With the winners of the three Triple Crown races all pointed toward the Travelers Stakes next month, we’re left with a Haskell field made up of horses that either couldn’t quite get it done on the Triple Crown trail or others that weren’t on the trail and are rounding into good form now. Either way, this looks like a wide open race that will prove tricky when trying to pick a winner.<\/p>\n
One thing I noticed just glancing at the field is that each of the fourteen horses has a different sire, which I found to be unusual in a race like this. It’s great to see some sire diversity in such a big race!<\/p>\n
(1) IN MY LIFETIME (owner billiam40, 14\/1) had a terrific 2-year-old campaign last year, but has flattened out this year, hitting the board just once in four starts. The good news is that he is coming off his best race, the GRS Preakness Stakes back in may, where he finished second. His other graded stakes races include a solid fourth in the Grade II Sleepy Fan and a disappointing 12th in the Grade I California Derby. He is by Violence and out of the stakes-winning mare True Disciples, but this will prove to be a step up from what he’s been facing lately. While this is a very talented horse, his struggles in the California Derby are concerning – I’m not quite sure he’ll be up to to the task against this group.<\/p>\n
(2) WALKERINGHAM (owner alibilane2, 17\/1) is looking to rebound following a couple of disappointing efforts in his past two starts. Following two wins in ungraded stakes races early in the year, he had the lead late in the Universal Derby before fading to seventh. He followed that up with another seventh-place finish in the Grade I Labatts Ontario Oaks last month. The top three horses in that race are also here in New Jersey, so he will have the tall task of trying to get past these horses again. I don’t see anything of late that makes me think he’s sitting on a big effort, and I suspect the task will be a little too tall this time around.<\/p>\n
(3) GOLDEN CALIFORNIA (owner alysheba11, 6\/1) is the lone graded-stakes winning offspring of California Chrome, and is by far the leading earner of those offspring as well. He comes into this race hot, with open-length victories in the Group III Chief Snow and the aforementioned Grade I Labatts Ontario Oaks last time out. Both of those races were at this 9-furlong distance, so this seems to be his sweet spot. The runners up in that race, PYE PIT and SHADED BY ARROWS, also show up in here and will be just outside of GOLDEN CALIFORNIA. He definitely is a contender to win, although jockey E Seibert will need to be mindful of the fresh threats toward the outside of this field.<\/p>\n
(4) PYE PIT (owner grandalley, 14\/1) will go off at double-digit odds again in this race, despite finishing behind GOLDEN CALIFORNIA last time out in that Grade I in Ontario. That result was also at a price, and he threw up a dazzling SP number of 111 in the runner-up effort. As will be the question with some of the others in this field, it’s tough to figure out whether he is sharp and that improvement was a sign of things to come, or was it just a fluke. Given this gelding’s breeding (Tapit x Giant’s Causeway), I certainly thing he could keep it going. This will be just his third race of the year, and perhaps the slightly shorter layoff coming into this race could help.<\/p>\n
(5) SHADED BY ARROWS (owner simsters10, 7\/1) also comes out of that Ontario race, but squeezed in another race before the Eddie Haskell, finishing third again in the Grade II Liar up the road in New York early this month. That looked to be an improved effort over the Grade I race last month, so he will be another one in this field who comes into the race in pretty good form. He has finished third in all three of his graded starts, and will be looking to break through and finally get that win today. This son of Constitution has never finished off the board in nine career starts – that consistency should serve him well on Sunday, although this might be the toughest field he’s faced yet.<\/p>\n
(6) LAST ONE BARBARA (owner muscles2, 12\/1) has been quite the world traveler in the past several months, hopping from Dubai to the U.S. and then over to Norway before returning to the States for this race. The journey started with a solid second-place finish in the Sand Castle Derby over in Dubai, but he then finished in the middle of the pack in the Bluegrass Derby. The Group II Trial by Night Stakes last month in Norway seemed to be a nice spot to reset and get a nice finish, but finished a disappointing eighth, despite being one of the favorites. This son of Giant’s Causeway will find tough sledding against this field too, and I’m not convinced he’ll be up to the task.<\/p>\n
(7) HELIANTHUS (owner mamaseals, 8\/1) will be one of the favorites in here, fresh off a win in the Grade III Affirmative last month out in California. This will be the first Grade I start for the son of Curlin, and it will be a little bit of a stretchout. His last race was at 8.5 furlongs, and his only other start at 9 furlongs was back in February in the Grade II Fountain of Ute, where he finished seventh. It was the only time he’s finished out of the money in his career. The top finishers in that race have struggled since, so if he couldn’t beat those horses at 9 furlongs, that gives me pause. On the other hand, he has rounded into very good form of late, so he could be peaking just in time for this race. Tough call.<\/p>\n
