{"id":4288,"date":"2007-05-31T21:56:10","date_gmt":"2007-05-31T21:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=4288"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"oldbtb_1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=4288","title":{"rendered":"Defending Champ Birds of Paradise Heads Flying Pig Sprint"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Flying Pig Sprint<\/STRONG>
<\/FONT>Grade III
Five furlongs
Fast Dirt
$125,000
Fillies and mares, 4 years old and up
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PP Horse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Owner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jockey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Odds\u00a0
1\u00a0 SONN REI SHAH\u00a0 davarto\u00a0 O Brostek\u00a0 13\/1\u00a0
2\u00a0 RAPID REFUND\u00a0 sein2912\u00a0 M Byrd\u00a0 14\/1\u00a0
3\u00a0 MAYAMA\u00a0 maruxa\u00a0 A Koopman\u00a0 6\/1\u00a0
4\u00a0 BIRDS OF PARADISE\u00a0 dixiedotco\u00a0 F Power\u00a0 6\/1\u00a0
5\u00a0 STORMING BIRD\u00a0 graywolf20\u00a0 N Bagel\u00a0 22\/1\u00a0
6\u00a0 BLOODBONES\u00a0 ksparrow2\u00a0 P Mersereau\u00a0 15\/1\u00a0
7\u00a0 UNINHABITABLE\u00a0 phartlap1\u00a0 I Stevenson\u00a0 5\/1\u00a0
8\u00a0 MINNA BLACK\u00a0 aurton11\u00a0 B Wallace\u00a0 22\/1\u00a0
9\u00a0 BATTLEFIELD EARTH(GB)\u00a0 mrbigb\u00a0 H Moran\u00a0 7\/1\u00a0
10\u00a0 POSITIVE DISCISION\u00a0 firstmate\u00a0 W Carter\u00a0 9\/1\u00a0
11\u00a0 WILDERNESS TRAIL\u00a0 losthecode\u00a0 P Johnson\u00a0 12\/1\u00a0
12\u00a0 WONDERFUL MEETING\u00a0 rug\u00a0 D Bouwens\u00a0 11\/1\u00a0
13\u00a0 POST OAK BLUFF\u00a0 super2\u00a0 Mi Brown\u00a0 10\/1\u00a0
14\u00a0 SEEKING THE HAWK\u00a0 lotto\u00a0 B Orazio\u00a0 13\/1 <\/DIV>
\u00a0<\/DIV>
A full field of fourteen fillies and mares will go postward in the 2007 renewal of one of my favorite races, the Flying Pig Sprint.\u00a0 One reason I like the race so much is that, since it is so short, there is always a mad scramble to the finish.\u00a0 Another reason is that\u00a0I was fortunate enough to train the 2004 winner, Vixen Prospector.\u00a0 Here\u00a0are the previous winners.<\/DIV>
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2000 Jill’s Burn<\/STRONG>\u00a0 :57.3<\/DIV>
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2001 Mine Vote<\/STRONG>(IRE)\u00a0 :57.1<\/DIV>
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2002 Harshly With Yokel<\/STRONG>\u00a0 :56.4 (stakes record)<\/DIV>
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2003 C My Tail<\/STRONG>\u00a0 :57<\/DIV>
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2004\u00a0Vixen Prospector<\/STRONG>\u00a0 :57\u00a0 <\/DIV>
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2005 Kim’s Lake<\/STRONG>\u00a0 :57<\/DIV>
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2006 Birds of Paradise<\/STRONG>\u00a0 :57<\/DIV>
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The field\u00a0is both deep and talented.\u00a0 And the trainers roster reads like a Who’s Who of racing.\u00a0 Let’s meet\u00a0the ladies\u00a0and their conditioners in post position order.<\/DIV>
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Breaking from the rail\u00a0will be\u00a0the pretty daughter of Smart Strike and the great\u00a0Storm Cat broodmare, Miss Becky, Sonn Rei Shah<\/STRONG>.\u00a0 Davarto’s homebred five year old arrives in splendid form.\u00a0\u00a0She\u00a0has won four of her last five starts, all at the allowance level.\u00a0 Sonn Rei Shah has had limited success at the stakes level in the past so she will need to step forward if she is to be a factor on Saturday.\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/DIV>
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Rapid Refund<\/STRONG> has carved out a nice living over the years in lower level allowances and mid-range claimers.\u00a0 She seems to have peaked for her most recent conditioner, Sein 2912.\u00a0 Two back\u00a0the Bates Motel mare\u00a0got her first career stakes win when she won the Sally Raise Memorial over a sloppy track in Mexico.\u00a0 Last time out she was outrun in an Eastern Kentucky listed stake.\u00a0 Nice claim but in too tough here.<\/DIV>
