The G.P. Bon Baden G1 stakes has attracted the two time Horse of the Year Spiced Turtle.\u00a0 Eleven others seek to be amongst the few to beat the Hall of Famer in the 12 furlong turf race who will look to add to a bank roll that exceeds $21 million in career earnings.\u00a0 But the defending 2018 champion Dream of Stars is returning to this race and may stand in his way.\u00a0 Here’s the field:<\/p>\n
1\u00a0 MIDTOWN OR TRIBECA 21\/1-is a seven time winner on the grass in 18 starts.\u00a0 The odds are rich for this four year old who has been a Cinderella story.\u00a0 Starting the year in the upper echelons of the claiming ranks, he won two of three starts with a second then made his way into a pair of allowance races for the first time this year.\u00a0 At this level he won two easy races, despite speeds below the 100 level.\u00a0 These were easy wins and there was no reason to wear this guy down just to get impressive speeds.\u00a0 That would happen in his last start, a big risk and jump into the G1 Man of War Stakes where a career best speed of 112 would be notched as he would close late to finish second at 30\/1.\u00a0 He has not finished worse than second, which dates back to last December and he has been in fine form.<\/p>\n
2 SPICED TURTLE\u00a0 9\/2-The crowd will be flocking to the Germany race track to lie eyes on this phenomenal runner who makes his first visit to the track.\u00a0 They like him so much he is the favorite in the race.\u00a0\u00a0 Spiced Turtle is coming off two of the worse races of his career finishing 10th in the Sand Castle Golden Turf and 9th in the Cornonation Pilsner, races where he finished more than 10 lengths behind the winner, something that has never occurred in his impressive racing career until now.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Starting the year, a refresher of an allowance race looked decent with a second place finish where he showed his strong late run, trailing by 22 at the half of a 13 furlong race to come within three lengths of the winner.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is more his racing style but his last two outings have been nothing less than let downs.\u00a0\u00a0 This crowd strongly supports a turnaround in this race and this turtle needs to spice things back up to avoid letting the supporters down.<\/p>\n
3\u00a0 TETE CHIRON\u00a0 8\/1-After hitting the board in the G2 Cold Plate (3rd) and finishing second in both teh Captials Major Price and Norway Cups (G3 Races) Tete will make a return to the G1 level, a place he ran three consecutive races from last September through this past March.\u00a0 Ironically, he managed to finish fifth in\u00a0 each of those races.\u00a0 He’s done well in his recent trio of races previously denoted, slicing out speeds between 111 and 114.\u00a0\u00a0 I expect that Tete will be running near the lead.\u00a0 He will go to the lead once in a while, but I don’t see him doing that in this race.\u00a0 I think he’ll sit somewhere around the third or fourth spot and patiently await his time to strike.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s been a long time since he won (dating back to March, 2018 where he took the G1 Ackland) and he looks long overdue.<\/p>\n
4\u00a0 LEROY JENKINS II\u00a0 6\/1-This five year old gelding out of Medicean has been moving up the class ladder over the past year.\u00a0\u00a0 At this time last year, he was racing in the allowance class and after winning a race at 9f with a 114 speed advanced into the listed stakes.\u00a0 Here he raced twice with a second and fourth with triple digit speeds.\u00a0 In February of this year, he took the next step up and has raced four times in a mix of G2 and G3 races.\u00a0\u00a0 The best outcome was in the City of Gold (G3) where he finished 2nd going 8.5 furlongs.\u00a0\u00a0 During the four grade races, speeds have been competitive ranging from 110 to 116.\u00a0\u00a0 He is a slow runner and in the recent De Vichy, he fell some 20 lengths behind in the 10f race and rallied to finish 6th, and just a bit over 4 lengths behind the winner.\u00a0 Leroy will be going the longer 12 furlongs for the first time in his career and the added distance may buy him enough time to get to the top spot.<\/p>\n
5\u00a0 CONFIRMED CREDIT\u00a0 5\/1-An experienced grade runner who has been competing at the 11 to 12 furlong distance in this class since April of last year.\u00a0 He’s raced nine straight grade races with a record of 2-3-3.\u00a0\u00a0 His form has been very sharp with speeds of 115-118 over his last three races which include a third in the Pan Americana Handicap (G3), win in the G2 M-Class and a second in the off-track G1 Kakarazuka Kinen Cup.\u00a0\u00a0 Confirmed Credit will probably be racing in the front third of the field and may make a move to advance to the front.\u00a0 Timing will mean a lot as he has had a few races where he will obtain the lead but forfeit it in the stretch as he did in the Kakarazuka.<\/p>\n
6\u00a0 CLASSY POINT\u00a0 10-1-Do we get Jekyll or do we get Hyde in this race?\u00a0 Classy Point has that type of career on the track.\u00a0 If he’s focused and wants to run, he is a threat.\u00a0 When he waivers and has objection to leaving the stable to run, you have problems.\u00a0\u00a0 In the April running of the 5-Series, he was in a good mood and left the chute in fourth.\u00a0 He entered the final turn and found some aggression and powered his way to the front to win by over a stride and could boast about the 115 point.\u00a0 His last two starts, the Milan Grand Prix and the King Geoff and Queen Beth’s Emerald were both different stories.\u00a0 In the Milan, he was within three strides as the field came around the turn but Classy put the breaks on and finished 7th and a dozen off the winner.\u00a0 In the King Geoff, he was lazy dropping 14 back by the half and finished next to last some 20+ strides back.\u00a0 All depends on his mood.<\/p>\n
