{"id":39225,"date":"2016-09-24T23:20:49","date_gmt":"2016-09-25T03:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=39225"},"modified":"2016-09-24T23:20:49","modified_gmt":"2016-09-25T03:20:49","slug":"walnut-tree-stakes-grade-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=39225","title":{"rendered":"Walnut Tree Stakes (Grade I)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walnut Tree Stakes (Grade I)<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Year Olds | 1 1\/16 Miles | Dirt | $750,000<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to the Alameda County Fair and the Walnut Tree Stakes, the only stakes race that the Pleasanton oval hosts every fall. For those unfamiliar, the Walnut Tree pits 2 year olds against one another going 8.5 furlongs on the dirt. Last year’s winner is current Hall of Famer and Breeders Bowl Distaff favorite, SWAPSCO KITTY. That horse went on to win the Breeders Bowl Juvenile Filly last year, so do we have the next dominant filly in our midst, waiting to break out and take sim racing by storm.<\/p>\n

DREAMS COME ALIVE (15\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

EDDINGTON is having the best 2 year old season of his sire career, and DREAMS COME ALIVE is the star horse of his 2 year old crop. For those of you with deep pockets, this horse could have been yours- she broke her maiden in a $125,000 claimer at Churchill Downs in June. The\u00a0tfon\u00a0<\/em>trainee was introduced to two turns about a month ago and fared well, tiring a bit towards the end after setting a quick pace from the gates. Drawing the inside post was a huge plus for DREAMS COME ALIVE’s connections, but they’ll have to pull back a little on her if she jumps out too hard.<\/p>\n

DIVINE MIRACLE (8\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s no miracle that a filly by MEDAGLIA D’ORO, out of CHRISTMAS MIRACLE (A.P. INDY x DANZIG) has stepped onto the 2 year old scene as a very promising horse. She broke her maiden against stiff competition in Kentucky the day after the Kentucky Derby. Now, DIVINE MIRACLE faces the Walnut Tree Stakes, the next obstacle in her return to Churchill for the Bluegrass Oaks. But this race lines up nice for her; we are expecting some rain and track officials expect the track to run good on Sunday, which is what DIVINE MIRACLE broke her maiden on. Call my crazy, but I like this horse going on a softer track.<\/p>\n

ZIP ZAP YO (12\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

ZIP ZAP YO has found it hard to find her footing. She won her first two races, but then tested shorter races before trying turf (in an allowance with no conditions). None of those things worked for the daughter of ZAP, out of SILLY CAUSE., but she did find some luck in an 1 mile allowance in Vermont around mid-August. She closed on a fairly slow pace, but I think she had more in the tank if the pace runs quicker with the half furlong. Still, I worry about the lack of clear progression by this horse, but I think this horse could disrupt some exotics at the wire.<\/p>\n

CHEROKEE COUNTESS (16\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHEROKEE COUNTESS made great progress in her first three races, where she beat some pretty serious competition in a residency maiden, then went on to win another open residency race and place in a stakes. I have doubts on whether or not routes are right for this filly; she tired down the stretch of the Rich Bag Dirt Juvenile Stakes, and she’ll need to push herself to break cleanly from the 4 post if the desire is to set the pace. The huge step up in class will force this filly by MEDAL COUNT to give 200% in order to get the job done.<\/p>\n

JAWABI (11\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

JAWABI has come dangerously close to taking home a Grade I race, twice finishing just over a length behind the winner. Most recently, JAWABI (CREATIVE CAUSE x SAINT BALLADO x WOODMAN) nicely stalked the pace and pounced at the top of the first turn in the Getaway Stakes. Trainer\u00a0nycracing<\/em> is hoping that the GIANT’S CAUSEWAY, HALO, and MR. PROSPECTOR in JAWABI’s pedigree will make for a nice route runner, hence the entry here in the Walnut Tree. This is a horse I could consider at the window.<\/p>\n

