A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away eighteen of the sim\u2019s best turf marathoners<\/p>\n
\u00a0lined up to remember Han Solo in the Equinics race named after him.<\/p>\n
Led by 2015 Horse of the Year Dark Mandu and joined by grade one winners<\/p>\n
Last of Us and Andrew\u2019s Starship as well as a bevy of talent<\/p>\n
\u00a0from across the universe the quest was simple \u2013<\/p>\n
be the first to the finish after a grueling two mile run in Brazil.<\/p>\n
#1 Portents \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 13\/1<\/p>\n
Portents is a six year old scratchbred son of Montjeu x Kris S. x Blushing Groom.\u00a0 He\u2019s won ten of twenty three starts in his career with his biggest win coming this year in the Grade Two Hardcourt Stakes.\u00a0 That race was a mile and one quarter on the grass.\u00a0 The longest he\u2019s ever been was back in 2014 when he ran in an allowance at a mile and five eighths where he finished second.\u00a0 This is a big step up in distance but his pedigree suggests it is not outside the realm of possibility.<\/p>\n
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#2 Emotion Free\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7\/1<\/p>\n
Emotion Free is a four year old son of Arch out of a Quality Road x Dalakhani mare named Emotionalism.\u00a0 In spite of her speedy sire, Emotionalism ran best at longer distances, taking after her damsire Dalakhani.\u00a0 Emotion Free is also proven going a route of ground.\u00a0 The biggest win of his career came in December when he won the Grade Three Manatee Cup at a mile and three eighths with a whopping 118 speed.\u00a0 This season he is still looking for his first victory but he was second in two grade ones, including the Spring Cup at two miles.<\/p>\n
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#3 Look Up The Stars \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 18\/1<\/p>\n
Look Up The Stars is the only female in the race.\u00a0 The five year old is a scratchbred daughter of Sea the Stars x Nijinsky II x Sharpen Up.\u00a0 She enters this start riding a four race win streak with all of those wins coming at two miles.\u00a0 Two of those races were against stakes competition but this will be Look Up the Stars\u2019 graded stakes debut.<\/p>\n
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#4 Surgedragon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 8\/1<\/p>\n
Surgedragon is a four year old scratchbred son of Kitten\u2019s Joy x Danehill x Nijinsky II.\u00a0 He enters off the biggest win of his career, the Grade Three Irish Cup at a mile and three quarters.\u00a0 That was his graded debut and he won easily by over three lengths with a 116 speed.\u00a0 He\u2019s never been two miles before but the ease of victory in his last suggests the extra quarter mile shouldn\u2019t be a problem.<\/p>\n
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#5 Zenaga \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 19\/1<\/p>\n
Zenaga is a four year old son of Kitten\u2019s Joy out of a Henrythenavigator x Giant\u2019s Causeway mare.\u00a0 He comes from the family of grade one winner Berzerk Gold and grade two winner Sweeping Rush.\u00a0 Zenaga enters on a four race win streak with two of those wins coming at the two mile distance (one on turf and one on polytrack).\u00a0 He has only tried stakes competition once before this spot and that was last summer in the Grade Three North Country Derby on dirt going a mile and three eighths.\u00a0 He ran seventh that day with a 106 speed but it was a better race than the results suggest as he closed stoutly through the stretch, suggesting that he needed more distance which he has proven more recently.<\/p>\n
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#6 Silica \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 35\/1<\/p>\n
Silica is a four year old scratchbred son of Silic x Shahrastani x Irish River.\u00a0 Silica\u2019s biggest victory came on New Year\u2019s Eve when he took a local championship stakes going two miles.\u00a0 It was his first try at that distance and he won wire to wire by almost four lengths.\u00a0 He jumped straight into a grade three after that and finished a solid fourth with a 103 speed.\u00a0 Most recently he was second in another listed at two miles with a 100 speed.<\/p>\n
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#7 Dark Mandu \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9\/1<\/p>\n
Dark Mandu is a six year old scratchbred son of Mountain High x Scatmandu x Northern Guest.\u00a0 What needs to be said about the reining Horse of the Year?\u00a0 He burst onto the scene two years ago when he ran second in this event in the Winter Equinics at odds of 180\/1 and he has not looked back since.\u00a0 He only has three starts this year with his best finish a third I the Grade One Spring Cup where he ran a 113 speed.\u00a0 He\u2019ll have to run back to that race and possibly even improve a bit to win here but don\u2019t count the old warrior out.<\/p>\n
