It may not be Europe, but we are in the \u201cFinal Countdown\u201d\nbefore the big one in about one month. 14\ntrainers and 14 three-year-olds will be looking for their chance to run for\nglory in The Take Your Final Shot Grade 1. \nThis is one of the last prep races before the Bluegrass Derby one month\nfrom now and the winner will be able to cement their spot in the race. You want a story line; we have it for you\nthis week. One filly will be looking to\ntake down the boys, multiple horses will be running on one-week rest, and a few\nother horses will be looking for just that one chance. Only one will come out on top. Who will it be? Let\u2019s meet the field and you can decide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PP 1- Chain Town\n(Speightstown X A.P. Indy X Deputy Minister)- 9\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This brown colt out of the Given stables will be making his\n11th<\/sup> start of his career. He last\nran on March 21st<\/sup> where he managed a first place finish in a listed\nstakes race over 9.5 furlongs. That was\non a wet track, but it didn\u2019t slow the son of Speightstown down as he ran a\ncareer best speed figure of 106. He\u2019s\nyet to miss the board in all six routes holding a 4-1-1 record in those six\nraces. He certainly likes to come from\nthe back as he has sat anywhere from 4 \u00bc to 12 lengths off the pace before\ncoming back to hit the board. In talking\nto trainer Given, he mentioned that the dam loved the 10-12 furlong distance\nduring her career and that has been passed down to her son who has found his\nstep with more distance. While it will\nbe his first test against Graded competition, Given did mention that this was\nthe horse with the best speed figure in his entire three-year-old crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 2- Marking Defense\n(First Defense X Giant\u2019s Causeway X Awesome Again)- 9\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The light grey colt out of the Atthewire stables will be\nmaking his first start since falling in his first career Grade 1 attempt on\nMarch 13th<\/sup>. The step up in\ncompetition has been a bit of a climb for this three-year-old as he has managed\nto hit the board just one time in his four Graded attempts. Compare that with his 5-5 in other races, and\nyou can see just how hard that jump from allowance races to stakes races\nis. He will come in looking to repeat\nhis performance from December 28th<\/sup> of last year where he managed a\nthird place finish in a Grade 3 while also running a career best speed figure\nof 102 in his last race as a two-year-old. \nHis three-year-old campaign hasn\u2019t started as he had hoped when his\ncomeback fell short by three lengths in a Grade 3 in February. His other three-year-old start was a 7th<\/sup>\nplace finish in the Grade 1 The Funky Buddha back in March. He will sit well off the pace and the\nincrease in distance could mean that he either falls too far behind or could\ngive him that extra ground to catch up. It\u2019s\nimportant to note that he has yet to hit the board over 9 furlongs in his\ncareer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 3- Hide The\nSnitzel (Snitzel X Oasis Dream X Sadler\u2019s Wells)- 7\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n An interesting prospect in multiple ways comes to us out of\nthe Dixiedotco stable this weekend. Just\nby looking at the pedigree, you would think that grass might be to this one\u2019s\nfavor. You would be right in assuming\nthat is where he started his career. Winning four out of his seven starts\nincluding a Grade 2 race back in November of last year. The trainer decided to give the dirt a try in\nhis next race to start the three-year-old campaign and he responded with a\ncareer best 103 speed figure in a 2nd<\/sup> place finish in a Grade\n3. He would follow that up with another\n2nd<\/sup> place finish in a Grade 3. \nHe last raced on the 28th<\/sup> of March where he would falter to\nan 11th<\/sup> place finish in the Sand Castle Derby prep. He will be coming in this week off of two weeks\u2019\nrest which, believe it or not, is more rest than others in this field. How does that affect him? He too loves to sit well off the pace and has\ncome back in all races outside of that last race in March. The grass still might be the favorite for\nthis one, but one more shot at the Derby will take place before that decision\nis made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 4- A Ghost For\nGold (Ghostzapper X A.P. Indy X Mr. Prospector)- 7\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-year-old bay colt out of the Kingab stables is coming\noff a career best 103 speed figure and has over a month of rest. He won his first start in a maiden before\nmissing the board in a 4th<\/sup> place finish his second career race. After that, he has not failed