MS MELFI (10\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Similar to JAWABI, MS MELFI has been close to winning a graded stakes, but needed a little more to bring it home. She has a very nice bloodline (MIDSHIPMAN x CAPOTE x DEPUTY MINISTER) just like JAWABI, and these two horses are going to run nearly identical races. I think MS MELFI will cross the finish line before JAWABI.<\/p>\n

TIZ MY MAGIC SHAFT (14\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dunnstar\u00a0<\/em>enters TIZ MY MAGIC SHAFT in the hopes of keeping up an impressive three race win streak, the last of which coming in a Grade I Equinics sprint. The most impressive of this filly’s wins is not that Equinics race, but her maiden. She faced off against 14 others in a progeny of Santa Anita Handicap Winners sprint, where she stalked a very crowded pace to win by two lengths against 5 boys. The Equinics race was also strong, and I got the sense there, more than any other race, that she could go longer than 6 furlongs. We’ll see if that is true come Sunday.<\/p>\n

LADY AWESOME AGAIN (7\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

LADY AWESOME AGAIN is coming off a strong 8 furlong win in a NW2L allowance race at Saratoga, where the AWESOME AGAIN filly finished 2 lengths ahead of the competition with a ton left in the tank. Drawing the 8 post will let the\u00a0ddstables12<\/em> trainee pull back and hang way off the pace. I like this horse a lot.<\/p>\n

DARK N A DUKE (17\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

DARK N A DUKE makes her routing debut after a series of sprint battles where she most recently hit the board 1.75 lengths behind the winner in The Iron Deck (Grade II) at Saratoga. I definitely like this horse to hit the board, and could possibly throw down a small bet for this horse to show. I do worry how much this horse has traveled around the country, but perhaps she’s a bit like Tepin where she needs a new track every month or so.<\/p>\n

SLAMMING TOWN (29\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

SLAMMING TOWN has struggled to bring home her second win for her connections, so I’m not convinced this horse can contend Sunday. A drop in class could certainly help this horse get in form and could some day return to a graded stakes race as a contender.<\/p>\n

PYE’S HOLY MISSION (9\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s really hard for me to get a read on this filly. She’s a pace setter and has done well in sprints, but at longer distances or against harder competition, she’s struggled a bit. With that said, how this race shakes out is largely dependent on the pace that PYE’S HOLY MISSION sets, if that’s how her trainer has this horse aimed to race tomorrow.<\/p>\n

SUMMA CORP (6\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This filly I wrote about and picked to win the Dell Computer Debutante, which she ended up cruising to victory in. She looks to continue her four race hot streak tomorrow in the Walnut Tree. Her connections have done an absolutely fabulous job getting this horse ready for a potential Breeders Bowl and Bluegrass Oaks run, and the next step is having SUMMA CORP running a route. I don’t like the short layoff, but I’d be foolish to ignore this horse.<\/p>\n

THE ENTHUSIAST (7\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This filly and\u00a0sal326<\/em> trainee has an incredible pedigree and a great track record to date. Normally I would include this horse in my picks, but is just a touch outclassed by a few of the horses here. THE ENTHUSIAST is going to have a stellar career, so throw this horse on your watch list and keep an eye on her.<\/p>\n

DARKSIDEOFTHENILE (7\/1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can’t believe this horse was not the morning line favorite. She recently burned a small, 5-horse field in a $75,000 allowance race at Louisiana Downs, and at 8 furlongs to boot. It was a huge jump in performance, so this horse could like even more distance. I have a good feeling\u00a0kaner9\u00a0<\/em>will be visiting the winner’s circle tomorrow.<\/p>\n

CapeCod’s Picks:<\/p>\n

2 – DIVING MIRACLE<\/p>\n

12 – SUMMA CORP<\/p>\n

14 – DARKSIDEOFTHENILE<\/p>\n

CapeCod’s All-Time Record:<\/p>\n

4-4-6 (39%)<\/p>\n

CapeCod’s Record Last Week:<\/p>\n

0-1-2 (33%)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walnut Tree Stakes (Grade I) 2 Year Olds | 1 1\/16 Miles | Dirt | $750,000 Welcome to the Alameda<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86262,"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":[4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39225","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\/86262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39225"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39249,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39225\/revisions\/39249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}