A group of 11 runners will run two miles in search of the Spring Cup on this first Sunday in April. All eyes will be on KING MANDU the son of DARK MANDU who won this race twice during his Hall of Fame Career. It will not be an easy task as there are ten competitive and worthy challengers set to take him on. Let’s take a look at the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lightly raced 5-year-old son of Galileo. He won 4 straight races to finish 2019 including victories in the Longchamp Marathon and the Millwood Cup. He just missed in a listed stakes in January and then finished 5th in the Ackland Cup, 7-1\/2 lengths behind KING MANDU. His connections will be hoping for a return to the form that saw him win his first three 2-mile tries. Hard to believe he has already passed his prime so look for him to bounce back in a big way Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This Kitten’s Joy Mare returns to the Spring Cup as defending champion. Last year’s win in the Spring Cup was part of a solid 2019 campaign for OUTBACK ANAMOLY in which she went 2-1-1 in five starts – all against graded company. Her last run of the year came in the Millwood cup in which she failed to fire, finishing 7th. She didn’t do much better off a 4-month layoff in this year’s Ackland Cup in which she finished a disappointing 9th. If you choose to draw a line in those two starts, she certainly has built up enough of a resume to garner wagering consideration. This is only her 17th career start so she should have some bullets left in the gun. Needs to get back into form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As intriguing a runner as you’ll find in this field, DIK PORD NOMEL is making his second straight entry against Grade-1 company. The last race came across the world in Florida’s Sunshine Dash where he finished 9th going 5.5 Furlongs. There will be much more ground to cover before the finish line this time around. In fact, the furthest distance this 4-year-old son of Lemon Drop Kid has run before Sunday was 1-1\/8 mile in a listed stakes where he finished well off the board. The stretch out will either prove too much for this colt or it will be the magic needed to take the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Has not won a race since December of 2017. In fact he failed to hit the board in any of his next eight starts. He finally ran a game 2nd against allowance company in his last start going 14 furlongs. A late kick in that race was not enough to hit the wire first. The connections for this horse will be hoping the extra distance and a big improvement in form will be the winning formula in the Spring Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other filly in this race, BEAST OF PREY has yet to hit the board against the boys in two previous tries at this distance. Her last start she finished 6th in the Ackland Cup but she did make up over 15 lengths in the final half-mile with her big late kick. She does appear to be in top form as she won her two previous races against listed company easily before coming up short in the Ackland Cup. Be careful not to sleep on this one as she may be meeting the wire towards the front of this group when all is said and done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KING MANDU is the 5-year-old son of DARK MANDU who won this race twice during his Hall of Fame career. KING MANDU is looking to add to the family legacy by having his name etched onto the Spring Cup. He is coming off of his first Grade-1 win in the Ackland Cup in February. He has won 3 of his past 5 starts and certainly seems to be in the best form entering this contest. May be tough to beat in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A late bloomer who has won 4 of his last 7 starts (7 of 7 ITM), TOP RANK is a deep closer who seems to relish long distances, no matter the surface. Two starts ago he won the Grade-1 Hit Man on the dirt in his first crack against Grade-1 company. His last start came in the Fitness Cup back in January where he passed all but 2 runners and finished 3rd. He may benefit from the 3 month rest he is getting ahead of this race having run a heavy load the last half of 2019. One of many in this race with a real shot at winning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This 4-year-old looked to be on his way to becoming a superstar during his three-year-old season. Back in June he made the jump from 10 furlongs on the dirt to 2 miles on the turf and crushed his competition in the Grade-3 Queen’s Flower Pot. He followed that performance by finishing a close 2nd in the Owner’s Stakes and the Saint Legend, both Grade-1 races restricted to 3-year-old runners. His next start came against older company for the first time where he finished 4th out of 20 runners in the Millwood Cup. He then failed to fire in the Winter Cup in December before getting some time off. If you throw away the clunker in the Winter Cup, he certainly looks like he’s an animal to be reckoned with for months to come. The questions are whether he will be sharp off a long layoff and whether or not he is ready to peak during his 4-year-old campaign. One to keep an eye on this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want to win the Canadian Local Championship going 2 miles, you may want to wait a year or two because NORTH SUN has won the last three (twice on turf and once on the dirt) by a combined 24 lengths. He barely broke a sweat his last time out, beating his fellow Canadians by over 13 lengths. The Spring Cup will be his second start of this calendar year and should be sharp after some rest. He has yet to win a graded stakes race as this is his only second try but his best speed numbers at this distance rival any in this field. Will need his best to win Sunday but he is definitely not one to ignore at the betting windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HI ALL THE TIME should be considered in your exotics and has a chance to win this race. The odds makers have listed him as the 7\/2 morning line favorite. He cruised to victory in an allowance start on February 15th. That came after a string of middling performances in the Breeders’ Bowl Turf, the Ark, and the King Geoff and Queen Beth’s Emerald Stakes. His last run at the 2-mile distance came in December of 2018 in a residency-restricted listed stakes in which he came 2nd. Has finished in-the-money 14 times in 21 career starts and comes in as one of just five starters to have a grade-1 win on his resume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Won the Grade-3 Diamond Stakes last time out at this distance. The 2-mile journeys seem to be his sweet spot as he has gone 1-2-0 in three lifetime starts at the distance. A consistent runner who rarely throws in a dud, this son of Dansili certainly has the pedigree to make hay out of this distance. One of many with a real shot in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6) KING MANDU – Sentimental pick with the family history and is coming in hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8) CORPORAL SNITZEL – Only a matter of time before this horse takes off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1)SPARTAN REEF – Last two races don’t seem to make much sense. Banking that he’s not beyond his prime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A group of 11 runners will run two miles in search of the Spring Cup on this first Sunday in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67985,"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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51636","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\/67985"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51636"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51644,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51636\/revisions\/51644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}