(8) MUSICFOR THEFALLEN (owner blankpoin6, 12\/1) is no stranger to graded competition, as this will be his ninth start in a graded-stakes race, and his seventh in a Grade I. His results have been all over the place, but he’s hit the board in half of his graded starts and was less than a length back in the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile back in November, despite finishing fifth. He is coming off the Triple Crown trail, where he passed some tired horses to finish ninth in the Bluegrass Derby and then finished a well-beaten fourth in the New Yorker last time out. I think he will appreciate the cutback in distance in this race, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes an appearance on the board at the end.<\/p>\n
(9) KING KAM SEPOY (owner dkstables21, 9\/1) returns Sunday after a few months off. He made the first eight starts on the grass, but took a detour to the Triple Crown trail. That started with an impressive win in the Wooden Indian up in New York back in April. He couldn’t turn that victory into success in the Bluegrass Derby, though, fading late to finish 13th. Given the typical chaos of that race, I’m willing to throw that race out, especially given his consistency in the past. While I suspect the turf may be his more preferred surface, that race in April shows that he doesn’t mind the dirt at all. I think he could bounce back nicely here after some time off.<\/p>\n
(10) LEFT FOR LATER (owner cityplace, 8\/1) has been excellent so far in 2018, and is looking to add a G1 trophy to the shelf. He’ll make his first U.S. start since last November, as he comes in from Norway, where he won the Group II Trial by Night Stakes last month. He put up an SP of 113 in that race, tied for the best in the field with the favorite, GOLDEN CALIFORNIA. This race will be a stretchout, as he goes from 8 to 9 furlongs. In his last 9 furlong race, he faded a bit at the end, so the question here will be whether he can get the distance. Coming off two stakes wins, the son of Tiznow seems to be peaking at the right time, and certainly could be a factor to get to the winner’s circle.<\/p>\n
(11) UNSUBTLE (owner nepenthe30, 11\/1) had the best result in a Triple Crown race out of this group, skipping the Bluegrass Derby and then finishing a solid second in the Middle Jewel Stakes. He started the year off with two wins, including one in the Grade II Sleepy Fan Stakes. His SP numbers throughout the year would suggest that he has plateaued somewhat this year, not really improving much from race to race. If that continues here, I suspect he’ll have a hard time keeping up with this group. That last race in Maryland certainly wasn’t a bad effort, but the winner of the Middle Jewel just finished fifth in a subsequent Grade I. He’ll need to take a step forward to contend here.<\/p>\n
(12) SCAM ALERT (owner stableken, 11\/1) brings a three-race winning streak into the Eddie Haskell, including a win last time out in the Grade II Princess Cup over in Ontario. The California-bred son of Winning Causeway started the year with three ungraded stakes appearances, resulting in two wins and a very close second. The pedigree doesn’t scream Grade I winner, but owner stableken may have just found a winning combination here. The consistency shown throughout this year suggests that he can be a factor in this race, especially when looking to fill those underneath slots in the exactas and trifectas.<\/p>\n
(13) DISTORTED CLIFFS (owner newracing, 12\/1) will make his fifth graded-stakes start on Sunday, and is fresh off his first stakes win in an ungraded stakes race at the start of the month. It has taken a while to get to this point – it took him six starts to break his maiden, finally getting it down last September out on the West Coast. More recently, he has raced in a slew of Grade II and III races, only hitting the board once, which was in the Risen Star Stakes back in February. While his starts in the Grade II races were nothing to really write home about, that last race was solid. I’m going to pass this time, but another step forward would get him up with the leaders.<\/p>\n
(14) THE FIRST (owner akaran, 9\/1) had finished first or second in each of his six career starts…but that streak came to an end last race, as he finished fifth in the Grade II Princess Cup, which was won by SCAM ALERT. You can argue that he didn’t like the stretchout to 10 furlongs in that race, as he did fade late. That being said, he was never really that close to the lead at any point of call. Before that, though, he did finish a very close second in the Grade II Captain Hook in May just up the road in New York. The cutback in distance should help some for this race, and he has a shot just like many others do in this wide open race.<\/p>\n
My Picks:<\/p>\n
(9) KING KAM SEPOY, 9\/1 – I’m going to throw out the Bluegrass Derby, and I think he bounces back nicely here. He picks up top SIM jockey T Ace, which can’t hurt.<\/p>\n
(10) LEFT FOR LATER, 8\/1 – Ultra-consistent this year, and certainly could factor in to win. Depends on how much he likes the stretchout and how hot the early pace is.<\/p>\n
(3) GOLDEN CALIFORNIA, 6\/1 – This race should show us how good that Grade I in Ontario was. SHADED BY ARROWS showed that it should hold up pretty well. He is certainly a contender to win.<\/p>\n
(7) HELIANTHUS, 8\/1 – Has been steadily improving, and might benefit from sitting just off the pace in this race.<\/p>\n
Good luck to all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With the winners of the three Triple Crown races all pointed toward the Travelers Stakes next month, we’re left with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39998,"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-46276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46276","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\/39998"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46276"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46279,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46276\/revisions\/46279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}