one time to hit\nthe board hitting it in all six of his last races. Those races were all against conditioned\nallowance races outside of his March start. \nHe made the jump to the graded ranks well in March running a career best\nspeed figure and finishing 2nd<\/sup> in his first Grade 3 attempt. He missed the win by just \u00bc length and came\nfrom mid-pack to do it. That is where you can probably expect him to come from\ntoday. I don\u2019t anticipate him to sit as\nfar off the pace as some and that could work to his advantage as he makes the\nfinal turn. This will be his first\nattempt above the 8.5 furlong distance and it will be interesting to see how\nthe added distance either helps or hurts him as he makes the turn for home this\nweekend. The odds makers like him as the\nco-second favorite at 7\/1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 5- The Poisoner (Tonalist\nX Giant\u2019s Causeway X Mr. Prospector)- 20\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The longshot in the race today comes out of the Given\nstables as well. With 8 career races\nunder his belt, you wouldn\u2019t think that he would be sitting at 8\/1 odds as he\nhas failed to hit the board in just two races and he is undefeated at the 9.5\nfurlong distance. He will certainly be\none to have on those exotic tickets this weekend. He failed to hit the board in a conditioned\nallowance back in July of last year and again in his only turf attempt. Other than that, he has managed to hit the\nboard in all dirt races and has yet to miss the board in dirt routes. As previously mentioned, he is undefeated at\nthe 9.5 furlong distance besting a conditioned allowance field and listed\nstakes field in those races. Career best\nspeed figures don\u2019t jump off the page as he ran a 95 and 97 in his last two\nraces. Given was quick to mention that\nthis dam \u201chadn\u2019t produced a stakes winner in her first 9 foals\u201d prior to The\nPoisoner. He doesn\u2019t seem too bothered\nby the fact that he\u2019s yet to run a 100 speed figure in his career stating \u201cwhile\nhe hasn\u2019t run nearly as fast as Chain Town, I think he has a fighting chance in\nthis one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 6- Dixie Terrie (Territories\nX Dixie Union X In Excess)- 14\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The next horse in line will be coming out of the Lightng99\nstables and making his first start since the middle of March. His two-year-old campaign featured just two\nraces outside of the Graded ranks in which he bested a maiden in his first race\nand ran 2nd<\/sup> in an open allowance in his second. After that, it was right into the Graded\nranks he he would win his first Grade 2 shot in May of 2019. While he has yet to find the winners circle\nsince then, he has increased speeds and finished in the money in 3 of his 7\nstarts after his first Graded win. His\nthree-year-old campaign has been up and down as he ran a career best speed\nfigure of 100 two races back and narrowly missed a Grade 3 win before finishing\n9 \u00bc lengths back in the Grade 1 last time out. \nLook for him to sit near the front of the pack, though a wire-to-wire is\nnot expected here. It will be his first\nattempt over 8.5 furlongs though his career best speed came at 8.5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 7- Third Man In (Blame X Awesome Again X Kingmambo)- 12\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another horse out of the Dixiedotco stables is the seven in\nthis weekend\u2019s race. He is our first\ntrue wire-to-wire contender in the field and has hit the board in each career\nrace outside of the 5th<\/sup> place finish in his first career race. He bested three out of the four conditioned\nallowance fields he faced and ran a career best race last time out. That race actually came against Grade 1\ncompetition in March of this year where he ran 3rd<\/sup> in the Grade 1\nThe Funky Buddha. He led most of the\nrace in that won and just didn\u2019t have enough finishing just 1 length behind the\nwinner. I expect all 13 horses to be\nlooking at the back of this bay colt out of the gates and someone will have to\npass him if they want to win this weekend. \nHis career best speed figure of 104 came last time out as well in that\nGrade 1 race. He has all of the tools to\ncompete in this race and should be right there in the end. How does he handle another increase in\ndistance? Will it be too much for him or\nwill he respond like he did with the increase to 9 furlongs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 8- La Plaza\nTequila (Empire Maker X Seeking The Gold X Pleasant Colony)- 13\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The eight horse will come out of the Given stables and will\nbe running against his other two stable mates in this one. He will be looking to improve upon his