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#8 Master\u2019s Degree\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10\/1<\/p>\n
Master\u2019s Degree is a four year old scratchbred son of Mastercraftsman x Encosta de Lago x Kris S.\u00a0 Master\u2019s Degree scored his biggest win in the Grade Three BBR Special two starts back.\u00a0 That race was also run at the two mile distance and he won by over four lengths while running a 111 speed.\u00a0 He did three points better in his most recent start, the Grade Three Irish Cup at a mile and three quarters where he was second behind Surgedragon.\u00a0 This colt comes from well behind the pace, he was last early in the Irish Cup so it is likely the added quarter mile will play to his advantage.<\/p>\n
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#9 Blue Vanilla\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 22\/1<\/p>\n
Blue Vanilla is a five year old son of Generous, based on the Grade Three winning E Dubai x Deputy Commander hemare Corey\u2019s Bullet.\u00a0 Corey\u2019s Bullet was a sprinter through and through but Blue Vanilla has found a home in long distance races.\u00a0 He won his first stakes race in his most recent start which was a listed going a mile and three quarters.\u00a0 He ran a 107 speed that day which is a career best for Blue Vanilla.\u00a0 He has never been worse than third in any race beyond a mile and one half but he\u2019ll have to improve on that speed to medal here.<\/p>\n
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#10 Last of Us\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 21\/1<\/p>\n
Last of Us is a five year old scratchbred son of Cima de Triomphe x Diesis x Green Desert.\u00a0 He\u2019s got eight wins and five seconds from seventeen career starts with his biggest win coming in the Grade One South Australian Cup at two miles back in April.\u00a0 Interestingly sixteen of his seventeen starts have come at that distance with only his maiden being shorter \u2013 by one whole furlong.\u00a0 He was off the board in his two most recent starts but Last of Us did run fifth with a 106 speed in the Grade One Gold Glass in his last start.\u00a0 He is a speedy sort who is at his best when he can control the pace.<\/p>\n
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#11 Cloud Formation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12\/1<\/p>\n
Cloud Formation is a xeven year old son of Sky Mesa out of the Dynaformer x A.P. Indy mare Proformer.\u00a0 She is a daughter of the grade one winner Papua Theft who was a sprinter\/miler and is known for throwing speedier offspring.\u00a0 Proformer herself was a very talented multiple graded placed sprinter.\u00a0 Cloud Formation has done well in distance races, including three grade two wins; one at a mile and five eighths and the other two at a mile and three quarters.\u00a0 Interestingly those wins all came on the dirt where he has five wins from eight starts.\u00a0 He only has one win on the grass but he\u2019s never been out of the money in six starts on the lawn and he was third in the Grade Three CEO Classic going a mile and one half two starts back.<\/p>\n
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#12 Ta\u2019 De Noche\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 21\/1<\/p>\n
Ta\u2019 De Noche is a four year old scratchbred son of Rock of Gibraltar x Montjeu x Sharpen Up.\u00a0 He has the fewest starts of any horse in the field with only seven but he\u2019s won five of those with one second place finish.\u00a0 His lone off the board performance came in a sprint race in his debut.\u00a0 He made his stakes debut in his most recent run, the Grade Three Barberville Stakes at two miles which he won with ease by almost five lengths.\u00a0 It was his fourth victory in a row and he ran a solid 103 speed that day (he earned his career best 106 one race prior when going a mile and one half on the turf).\u00a0 Others in this race have run faster but the feeling here is that we have not seen the best of this colt and he knows how to win.<\/p>\n
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#13 Maximum Stealth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12\/1<\/p>\n
Maximum Stealth is a four year old son of Maxios out of the grade three winning New Approach x Kris S. mare Stealth Approach.\u00a0 Stealth Approach was at her best at two miles and has also produced the grade three winning router Stealth Effect, albeit he was best at a mile and one half.\u00a0 Maximum Stealth earned the biggest victory of his career two starts back when he won the Grade Two Second Henry at two miles.\u00a0 He came from well off the pace that day to blow by the leaders and win by four lengths with a 102 speed.\u00a0 He came right back in the Grade One Gold Glass at the same distance where he unleashed a furious rally to finish second behind Andrew\u2019s Starship while running a 108 speed.\u00a0 He\u2019s having the best season of his career at age four and could be a factor here.<\/p>\n