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“Get the lead no matter what.\u00a0 Go as fast as you can for as far as you can.”\u00a0 Those are the simple instructions trainer Maruxa gives each rider Mayama<\/STRONG> has carried to the post.\u00a0 The strategy works very well sometimes.\u00a0 Not so well others.\u00a0 It worked to perfection last time out in an Illinois listed stake as the big Afleet filly made every pole a winning one.\u00a0 She was life and death to hold graded winner Strong Prospect safe by a scant nose.\u00a0 But a win is a win.\u00a0 And her time of 1:15 for the six and a half furlongs produced a huge 110 speed figure.\u00a0 Threat if she can duplicate that performance.<\/DIV>
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Heading the field is Dixiedotco’s\u00a0defending Flying Pig Sprint champion, Birds of Paradise<\/STRONG>.\u00a0 Last year the swift Seeking The Gold mare stalked pace setting Dublin Lass, pounded that one into submission in mid stretch, and gamely held off Aim For The Moon to earn the half length verdict in a quick :57 flat.\u00a0 This season Birds of Paradise arrives in great form having won the Grade II Real Danger Handicap in Ireland last time out.\u00a0 Prior to that she was unplaced in Sweden’s\u00a0Grade II Sister\u00a0Dumb Stakes behind Battlefield Earth.\u00a0 Surely the one to beat.<\/DIV>
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Graywolf sends out his career claimer, Storming Bird<\/STRONG>, for The Flying Pig.\u00a0 Graywolf is a pretty clever dude, and a standout\u00a0trainer, but I don’t have a clue what he was thinking when he entered his petite Marquetry filly.\u00a0 She got crunched last time out in a listed stake and her primary claim to fame is a victory two back in a 5,000 starter allowance.\u00a0 Wolfie, send me some of whatever it is you’re using.\u00a0<\/DIV>
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If ever there were a filly who looked ready to step up to the next level, it is Bloodbones<\/STRONG>.\u00a0 Ksparrow2’s blueblood (Woodman x Storm Cat x A.P. Indy) comes off a pair of convincing tallies in listed events.\u00a0 She’ll have plenty of pace to run at and her half mile workout Wednesday morning was spectacular.\u00a0 Bloodbones broke from the gate running and stopped the timer in :46.4.\u00a0 Worth a second glance at 15-1.<\/DIV>
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The odds on\u00a0the\u00a0seven horse\u00a0are very difficult for this reporter to fathom.\u00a0 Uninhabitable<\/STRONG>\u00a0is surprisingly the 5-1 favorite.\u00a0 Don’t get me wrong.\u00a0 This is a high quality animal.\u00a0 Phartlap1’s\u00a0<\/STRONG>speedy Capote mare has won nine races and almost $300,000.\u00a0 But\u00a0she has never finished better than sixth in six graded starts.\u00a0 She won a listed stake in Indiana four back but finished seventh, seventh and eighth in three graded tries since then.\u00a0 Good one to bet against at those odds.<\/DIV>
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Aurton11 is the sixth trainer for veteran sprint mare Minna Black<\/STRONG>.\u00a0 The pretty Black Minnaloushe mare paid immediate dividends and won five of her first seven starts for her latest conditioner.\u00a0 But\u00a0the five year old’s last three races were uninspired and she looks buried among these.\u00a0 Pass.\u00a0<\/DIV><\/DIV>
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Battlefield Earth<\/STRONG>(GB) has emerged as a legitimate graded dirt sprinter this year.\u00a0 The big four year old daughter of\u00a0Diesis(GB) and Storm Queen (Kingmambo) began her career as a miler.\u00a0 Based on her pedigree, trainer Mrbigb\u00a0naturally tried her around two turns and she responded with both a turf course and main course win in\u00a0her first four starts.\u00a0 But ultimately, she proved best at one turn on the\u00a0dirt.\u00a0 Her breakthrough race came three back when she ran down an outstanding field in Sweden’s Grade II Sister Dumb.\u00a0 Last time out she was a hard trying third behind Birds of Paradise whom she beat in Sweden.\u00a0 Major factor here.<\/DIV>
