This week’s feature race at California is The Grade II Cherry Limb Stakes. 12 3 year olds have entered the race that will be going 9 furlongs on the turf and will be vying for the winners share of the $250,000 purse. 8)HANDLEBAR JACK(KY)—15\/1—<\/STRONG>timmn sends this colt out of HENNESSY with a record of 9-6-2-0 and lifetime earnings of $118,255. This 531st divisional ranked colt races for the Minnesota Downs division of the Timmn stables. This colt started his career on the dirt and in fact posted his first 2 lifetime wins on that surface. He switched to the turf earlier this year where he is a perfect 3\/3 for the surface and is entering this race with a 4 race win streak as he won an additional dirt race in between turf starts. He has won his only stakes start of his career in The Fan Dancing Challenge Stakes in Northern California over 6 furlongs on the turf against a minimium 4 horse field. He posted his lifetime best 103 speed rating 2 starts back on the dirt while winning a 6.5 furlong allowance sprint. This speedy colt should provide the means to keep an honest pace in the race but there are some factors that need to be worked out. This will be his first start at 9 furlongs and it will be his first start in a Graded stakes race. If he can answere these questions in a positive matter the generous price would be welcomed by his backers. The rider for today’s race will be Brim (11.1%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—96.<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P> 9)MICHAEL STRAHLMAN(KY)—8\/1—<\/STRONG>windycity sends this colt out of FUSAICHI PEGASUS with a record of 17-7-4-2 and lifetime earnings of $280,190. He is out of the he-mare VILNUS KID who was 17\/55 at the track. This 18th divisional ranked colt races for the 4nighthawk stables based over at Minnesota Downs. This colt broke his maiden on the dirt in his lifetime debut as a 2 year old but was immediately switched to the turf where he ended picking up a pair of overnite stakes wins last year. He has picked up 4 more wins this year including 3 stakes wins and posted his lifetime best 106 speed rating 3 starts back while finishing in 3rd in The Grade II\u00a0Upper California Derby over 9.5 furlongs on the turf. He will have to face the winner of that race again here today. This colt races in a pace pressing or stalking style and should have no trouble with the distance here today. He will need to pick up his game here today as he will find today’s field much tougher than some of the overnite stakes spots he has been running in this year. The rider for today’s race will be Mills (10%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—105<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P> 10)PERFECT SON(KY)—5\/1—<\/STRONG>nuemaya sends this colt out of PLEASANTLY PERFECT with a record of 15-4-3-5 and lifetime earnings of $284,772. This 15th divisional ranked colt races for the unafilliated Shagadelic Farms. This colt ran on the dirt for his first 4 lifetime starts and broke his maiden on that surface. He switched to the turf for his final 2 races as a 2 year old and picked up another allowance race on that surface. He has picked up 2 more wins this year including his last when he won The Grade III Saint Ledge Stakes in Epsom posting a 108 speed rating over 10 furlongs on the turf. That was just 1 point of the 109 lifemark he set in The Grade II Upper California Derby and today’s race will infact be a rematch of the top 3 finishers of that race. This colt is a closer who sits at the back of the pack early and he has won at the 9 furlong distance already this year. The rider for today’s race will be Lewis (13.2%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—109<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P> 11)STRIPED GIZNAD TED(KY)—21\/1—<\/STRONG>hijacked sends this colt out of SERVICE STRIPE with a record of 20-2-5-3 and lifetime earnings of $61,764. He is out of the mare DIXIETARIAT who was 3\/47 at the track and who has 4 foals on record of which 3 are winners including 1 stakes winner. This 304th divisional ranked colts races for the Tsyndicate stables based over at Del\/Penn National. This is another cold who started his career on the dirt and then broke his maiden in his 2nd start on the turf after the surface switch. He went winless in 14 starts before finding the winner’s circle again last time out posting his lifetime best 97 speed rating for the 10 furlong restricted allowance race. This colt has shown speed in the past and while his win percentage is low he has managed to pick up quite a few minor cheques in races. Whether he can push the pace with this huge class rise is still questionable and he will definitely find the competition here today much tougher than what he is used to facing. The rider for today’s race is Evans (6.5%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—93<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P> 12)ALT UNIVERSE(KY)—11\/1—<\/STRONG>theoc2 sends this colt out of ROCK HARD TEN with a record of 10-4-1-2 and lifetime earnings of $159,834. This 102nd divisional ranked