Four big turf grade one races and a really good looking field of older handicap horses on the dirt this week. The week has an interesting mix of emerging stars and aging veterans still running well. We should see some big speed figures based on this weeks competition. Empire Reef is coming upon a notable mile stone in her career that you do not want to miss. <\/P>
Race: 3238.3416 The Coronation Cup – <\/SPAN>Grade I – $500,000<\/B> Front running Lex Luthor is the morning line favorite in a field of thirteen runners. Lex is putting together another great year. Last year as a three year old he won the Derby de English, ran second in the Ark de Triumph, second in the Breeder\u2019s Bowl Turf, and won the Japan Cup. He has eased into his four year old season with just two starts thus far. He won both a listed stakes and a grade three stakes. Now ready again for grade one company he looks very tough. If he is not pressured he will very likely win this race. <\/P> Sunnybank Memorial is the second choice on the morning line but he has not won yet this year. He has lost that dominate step but is still competitive hitting the board in all but one start this year. He should give you another honest performance but that probably will not be good enough to win if the favorite runs his race. Still it is a pleasure watching the future hall of fame runner wind up his career. <\/P> Sinaju makes only his second career start on turf. He made his lifetime debut early as a two year old on the turf and did not run well. It is difficult to judge that performance because he did not race again for nearly a year running as a three year old. Did he not like the turf? Was he just not ready to race? He is bred to like the turf, he has been a very classy runner on the dirt during his career. He comes from well off the pace and the distance will be no problem if he takes to the turf. <\/P> Freeze is sort of an interesting runner based on his last race where he earned a 109 speed figure at this distance winning an allowance. To this point in his career he has struggled in stakes company but he is still lightly raced with just thirteen starts. If he can find some consistency now and that big speed figure is an indication of his talent he could be a player in this race. \u00a0<\/SPAN><\/P> <\/SPAN>\u00a0<\/P> Race: 3238.5515 Doomben Cup<\/SPAN> – Grade I – $500,000<\/B> Twelve runners take to the track lead by Sip of Saki. When you think of Sip of Saki you think of the great runs and wins he has between a mile and a mile and an eighth. Do not discount his ability through to go a mile and a quarter. The last time he ran at this distance he just missed winning the G1 Coxless Stakes earning a 109 speed figure. He has proven to be versatile. He has won back to back grade one races coming into this race. Sip of Saki will likely be forwardly placed not too far off the early pace and looks very tough to beat in this race. <\/P> Puppet Regime decides to cut back in distance after taking on the best at a mile and a half for more than a year now. He might enjoy the cut back in distance and could really find himself again. He has not won a graded race in almost a year and has only one other win during that time span. He can run freakish speed figures coming from mid pack more times than not. He is one to keep an eye on. <\/P> Minor Miracle has had a great start to his career. Seven wins from eleven starts to this point and now he makes his grade one debut. His has won three in a row now his last his first graded win the grade three Slowness Stakes. He is a stalker and this distance is right in his wheel house. He takes on some very accomplished runners but the young gun could be ready for prime time. What for him stalking the pace and running a big one. <\/P> Balerion is a tough veteran that has won half his career twenty eight races. He likes this mile and a quarter distance and comes off a grade three win at this distance last time out where he earned a 105 speed figure. He is a grade one winner at this distance as well and is capable of the high speed figures to win a race like this. He will have some say in the outcome here very likely setting the early pace. His work will be cut out for him having to hold off some very savy stalkers and closers. \u00a0<\/SPAN><\/P> Race: 3238.0114 Ugly Breeders Bowl Distaff<\/SPAN> – Grade I – $450,000<\/B> Empire Reef heads a field of ten ladies in what looks to be a very competitive middle distance turf race. Empire Reef is speed. Going to the front is all she knows and she knows how to do that very well. She is on the verge of accomplishing something that is very rare. With a good finish here she could push her turf earnings over the million mark making her one of those rare runners to earn more than a million dollars on both the turf and the dirt. Only thirteen retired sim runners have accomplished the feat. She still runs well and should give a good account of herself with a great possibility of making a little history. <\/P> Old veteran Dreaming of Love is the second choice on the morning line. She is coming off a nice grade two win last time out where she stalked and pounced her way to a three length win. She has not run the real quick speed figures is quite a while and you just get the feeling a runner is going to need to run a 106-110 speed figure here to win. Still she is in good form and almost always is in the mix of things so hard to count