7\u00a0 LONG RUN RUN\u00a0 51\/1-Primarily a dirt runner who comes back to the turf for the first tie in almost two years.\u00a0 Over the 2019 season, Long Run Run has raced in all classes of races with only one victory. \u00a0\u00a0 That came in March when he made his first start after a 7 month break in a small 5 horse allowance field.\u00a0 He’s raced five times this season and also has a third to his credit which came in another allowance race.\u00a0 Two grade starts resulted in poor results, finishing in the back quarter of the fields in each.\u00a0\u00a0 His recent start was in a sloppy claiming race where he was not competitive.\u00a0 A few things work against Long Run Run, first he’s coming back to the turf for the first time in years, second is the distance is nearly a quarter mile longer than what he is accustomed to and finally he has not done well in the stakes class which makes Long Run Run a longshot here.<\/p>\n
8\u00a0 HOT AND HERMAN\u00a0 7\/1-This will be the eighth start for Hot And Herman this year which began back in March, after having a nice winter recess.\u00a0 He started with a pair of allowance races\u00a0 where he scored a second and a win with very impressive speeds of 118 & 117.\u00a0 This flowed forward into the G3 Honey Do where another 118 speed was sported and good enough for his second win of the year.\u00a0 Over his last four starts, he ran three in the G1 level and could only get to the 6th spot as his best result (which came in both the Sword Swallower and King Geoff and Queen Beth’s Emerald, his last two starts).\u00a0 He does have a win squezed in between the G1 races which was earned in the G2 Princess of Whales.\u00a0\u00a0 Speeds have been at 110 or above over all but one of his races this year which is delightful.\u00a0 His issue is in the G1 competition where he has faltered but if he finds the confidence and a hot foot, he could make his name known.<\/p>\n
9 DREAM OF STARS\u00a0 6\/1-A long time grade runner who had a very nice season in 2018 where he won four of seven starts.\u00a0 He is looking to defend his championship as one of the wins came in the G.P. Von Baden last year, which he won by a nice two strides and a 118 speed.\u00a0\u00a0 Moving the calendar forward to 2019, he has engaged in five races and hit the board twice.\u00a0 He scored a win in the G2 Cold Plate by a nice three strides and 117 speed which was held over this Germany track.\u00a0 The other race he hit the board this season was in his last start, the Dutchland where he gained the lead late in the race and was outrun in the stretch to finish 2nd with a 112 speed, also over the Germany turf.\u00a0\u00a0 The last three races he has hit the board have all come on the Germany racetrack.\u00a0\u00a0 Are we dreaming?\u00a0 The stars could be lining up just right as Germany is the place he will be.<\/p>\n
10\u00a0 FIFTEEN DEAD\u00a0 6\/1-The dead have come alive in 2019!\u00a0 Fifteen Dead kicked off the year with four straight races in allowance company with a pair of wins and a pair of seconds and a very lively speed range of 109 to 116.\u00a0\u00a0 This was good enough to move the casket into a listed stake race in which the lid was closed as he crossed the line with a two stride win and a 116 speed.\u00a0\u00a0 Looking to write an epitaph on the tombstone, he stepped into the G3 Norway Cup and won by a solid 3 strides with a 117 speed.\u00a0\u00a0 The only thing that looks left is writing the obituary and with a lively three race win streak going, the results may await us in the next paper.<\/p>\n
11\u00a0 PROFFESIONAL\u00a0 16\/1-Three wins over the last six starts have been captured by Proffesional, however, all came in the allowance grouping.\u00a0 His other three were within the grade level and started in December with the G1 Winter Cup (9th) and his last two starts in the G2 Kinsho Cho Classic (5th) and G1 Kakarazuka Kinen Cup (5th).\u00a0\u00a0 Although this Pro has been a strong foe within the allowance class, a little more development may be needed, perhaps in listed stakes, as in his three grade level races he has not been able to launch any serious threats.\u00a0 He still has time to grow but it looks like there will be tough times in this race.<\/p>\n
12\u00a0 MIHALI THE GREAT 17\/1-The Great Mihali has had a great season.\u00a0 In 8 starts this year, he has five wins, a second and a third.\u00a0\u00a0 Two wins were in listed stakes which were followed by a trio of grade level wins in the G2 Dante’s Inferno, G1 Derby de English and G1 French Grand Prix.\u00a0 The five race win streak came to a sudden end when this three year old took on older horses in the G1 King Geoff and Queen Beth’s Emerald where he finished 12th, and pretty much was not expected to be much of a threat at 24\/1 odds.\u00a0 He’s only had one race with a speed over 110 which came on the off track Derby de English with a 113.\u00a0\u00a0 Mihali the Great has had a terrific three year old campaign and is the top ranked horse in the three year old class for long distances.\u00a0\u00a0 A win against the older horses could go a long way in staying in that top spot.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I’m going with Fifteen Dead in this event.\u00a0 There is a lot to like about this up and comer.<\/p>\n
Confirmed Credit has a long, long history of hitting the board and is always a factor, must use in the exotic wagers<\/p>\n
Spiced Turtle has hit a wall of late and who doesn’t want to see this multi-award winner to knock the wall down?<\/p>\n
And a fourth pick to Dream of Stars who has a love for the Germany race track.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The G.P. Bon Baden G1 stakes has attracted the two time Horse of the Year Spiced Turtle.\u00a0 Eleven others seek<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"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-49973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49973","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\/363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49974,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49973\/revisions\/49974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}