2 dirt races and then seemed to get injured in his turf debut all at the age of 2. He has improved quite well since coming back later in his 2 year old campaign albeit seemed to suffer another misstep in the middle of his 3 year old season as well. His last 3 starts seemed to prove that he has shaken off the injury bug as all 3 have been in the triple digit speed ratings including a 3rd place finish in a Grade 2 event in Florida where he tried to wire the field but couldn’t hold off 2 others in the late stretch. He is another who shows speed and with other quick ones in here today that\u00a0may prove to be very difficult as many here will be vying for the early lead. Piel (10.5%) will need to try and rate this one in order to get the winners share of this $500K purse.<\/P> 7)SILVERSHAFT—9\/1—<\/STRONG>lenny6 sends out this 4 year old colt out of MINESHAFT with a record of 16-5-1-1 and lifetime earnings of $174,962. If ever there was a condition change for a horse coming into a race it has to be this one. He enters this Turf\u00a0 sprint Graded Stakes race after coming out of a Dirt route Allowance race. This 1586th divisional ranked horse has primarily run in route races as this race will be only his 2nd lifetime start in a sprint, the other being his MSW debut win on the dirt in his 2 year old season. This one has gone from dirt to turf several times but for those checking the charts may notice that he posted his lifetime best 107 speed rating after switching to the lawn in\u00a0a Grade III race after running in a dirt allowance last year. Can that same angle be used in today’s race???. His closing style may suit him well with all the speed in today’s contest but will he enjoy the shortened distance or not. Rivers (10.3%) will have to time his move perfectly in this race today.<\/P> 8)RED RAVEN—8\/1—<\/STRONG>jonsnow2 sends out this 4 year old colt out of TOUCH GOLD with a record of 16-4-4-3 and lifetime earnings of $173,586. This 348th divisional ranked colt is 0 for 5 in lifetime stakes starts. He started his career on the dirt at 2 and switched to the turf in his 3 year old campaign. He raced in Europe before coming to California for a Grade III start to conclude his 3 year old campaign. He has prepped for this race with an allowance sprint where he went to the front and has a large lead at the top of the stretch but could not hold the winner off in a stretch duel. His lifetime best 103 speed rating earned last year is competitive in this field but his front running style put him in a large group who appear to be trying to go for the front in this race. Wilson (12.7%) will be in the irons today.<\/P> 9)OTTO CORONET—5\/1—<\/STRONG>lurve sends out this 4 year old colt out of VINDICATION with a record of 13-5-4-0 and lifetime earnings of $102,815. This 817th ranked colt is 1\/6 in lifetime stakes starts and has not finished first in 2 lifetime Graded stakes events. His last 4 starts have all been triple digit speed rating efforts including a wire to wire win in an 8 furlong overnite stake in his last start. His 2007 debut was his lifetime best 106 speed rating while finishing 2nd in an 8.5 furlong stake race. This colt has been primarily run in routes as it will be only his 2nd lifetime sprint start with the first being his 2 year old debut. Another in the field who seems to want the front early which should make for a cavalry charge of many as soon as the starting gate open up. Van Dyne (17.1%) who is enjoying a banner season gets the call aboard this colt today.<\/P> 10)CONSERVATORY—16\/1—<\/STRONG>elesto sends out this 4 year old colt out of FORTY NINER with a record of 26-3-2-3 and lifetime earnings of $139,048. This 351th divisional ranked colt is the most experienced of all in this race with 26 starts and had a busy 3 year old campaign running in 19 events. He has 1 win in 13 stakes starts to date and that was in his 3 year old campaign debut where he won an overnite stake race in a 4 horse field. He posted his lifetime best 100 speed rating in his 2007 debut finishing 2nd in a stake but those figures have regressed in his last 2 starts. While he can probably use his closing style to his advantage in this race with all the speed present this may be a bit tad to tough for him. This horse would probably be better suited to run with allowance company. Mlot (10%) will be guiding this one around the oval in today’s race.<\/P> 11)TWICE AS HARD—7\/2—<\/STRONG>sdmf3 sends out this 4 year old colt out of\u00a0 EVENT OF THE YEAR with a record of 21-7-6-2 and lifetime earnings of $302,010. This 108th divisional ranked colt will be making his 3rd lifetime start on the turf in today’s race. He has 2 wins in 16 lifetime stakes starts and has to date had most of his success on the sandy surface. His turf debut at 3 was in a Grade I stakes in Kentucky where he finished 3rd with a 99 speed rating. He finished 4th in the 2006 Del Penn Sprint Championship on the dirt and had a 98 speed rating debut in 2007 finishing 11th in a Grade III event. His connections did not like what they saw there so they switched him to the turf in a 7.5 furlong stake in Illinois where he tried to wire a field before getting caught in the stretch to finish 2nd. What impressed them to have him start here today was the whopping 109 speed rating which is tops in this field. The morning line handicapper agreed making him the early race favorite. This colt is another who has his best success running on the front end and the outside post may hurt his chances with so much speed inside of him. Kellow (10%) will be the rider for this one today.<\/P> SPEED, SPEED, SPEED—alot of speed here today and that means I am going to take a shot at #4 STARFALL(IRE) who shows a versatile running style which should come in handy today-that and the circuits top rider make this my play today.<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> GOOD LUCK AND GOOD RACING<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> THEO<\/P> <\/STRONG>\u00a0<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Eleven four year olds chase 500K purse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"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-3770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3770","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\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}