her out. <\/P> Better Than Heavan makes her turf debut in her twenty eighth career start. There is turf influence in the pedigree and she is classy enough to hold her own against this field. I think though it will have to be a pretty special performance for her to win this race. She stalks the pace so we will know by the mid way point of the race if she is going to do well or not. <\/P> Clam Chowdah has found a new level of competition since making the switch to turf. She has just one win but that one was impressive as she earned a 109 speed figure going this distance at the listed stakes level. She has speed so she will either set or press the early pace of the Empire Reef and that could set up for a great stretch run as the speed either holds or the closers really benefit from the fast pace. <\/P> Miswaki\u2019s Last is a good stalking runner that is capable of running fast enough to win this race. Her last was horrible and the time before that was on an off surface so maybe now getting back to a more comfortable distance with a fast pace to run at she gets back to form. She still needs to prove it against grade one company. <\/P> Race: 3238.0216 The BORN TO <\/SPAN><\/B> A second grade one at the same distance for fillies and mares and this race got the short end of the stick with just eight runners. Dance Seeker is the very vulnerable favorite. She has three wins in a row but all of her recent wins and races have been in sprints. Now she is being asked to carry her speed over a route of ground that she has not won over. She has won a grade two as a three year old at a mile and a sixteenth. She seems very capable at a mile but looks very vulnerable at a mile and an eighth. <\/P> Norhtern Pulp may very well be one of the top female runners at this distance. She can put up those 110 speed figures unlike many of her rivals. She lost last time out for the first time in seven starts. She should be very hard to beat this week and should find her way back to the winner\u2019s circle this weekend. She has never been beaten at this distance on turf. <\/P> Bad Scene is a very interesting runner. She won the grade three Tai Bo last time out and is a recent grade three winner at this distance. Three races back she went gate to wire in the grade three Ok\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Bayou earning a 106 speed figure. A repeat run here puts her in a very good position to compete with Northern Pulp. She will very likely be the pace setter today at worst she is pressing the pace. <\/P> Wet Paint has won ten of fifteen career races and recently has been running at longer distances. She won a listed stakes at a mile and a quarter last time out, with a very nice 103 speed figure. She could very well better with the cut back in distance. She still has room to improve and the fact she has never finished off the board in a turf race means she will be there in the end. <\/P> Race: 3238.3815 <\/B> A full field of older handicap horses attack the Gracepoint Prayer is one of the younger runners in the field. He is really coming into his own this spring and summer. He has yet to do it at this level however his recent speed figures put him in the mix of things here. He is a stalker in a race with other good stalkers. If he is up to the task he will have every opportunity to prove himself. <\/P> Tempest ran one hell of a race at this distance last September earning a 112 speed figure. His last two races have produced a couple of very nice speed figures indicating he is in good form. Tempest is a deep closer and when he is on he is a hard runner to hold off in deep stretch. The pace here should be honest and he should get the opportunity to shine. <\/P> The Green Felt is runner that could get overlooked in this field. He has won three of his last four races with speed figures of 112,110, and 107. This deep closer is very capable of winning this race and bettors may very well over look this tremendous value. He is a deep closer and you could make this case he is better at a little shorter distances I might take my chances considering his recent form. <\/P> Roll With It is another runner that is likely to get overlooked a bit here. He has won four in a row his last was the grade two Eviscerator Stakes at this distance where he earned a 111 speed figure. He has a string of really strong races and the four year old seems to be coming into his own now. He is a deep closer and this race has some really good stalkers and closers so he will have his work cut out for him. <\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Empire Reef Approaches Interesting Mile Stone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"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":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4297","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\/255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Track: Epsom
Restrictions: All horses, 4 years old and up
Distance: A mile and one half on the Turf<\/P>
Track:
Restrictions: All horses, 4 years old and up
Distance: A mile and one quarter on the Turf<\/P>
Track:
Restrictions: Fillies and mares, 3 years old and up
Distance: A mile and one eighth on the Turf<\/P>
Track:
Restrictions: Fillies and mares, 4 years old and up
Distance: A mile and one eighth on the Turf<\/P>
Track:
Restrictions: All horses, 3 years old and up
Distance: A mile and one eighth on the Dirt<\/P>