After the week off last week, juveniles return to the forefront in this week\u2019s marquee race, the Carney Memorial. The race is open to all two year olds, and gives these entrants a shot at Breeder\u2019s Bowl distance, running over eight and a half furlongs of turf. Virginia dodged the stormy weather again this week, and the track will be rated as firm for this race, as these colts contend for a piece of the $50000 purse. This is the third annual running of this stakes race. It is typically a “let\u2019s see if he can handle route distance” race, and many of the historical entries have ended up in the claiming ranks down the line. Interestingly enough, neither of the prior two winners made the cut for the Breeder\u2019s Bowl. Last year\u2019s winner was Power Fleet(GB)<\/B>, who went wire to wire with no one even getting close, for his only turf win. This year\u2019s field is short, drawing only four entries. The favorite goes off at 7\/5 odds, and there\u2019s no real longshot here, with the highest odds in the field a mere 4\/1 mark. An upset could make for some marginally decent payouts at the betting window, but it looks to be another slim week for the handicappers.<\/P>
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PP 1) Moon Of Queensland(JPN)<\/B> Sired by Moon Ballad(IRE), Trained by graywolf5. Moon Of Queensland(JPN) runs for his seventh career time here. He is no stranger to stakes company, but after four tries he is still seeking his first win at this level. He has earned a mark of 1-4-0-0-0 in his first six, with a top speed number of 80.2, which he earned two starts back. His last race was an eight furlong turf stakes in Maine, where he finished second, giving up a nearly two length lead down the stretch. All six previous starts have been on turf, and with five top two finishes, his trainer hasn\u2019t had cause to move him off this surface. He\u2019s been steadily increasing distance over his last two, with somewhat mixed results. He had a Grade III run that ended badly, though it was a tight finish, with less than six lengths separating the first eight places. He gave up a lead late in his last, fading noticeably down the stretch. He generally breaks in at a pace that would put him at the head of the midpack, but at this point in the season, it has put him into an early lead or fighting for it. His best two performances have been in his shortest two races, one in which he showed an excellent close, and the other where he went wire to wire for his only victory. He\u2019s in a field of closers here, and that doesn\u2019t bode well when he is tacking distance on to his previous long. Look for him to grab a big lead early, but it will be a real surprise if he can hold it down the stretch.<\/P>
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PP 2) Carn The Bombers(AUS)<\/B> Sired by Carnegie(IRE), Trained by corzacan. Carn The Bombers(AUS) will take the gate for his third career start here. This will be his first try at stakes level. He was a win and a place to show for his first two starts, clocking a best speed of 73.5 in his last start. That race was an eight furlong MSW in Eastern Kentucky, where he bested a full field by three lengths with a beautiful second half run. Both his previous starts have been on grass, and it seems to work for him. He has a sprint and a route behind him, and has performed equally well in both. The longer route seems to fit his style better though, and it gives him plenty of space to make up ground in the second half. He runs as a deep closer, and his close has been excellent in his first two runs. While the others in this field have all posted higher speeds, this colt is still relatively untested, and we likely haven\u2019t seen the best of him yet. He faces two other very good closers here, and he has yet to find himself out too deep at the half yet to really show his power. If he maintains the same distance off the lead here he has in his first couple, he should have plenty left in the tank, and could be very dangerous down the stretch.<\/P>
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PP 3) Flag Bearer(TX)<\/B> Sired by Seattle Sleet, Trained by 02251947. Flag Bearer(TX) makes his seventh career start in this race. He has one previous stakes start, and is still seeking his first win at this level. Over the course of his first six, he has run to a 2-3-0-1-0 record, with a best speed figure of 77.1 which he posted in his last start. His last race was a stakes at this distance right here in Virginia, where he finished a hard clsoing second in a field of six. He made his first two career starts on dirt, and acquitted himself fairly well. Since switching to turf though he has not finished worse than second place in his last four starts. He loved this distance last time out, and he posted a career best speed and still showed good closing power. The speed jump also accompanied the jump in class, though, which may have played a factor. He\u2019s a deep closer, and his close has been the picture of consistency. The two lengths he lost by last time out was his furthest out at the wire, and it coincided with his biggest gap at the halfway mark. The early pace shouldn\u2019t be blazing here, and that works to his advantage. He will definitely be threatening down the stretch here, and with a bit more speed could bring this one home.<\/P>
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PP 4) Ziggy Rules(IRE)<\/B> Sired by Aussie Rules, Trained by overbrooks. Ziggy Rules(IRE) gets the nod from the oddsmakers here in his seventh start. In four stakes starts, he has three victories, including one at Grade III. He boasts a record of 4-0-0-2-0 in his first six, with a top speed number of 80.8, earned two starts back. His last run was a seven furlong Grade III turf stakes at Ascot, where he lost a four race winning streak, finishing a close in fourth in a field of eleven. He\u2019s never been off the grass, and with the success he has experienced, why should he? He\u2019s been slowly stretching out in distance, and this will be his longest run by a furlong and a half. The increases in distance haven\u2019t seemed to bother him so far, and he shows every indication that it shouldn\u2019t be a problem in this field. He is a deep closer and as his record attests, his close has been stellar in his first six. If he had a burner up front here, I\u2019d have my doubts about him at this distance, but with no blazing earlier speed he should be well within striking distance. His problem last time was finding himself out too deep at the half in an excellent quality field, and while there is a good field here, it is not of that calibre. He\u2019s going to be tough to beat here if he runs his race.<\/P><\/BODY><\/HTML><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Colts test Breeder’s Bowl distance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":472,"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":[2,3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews","category-reviews","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4725","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\/472"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}