colt races out of The Newport Group based over at the new Global Runners residency. This colt ran once as a 2 year old and then came on to win his 2007 debut breaking his maiden on the dirt. He was switched to the turf for his 4th lifetime start and has raced exclusively on the lawn since. He has picked up 3 allowance wins this year and has a pair of 3rd place finishes in Graded stakes races. He showed a remarkable speed rating jump while finishing 3rd last time out in The Grade II Boston Derby posting a 108 speed rating for the 9 furlong turf race. This marked almost a 10 point increase from his previous best races making him the dark horse play in this race today. Was that race just an anomoly or is it the sign of thigs to come with this colt. He is a closer who sits way back early and one question mark for this race today is whether or not it is long enought for him as it appears he would prefer 10 furlongs or more for him to be at his best. The rider for today’s race will be Simcox (11.7%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—103.<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P> Well there is alot of talent in this race today and this could be a rematch of the recently run Upper California Derby as the top 3 finishers in that race are racing against each other again today. I have #1 EXCLUSIVE HABITAT and#10 PERFECT SONG vitually tied with #7 PAYCHECK only 1 point behind in the ratings so it may be a low priced affair here today. I will probably throw in #8 HANDLEBAR JACK in the mix in a hope to catch a nice price.<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P> GOOD LUCK AND GOOD RACING<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P> THEO<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P> \u00a0<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EXCLUSIVE HABITAT LOOKS TO KEEP PERFECT STRING OF TOP 2 FINISHES ALIVE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"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-4927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4927","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\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Let’s take a look at today’s field:
1)EXCLUSIVE HABITAT(ENG)—3\/1—<\/STRONG>iant8 sends this colt out of SAKHEE with a record of 10-6-4-0 and lifetime earnings of $899,555. This 2nd divisional ranked colt races out of the Kentucky Horseman residency. This colt won his 2nd lifetime start in his 2 year old season finale in an MSW race. This year he has 5 wins including The Grade I Big Red Stakes in Illinois where he posted his lifetime best 116 speed rating, The Grade II Upper California Derby in Northern California and The Grade III Fernazzle Classic Cup in New South Wales. He has never finished worse than 2nd in his career to date and a win today would push his lifetime earnings mark over the $1 Million mark. He is a frontrunner who is the class of the speed in this race today and while others may try to push him they will have to prove they can beat him when the running starts in the stretch drive. The distance will be no problem for this colt and his current sharp form has earned him the role of morning line favorite for today’s race. The jockey for today’s race will be Gossett (25.4%) who is the leading rider at the meet this season. PROJECTED SPEED RATING—109<\/STRONG>
2)PGPG’S FILLY’S ARAZI(AUS)—16\/1—<\/STRONG>pgpg sends this colt out of ARAZI with a record of 23-4-5-0 and lifetime earnings of $112,298. He is out of the mare PGPG’S FILLY who was 25\/47 at the track and who has 4 foals on record of which 3 are winners. This 300th divisional ranked colt races for the Del\/Penn National division of the PGPG stables managed by Wassie. This colt had a busy 2 year old season where he ended up being winless in 10 starts. He made up for that with a win in his 3 year old debut and has added 3 allowance wins to his credit since then. He has started twice in stakes races so far in his career and has fared poorly in both races. He posted his lifetime best 102 speed rating 2 starts back while winning a restricted allowance over 9.5 furlongs on a turf listed as good. He is a closer who sits near the back early but has on occasion sat closer to the front in midpack and he usually begins his move early in the final turn. While he should have no problem with the distance he has yet to prove himself in this class. The rider for today’s race will be Bates (11.3%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—97<\/STRONG>
3)DASKAMARAAN(IRE)—13\/1—<\/STRONG>horsestab sends this colt out of DALAKHANI(IRE) with a record of 19-3-4-2 and lifetime earnings of $79,320. This 586th divisional ranked colt races for the Dupre stables based in Ireland. This colt was winless in 3 starts as a 2 year old and broke his maiden in his 12th lifetime start earlier this year. Since then he has picked up another pair of allowance races. In 3 lifetime stakes starts he has managed a best finish of 4th and he was outrun in his only previous Graded stakes start to date. He has posted his lifetime best speed rating of 100 three times so far in his career the last coming in his last start while finishing in 3rd in an open allowance 8.5 furlong turf race in South Africa. This colt is a closer who sits at the back of the pack early and should be all right with the distance but is another who will need to prove he can run at this class level with any consistancy. The rider for today’s race will be Ford (3.5%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—93<\/STRONG>