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Positive Discision<\/STRONG> has three speeds.\u00a0 Faster, fastest and Holy Cow!\u00a0 The rangy Pulpit matron insists on being in front.\u00a0 At least for a while.\u00a0 She wired a solid allowance field in the Kentucky slop last time out.\u00a0 Two back she led an Indiana Downs stake until the final strides.\u00a0 And before that she was a convincing\u00a0winner in a Woodbine\u00a0allowance sprint.\u00a0 This will be a real test of class\u00a0for the Firstmate trainee.<\/DIV>
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Wilderness Trail<\/STRONG> makes her graded debut for\u00a0Laura’s Losthecode stable.\u00a0 The flashy chestnut has been campaigned conservatively thus far.\u00a0 She didn’t race in a stake until her sixteenth lifetime race.\u00a0 But the wait paid off as\u00a0the daughter of Woodman closed strongly on the outside in North Dakota’s\u00a0Cascade Challenge to make her first added money\u00a0venture a winning one.\u00a0 Wilderness Trail bounced a bit following her stakes win.\u00a0 But she rebounded last time out with a solid second in a New Mexico stake.\u00a0 Appears primed for a top effort.\u00a0<\/DIV>
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One of the characteristics that breeding magnate R. Bennett Okerstrom\u00a0prizes most highly in his horses in consistency.\u00a0 So even though Wonderful Meeting<\/STRONG> is not among his very best horses, she is one of his favorites.\u00a0 The modestly bred (Three Wonders x General Assembly x Northern Taste) six year old has finished first or second in ten consecutive races, six of those being wins.\u00a0\u00a0All ten races were allowances, however.\u00a0 So the Rug Stable trainee will need to take a big step forward if she is going to carry her owner\/breeder’s unique green and white\u00a0silks all the way to victory lane.<\/DIV>
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Post Oak Bluff<\/STRONG> proudly carries the distinctive Super Stables colors postward in The Flying Pig.\u00a0\u00a0She is one of several\u00a0Flying Pig starters whose mom never won a race.\u00a0 Her dam, Pass The Dice (Sadler’s Wells), was winless in sixteen career starts.\u00a0\u00a0Although the\u00a0rangy chestnut mare by Kingmambo has yet to win a graded stake, she has been close on occasion.\u00a0 At three she set all the pace in the Grade I Radio City Classic before settling for fourth, beaten just over a length.\u00a0 And two starts back she led the Grade II\u00a0Sister Dumb from flag fall\u00a0to deep stretch before bowing very late to the hard charging Battlefield Earth.\u00a0 Looks like she has\u00a0some shot at getting that elusive graded win with her best effort.<\/DIV>
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Front running\u00a0Seeking The Hawk<\/STRONG> has earned over $750,000 in just twenty one career starts for trainer Lotto.\u00a0\u00a0She returns to the races following a four month freshening.\u00a0 Prior to\u00a0her break, the\u00a0speedy Forest Wildcat filly, from the lightly raced and winless Neatly Map (Seeking The Gold),\u00a0was struggling mightily with four straight unplaced efforts following a Grade I win in Vermont’s six furlong Rapid City Sprint.\u00a0 Perhaps the rest and relaxation will allow\u00a0Lotto’s star\u00a0to regain her best form and be seen in a different light.\u00a0 Your call.\u00a0\u00a0<\/DIV><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirteen Challengers Assure a Mad Scramble in Short Stake<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":308,"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-4288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4288","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\/308"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}