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#14 Briones \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12\/1<\/p>\n
Briones is a four year old son of Hurricane Run out of the Nureyev x Rahy mare Brindisi.\u00a0 Brindisi was stakes placed going a mile and one eighth and produced grade one winner South of Heaven (by High Chaparral) who was also best at middle distances.\u00a0 Briones is three times graded placed at a mile and three quarters and up.\u00a0 His best run came in October\u2019s Grade One Japanese Saint Legend where he was second with a 111 speed while going a mile and seven eighths.\u00a0 Most recently he was a close fourth, beaten less than six lengths in the Grade One Gold Glass while running a 107 speed.<\/p>\n
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#15 King\u2019s Stone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12\/1<\/p>\n
King\u2019s Stone is a four year old son of Grindstone out of the grade three winning Southern Halo x Kingmambo mare King\u2019s Halo.\u00a0 King\u2019s Halo was a very good sprinter but she was never tried in a single route race.\u00a0 Chances are she would not have excelled going longer, as she was so good going short but with King\u2019s Stone\u2019s success one wonders what might have been.\u00a0 In his last two starts King\u2019s Stone has been third and then second in two grade two races.\u00a0 Those races came at a mile and one quarter and a mile and three eighths.\u00a0 He\u2019s never been beyond a mile and one half and only tried that distance once, resulting in a disappointing performance.\u00a0 He\u2019s taking a risk today but the rewards could be huge if he can manage the distance.<\/p>\n
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#16 Awesomahler\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 17\/1<\/p>\n
Awesomahler is a four year old son of Mahler out of the Awesome Again x Giant\u2019s Causeway mare Fawsome.\u00a0 Awesomahler is currently the best of Fawsome\u2019s foals.\u00a0 He is a stakes winner and graded placed runner at a mile and one quarter but has only one try at a distance over a mile and one half.\u00a0 That came three starts back in the Grade Three Diamond Stakes at two miles where he finished ninth with a 100 speed.\u00a0 He\u2019s a talented colt but will need to turn around that form to medal here.<\/p>\n
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#17 Andrew\u2019s Starship\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 8\/1<\/p>\n
Andrew\u2019s Starship is a five year old scratchbred son of Sea the Stars x Kingmambo x Sadler\u2019s Wells.\u00a0 As a four year old Andrew\u2019s Starship was a multiple graded stakes winner at a mile and one half with his biggest victory coming in the Grade One Coronation Pilsner at that distance.\u00a0 He ran in some of the biggest races at that distance in the sim including a strong fifth in the Ark de ComicDog but he wasn\u2019t winning so trainer sonofaus decided to stretch this colt out even further two starts back.\u00a0 He was rewarded with an easy allowance win at two miles back in May and that was followed by a runaway win in the Grade One Gold Glass in June.\u00a0 Andrew\u2019s Starship earned a speed of 111 that day and beat some of the best in the division.<\/p>\n
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#18 Silver Sceptre\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 27\/1<\/p>\n
Silver Sceptre is a four year old son of Silvano out of the stakes winning High Chaparral x Theatrical mare Cezanne.\u00a0 Cezanne did her best running in middle distance dirt races although her first foal (and only other stakes winning offspring so far) preferred middle distance turf.\u00a0 Silver Sceptre has found a home going two miles on the lawn.\u00a0 His last five starts have come at that distance and he\u2019s won three of those, including two listed stakes races and run third in two grade ones in the others.\u00a0 He ran a career best speed of 108 in his most recent start, the Grade One Gold Glass.\u00a0 This colt seems to be peaking at the right time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Good luck to all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away eighteen of the sim\u2019s best turf marathoners \u00a0lined up to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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-38392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38392","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\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38393,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38392\/revisions\/38393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}