The G2 Heat Less Stakes<\/strong> may not be the premier graded stake for 3yos this week, but it’s still drawn some good entrants hoping to climb the rankings. The opportunity to duck the big boys in the quest for a G2 win isn’t a hardship, either. The Heat Less is an 8.5 furlong race run on Kentucky’s main track. It carries a $325k purse. The stakes record of 1:41.2 was set by Rocky Mountain High<\/strong> in 2004.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The field in order of odds:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Mowar’s<\/em> Aly Nine<\/strong> is the favorite at 4-1. The 8:3-1-1 record is very solid, and his high SP of 104 places him among the fastest of the 3yo class. The Forty Niner colt 3 weeks ago earned a nearly-2 length win at a mile in an allowance, where he posted that fantastic 104SP. He has yet to win a stake, but placed third in the G3 Upper State Juvenile and fourth in the G1 Movieland Futurity as a 2yo. If he doesn’t bounce off that 104, this may be the horse to beat. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Second choice at 6-1 is Auror’s<\/em> Be Auror Song<\/strong>. The Unbridled’s Song colt has been running very well all season, with a 4:2-1 record this year alone. Two back he won the G3 Smallville Cup by a nose running 9f. Last time out he was back in at 9f in the G1 Sand Castle Derby, a Derby Lock Prep. Unfortunately BAS ran sixth. It’s surprising he’s not in a Derby Lock prep this week, as a win in this race would only put BAS within striking distance of a Bluegrass starting spot, rather than a guarantee he might get in one of the Lock Preps. BAS is probably the most consistently good of the entrants here, and he’s got a solid foundation of mid\/high 90s SPs.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Casino’s<\/em> Nagasaki<\/strong> is one of two at 7-1. The Giant’s Causeway colt won four in a row early in his career, but hasn’t won since August, and hasn’t won a two-turn race. His best race SP-wise was a second in a listed stake going 8.5 in December. The 99 he earned was at that time excellent. Still is, but in 2 races since the closest he’s come to that is a 97 he earned in finishing fourth in the G3 Silver Fence. He is a graded winner (G3 Little Tree) but hasn’t shown the will to win he’ll need here. Keep him in mind for a board finish.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Warchant<\/em> enters the other 7-1 horse, King Sim Star<\/strong>. The Kingmambo colt makes his second start in graded company, which tends to be where horses will demonstrate if they’ve got the right stuff for this level. King was riding a four-race win streak until his stepped up to the G2 Felipe Alou last time out. The streak was ended with a fifth place finish, but it was still a good race considering he was shuffled back farther than he likes. Top speed of 98 was earned going a mile. He’s never gone 9, and I’m not sure he’ll like the added distance. Still, more than good enough to merit some serious attention.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Elysium’s<\/em> Acura Cake<\/strong> is 9-1. The undefeated Forestry colt has been developed very carefully, and has 2 stakes wins in his four lifetime starts. This is his first try routing, however, so asking two big questions (graded + distance) may be too much. On the other hand, his late closing style will probably be perfect for this race. Top SP of 97 (earned at 7f) is darn good.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Wolverine’s<\/em> Essence of Dubai colt is also in at 9-1. Grosse Isle<\/strong> is fresh off a win the G2 Hutchingson going 7 furlongs. Sprinting, he’s got a nice 3 for 6 record, but routing he’s just 1 for 3, and that one was in the mile DPCD Champs Day Juvenile restricted to DelPenn residents. His record seems to support staying shorter, but he’s got the class to merit an entry here. Top SP of 99 was earned last time out in the Hutchingson. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Moving into double-digit odds, the first of two at 11-1 is Bobcat’s<\/em> Fox Court Station<\/strong>. The Vindication colt looks like he’ll relish the added distance. This is his first try at graded company, but two listed wins plus a third, fourth, and fifth provide enough of a foundation to make this a logical entry. He’s yet to win this year, but with the added distance, win # 5 lifetime can’t be far off. Mid\/late closing style should set up for a good stretch run. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The second 11-1 entrant is the Van Nistelrooy colt Mr Biggs<\/strong>. Trained by Natchilus4<\/em>, the colt makes his second graded start after running a tired seventh in the G3 Gary Asher last time out. with 11 races and 3 wins to his credit, Biggs still hasn’t won a stake. He did run second by 2 in a listed three races back, however. That race saw him earn a lifetime high 95SP. He looks more like a miler than a horse that wants 9 furlongs, but you never know.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Lacostra’s<\/em> Victory Gallop colt, Victory Bud<\/strong>, is still nw2l eligible but is stakes placed 4 times in 7 lifetime starts. he earned his lifetime high SP of 93 last time out in running second in a listed stake at 7.5. He’s gone two turns twice, both times fading down the stretch. Doesn’t look like he’ll do real well here, but what the hey, might as well find out sooner rather than later if the colt is ready to be pushed into bigger and better things. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Also at 14-1 is Wortud’s<\/em> Block Island.<\/strong> The Silver Deputy colt is bred to get this distance and more, and indeed is a winner at 8.5 and 9.5 furlongs. despite the pedigree advantages, the colt has several downsides. He’s making just his sixth career start, his first graded entry, and is still nw3l eligible without even a listed stakes win to his name. He’s also never cracked the 90SP barrier. To his advantage, however, is the ability to rate or set the pace as need be. So far he hasn’t shown he has what it takes to win, but in four of five races he’s finished first or second, and that kind of heart can only help.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Ufsldown’s<\/em> enters at 16-1 the Saarland colt Saarland Well’<\/strong>s. In six lifetime starts he’s got three wins: one on turf, one on fast dirt, and one on sloppy dirt. That kind of versatility is rare. He’s twice a stakes winner (both dirt wins), but in his only route start ran second by two going a mile. I like him much better round a mile than going 9, and can’t seem him winning this race when his top SP is only 89, but he’s never finished worse than third and for that reason you’ve got to respect the colt.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Winona’s<\/em> Aptitude Problem<\/strong> starts from the rail at odds of 21-1. The Real Quiet filly has 3 wins from 13 starts for $120k in earnings. Her best stakes finish is fifth (earned twice in listed company last summer), and despite her high SP of 91, she doesn’t have much of a chance here. That 91 was earned as she finished second in an allowance last time out going 8.5 furlongs. Interestingly, her maiden win came against boys, her only start in mixed company.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Corzacan<\/em> enters Going To The Gap<\/strong> at 24-1. It took the Cozzene colt 9 tries to break his maiden, and two more two to lose his eligibility for nw2l. Now he’s got 13 starts in him, and making his first start in stakes company. A really big question to ask this colt, and while he is a winner at 9f, his top SP of 87 is not good enough to win this race. He actually looks like he’ll enjoy 10 or more better than this distance.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The longest shot on the board is Bombed Jamesbombed<\/strong>. The Sky Mesa colt, entered by bmr004<\/em>, just won 2 in a row (a lot for a colt with just four lifetime starts!) including a listed stake at 8.5 furlongs. The jump to graded company appears premature, however, as that listed win earned just an 86SP. I’d like to see this colt stay in the listed ranks and test out his distance capabilities; his maiden win at 9f was by a 3 1\/2 length margin, suggesting more ground can’t hurt. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Be Auror Song<\/strong> looks a likely winner to me. The other thirteen places are completely up for grabs, though I’ll go on a limb and call Fox Court Station<\/strong> and King Sim Star<\/strong> as the second and third place finishers. <\/p>\n <\/body><\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The G2 Heat Less Stakes may not be the premier graded stake for 3yos this week, but it’s still drawn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"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-3981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3981","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\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3981\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}