4)GRAND TRIGGER(ENG)—11\/1—<\/STRONG>karolyi sends this colt out of DOUBLE TRIGGER(IRE) with a record of 14-3-2-4 and lifetime earnings of $95,078. This 318th divisional ranked colt is a stablemate of #3 DASKAMARAAN(IRE) in the dupre stables based in Ireland. This colt was unraced as a 2 year old and broke his maiden in his 6th lifetime start earlier this year. He has won another pair of allowance races since then and made his stakes debut last time out in The Grade II Hee Haw Derby in Illinois where he posted his lifetime best 101 speed rating for the 2nd race in a row while finishing in 7th in the 9 furlong turf stake race. This colt has displayed early speed in many of his starts but was unable to get to the front when trying the stakes ranks for the first time last start and with the race favorite also favoring the front running style it is questionable whether this one will find the lead here again today. His presence though may provide an honest pace in the race and this one will have to show some improvement if he plans on hanging on in the late stretch. The rider for today’s race will be Billig (12.7%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—98
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5)CHOP EM DANE(KY)—10\/1—<\/STRONG>meguire6th sends this colt out of WANDO with a record of 14-5-0-0 and lifetime earnings of $91,028. This 295th divisional ranked colt races for the unafilliated Meguire stables. This colt raced on the dirt for this first 7 starts and broke his maiden on that surface as a 2 year old. He switched to the turf earlier this year and had a 4 race winning streak broken last time out when he finished in 4th place in his stakes debut in the Grade III Saint Ledge Stakes in Epsom. He posted his lifetime best speed rating of 104 two starts back in a 10 furlong allowance win in Ontario. This colt is a closer who sits midpack early and should have no difficulty with today’s race distance. His stakes debut showed enough that with some improvement he can be a factor in today’s race. The rider for today’s race will be Bonus (6%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—100
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6)ALL THAT HYPE(GB)—14\/1—<\/STRONG>deyoto sends this colt out of MOTIVATOR(GB) with a record of 9-3-4-0 and lifetime earnings of $100,545. He is out of the mare FISCHER who was 5\/30 at the track and who has 4 foals on record, all winners. This 848th divisional ranked colt races for Champion Lodge based over at Queensland. This colt ran one time as a 2 year old in the late part of last season and broke his maiden in his 3rd lifetime start earlier this year. He has picked up 2 allowance wins since then, one on the dirt and another on the turf. He made his stakes debut last time out where he finished 4th in The Teetedoomas(GB) Memorial stakes in Victoria over 8.5 furlongs on the turf. He posted his lifetime best 104 speed rating in the race prior while winning a 7 furlong turf sprint allowance race in Newmarket. He has raced at 10 furlongs once in his career where he finished a closing 2nd in an allowance race but his best races have come at long sprints or at a mile so he will have to prove he can go the extra furlong here today and prevent himself from tiring in the late stretch. The rider for today’s race will be Incay (11.4%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—100<\/STRONG>
7)PAYCHECK(IRE)—9\/2—<\/STRONG>deyoto sends this colt out of MONJEU(IRE) with a record of 14-6-4-2 and lifetime earnings of $970,938. He is out of the he-mare ROBBIE’S RED BOY who was 2\/21 at the track. This 4th divisional ranked colt is a stablemate of #6 ALL THAT HYPE(GB) over at Champion Lodge in Queensland. This colt was a 3 time winner in his 2 year old season including 2 stakes of which one was The Grade III Flying Saucer Stakes in Ontario. He has picked up 3 more wins this year highlited by the win in The Grade I The 2000 Guineas in Newmarket. He posted his lifetime best speed rating of 109 two starts back while winning The Speech Bruising Memorial Stakes in Washington over 7.5 furlongs on the turf. This colt races as a pace stalker sitting just a few lengths back of the front runners. He has raced twice at 9 furlongs before in his career, once on the dirt and once on the turf and was not exceptionally sharp in either start so he does need to prove that he can win past the 8 furlong distance mark. A first or second place finish today would push\u00a0him over the $1 Million\u00a0earnings\u00a0mark for his career.\u00a0The rider for today’s race will be Staples (16.2%). PROJECTED SPEED RATIN—108<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P>