Second stop on my road trip this week brings me here to 1. HORN KNEE SAL<\/B> \u2013 chas<\/I> \u2013 The favourite for this race and gets the benefit (if there is such a thing) of the inside running from the gate. Currently sitting just outside a guaranteed BB spot, this colt is in sizzling form, finishing no worse than the place bar one so far during his three year old season. A quick trip back to allowance level three starts ago looked to pay handsomely bringing about a career best speed and what could lead to a refreshed colt heading to the sim \u2018holy grail\u2019. Clearly as favourite this youngster is in with every chance, but this is just such a talent filled pack, it certainly isn\u2019t going to be easy by any means.<\/P> 2.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>DOUBLE THE BET<\/B> \u2013 chilimac<\/I> \u2013 Clearly by looking at this colt\u2019s history, he\u2019s entered at his ideal distance of nine furlongs here. Unfortunately however his only stakes win was last year in his second outing, this despite regularly showing tremendous speed. Life is going to be even tougher here given the quality of this field, but his career best speed of 103 posted twice in succession in his last two, might just get him somewhere near the front come post time.<\/P> 3. DIAMOND HEAD<\/B> \u2013 south40<\/I> – A steady increase in speeds throughout the season has this colt peaking just at the right time of the year. Quite a versatile runner appearing to be just at home making a closing run or being the pace-setter. The run at ten furlongs three starts ago probably means that nine and a half furlongs is probably about the limit right now, but the length of this week\u2019s race falls into that window very nicely. Odds of 9\/1 has this colt just off the favouritism mark but by no means be fooled, the slightest of improvement, even that caused by a slight tail wind, and this one is right there challenging for the lead.<\/P> 4. FORTY SCOOBS<\/B> \u2013 theogbarn<\/I> \u2013 Four wins from five starts thus far is a most commendable performance for any horse, let alone one caught up in the cut throat world of three year old racing, but the highest level of success in this short period has been at restricted allowance level. This means off course it\u2019s going to be a tough ask for this guy being thrown in against such an incredibly high quality graded field. I\u2019ve mentioned in many previous articles that anything can happen and usually does, however I get the feeling this mountain may be just a little too steep to climb at this early stage.<\/P> 5. CRAFTY VICTORY<\/B> \u2013 ssj4vegeta<\/I> \u2013 The eleventh ranked colt in this division, but surprisingly only two graded victories thus far during his three year old campaign. On first glance it could appear that many a headache must be caused by this youngster heading to the gate, putting in a couple of blinding runs, then for no apparent reason next time around fizzling spectacularly. But there are reasons and very genuine ones. His last fizzer can be put down to the slightly off track, and the previous two are indications that anything beyond nine furlongs, and he\u2019s simply not comfortable. This week\u2019s race couldn\u2019t have been set up better for this colt, making him one of the very true contenders.<\/P> 6. ZIGS IN <\/B> 7. MESONE<\/B> \u2013 beth<\/I> \u2013 This colt finds himself as the outsider in the field on his second dash at the graded level. After a spirited debut winning three of his four first runs a stakes career was always on the cards. His stakes debut was heralded with a second place at New Mexico, but since then in admittedly only a handful of starts, hasn\u2019t really put his hand (or was that hoof) up. His only prior graded run ended with a rather disappointing last place, and it\u2019s difficult to imagine anything is likely to change this time around. Time looks to be the key here however, and this experience should prove positive towards the future.<\/P> 8. WEALTH BY STEALTH (IRE)<\/B> \u2013 davemac<\/I> \u2013 Since going exclusively to dirt during his three year old campaign this colt has really gone from strength to strength. Stated at the morning line at only 17\/1 it\u2019s clear this is more due to the bounce in his last outing rather than outright ability. This guy is the true value amongst the field and well worth a bit of a wager. Although not a big rest period since his last outing, it should be enough for him to overcome the bounce and get back to peak performance, putting him well within striking distance of victory here.<\/P> 9. TECHNICALLY T (IRE)<\/B> \u2013 youngnhung<\/I> \u2013 The sole filly amongst the field boasts a ranking of 13th<\/SUP> in the class, but unfortunately looks to have her work cut out amongst this field. Despite a trio of 100+ runs only one top three spot has been accomplished during her three year old campaign and that was during the first part of the year. A good showing here could promote her to very close to a #1 ranking but the chances are very minimal.<\/P> 10. TEMPEST<\/B> \u2013 oscar<\/I> \u2013 Here lays the true excitement machine amongst this crowd. This #10 ranked colt possesses the natural ability to blow this race wide apart; he does however have a tendency to be rather temperamental at times, perhaps not performing to his true ability. A career best speed of 110 set just two races ago is fast enough to win just about any three year old race on the sim planet, and that run was only \u00bd a furlong shorter than this weeks. Finishing 2 \u00bc lengths in the clear after making 5 \u00bd in the last quarter showed there was plenty of gas left in the tank, so should sit him very nicely, but one wonders whether the colt that lines up will be the \u2018take no prisoners\u2019 version or the complacent one.<\/P> 11. VINDIANA JONES<\/B> \u2013 peeps6<\/I> \u2013 Race pace is likely to stem from these quarters with this youngster at his best when in front. This colt must find the front early as it seems anything less and the desire to win seems to dwindle. I expect he will as he looks to be the only genuine early speed amongst the field, but he will still need to find just a tad more than his thus far career best speed of 105, set consecutively in his last two starts. Distance shouldn\u2019t be any issue whatsoever as all his stakes starts, including two wins, have been around this distance. Unquestionably a very genuine chance for victory is on the cards, but he must get to the front.<\/P> 12. CADER YDRIS (IRE)<\/B> \u2013 oldgraymar<\/I> \u2013 The #5 ranked three year colt really has seemed to lose his way in his last couple of runs. He posted a career best matching run three starts ago, but has failed to claim victory in five runs. He is a champion no question, his ranking and career victories are undeniable proof of that, but things must turn around, not only here, but more importantly heading towards the assumed target of Breeders Bowl.<\/P> 13. OCAAR (GB)<\/B> \u2013 loves3<\/I> \u2013 A rather chequered career has this colt lining up once again for a crack at graded company. Although yet to break the magic 100 speed mark he does boast an open stakes win very early in the year, showing hugely promising signs. Unfortunately however that win has never been replicated, despite gently nudging up his outright career best speed. Without trying to paint too much of a gloomy picture, things will obviously need to improve for him to challenge here, but as unlikely as it seems, it\u2019s not impossible.<\/P> 14. GO FOR PROSPECT<\/B> \u2013 gowand<\/I> \u2013 This colt finds himself in much the same boat as his sole neighbour in the gates. A stakes win in the early to middle part of the year, but never backed up. In this guy\u2019s case, his best placing since has only been fourth at his last start. A speed somewhere in the vicinity of \u00a0<\/SPAN>at least 105 will probably be need to win this week\u2019s race, meaning this guy will have to find quite a bit more.<\/P> I must say this race has quite a bit of everything, runners in form, and out of form, those with big speed ability, and those without, big stamina, and not much. I think about the only thing it doesn\u2019t have is a #1 ranked three year old colt\u2026but that\u2019s another story. If the \u2018real\u2019 TEMPEST lines up at the gate, I don\u2019t know that anyone will stop him, but if the complacent version shows up, there\u2019s a good few who have more than enough to get the job done. This truly is a race worth waiting for, and could see a good shake up of rankings.<\/P> Cheers \u00a0<\/SPAN><\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There’s no #1 here, ….yet!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":354,"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-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488","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\/354"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}