first\nGraded attempt were he ran just 11th<\/sup> and faltered greatly after\nleading out of the gate. That race was his\nonly attempt at a Graded race though he almost took down a list stakes last\ntime out in running a career best 104 speed figure. Like a lot of Given horses, the increase to\n9.5 furlongs did him well and he will certainly be a contender today. It will be interesting to see if he battles\nit out early with Third Man In or if he is content with sitting a little off\nthe pace. Given was quick to mention\nthat he came off hot after a break winning an allowance race by over 10\nlengths. He ran in the same race as\nChain Town and ran a \u201cgutsy second\u201d as his trainer said. Given also mentioned that it looks like it\nwill be him and Third Man In to compete for the pace. He hopes that he can contend this weekend by\nsetting that pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 9- Sheriff John\nStone (Alderflug X Dansili X Storm Cat)- 11\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nextbonus stables will be sending out the nine horse in\nour 14 horse field today. While routes\nhave been to his liking, the 9 furlong distance was not in his last race. After starting his career on the grass, he\nmade the switch to dirt and broke his maiden first time in July of his\ntwo-year-old campaign. He would best a\nconditioned allowance field in the following race and proceed to run three\nstraight listed stakes where he would finish 1-1-1 in those three races. The first race of his three-year-old campaign\nwas probably his best career race in which he ran a career best 102 speed\nfigure and bested a 13 field listed stakes race in February. He would then run in the Funky Buddha in\nMarch and finish 12th<\/sup>. He was\nnever better than 10th<\/sup> in that race and this will be his second run\nagainst Graded competition. Can he take\na step forward this time? It will be\nanother tough field and he will probably have to sit closer to the front than 9\n\u00bc lengths off as he did in his first attempt at the Grade 1 level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 10- Associate\nMinister (Valiant Minister X Alternation X Empire Maker)- 14\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oldmoonfarms will be sending out the ten horse today. One of the more lightly raced horses in the race\ntoday started his career in a claimer. \nHe easily bested that field and was immediately gelded. He responded well to the geld and ran third\nand first in back to back starts to wrap up his two-year-old campaign. To start his three-year-old campaign, he\nwould make the jump to the Graded ranks and he would run a 2nd<\/sup> place\nfinish in a Grade 3. His last time out,\nhe would run a 103 speed figure\u2014his second in a row\u2014though he would manage just\na 5th<\/sup> place finish in a Grade 2. \nI was able to speak with his trainer and he stated that he seemed to \u201ckeep\nwanting more distance.\u201d He does note\nthat he \u201chas to win to get into the Derby\u201d though he didn\u2019t seem too optimistic\nabout his chances. I loved his finishing\nquote though where he stated \u201cwhen a horse qualifies for a big race like this,\nyou must give them the chance to see what they can do so you can modify for the\nfuture if needed.\u201d He will get his\nchance today and will probably be sitting mid-pack before trying to make the\ncomeback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 11- Magician\u2019s\nBlood (Good Magic X Bernardini X Deputy Minister)- 8\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Padrebri is the trainer of the eleven horse in the race\ntoday. This will be the second race in\nthe month of April for this colt even though the race will be run on the 11th<\/sup>. That\u2019s right, this colt is coming off of just\none weeks rest and will be running his third race in a month along with his\nfourth race this year. This will be an interesting\nexperiment as he ran in the California Derby just last week. He finished 11th<\/sup> in that race and\nran a 97 speed figure. His best career\nrace came two back as he ran a 104 speed figure and finished 2nd<\/sup> in\nthe Grade 2 Felipe Alou Stakes. It took\nhim three races to break his maiden, but he ran well in all three races and the\nonly race he has struggled in was his last race. The big question here will be how much juice\nis left in the tank as he ran on March 8th<\/sup> and April 4th<\/sup>. He loves coming from behind and just didn\u2019t\nhave it last Saturday. He\u2019s shipped\nacross the country and will be running on 6 days rest. Is that too much to overcome this\nweekend? The other question remains\u2014if he\ndoes pull it off this weekend, how much would be left for the Derby just one\nmonth from now? <\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 12- Into Being Bad\n(Into Mischief X Unbridled X Alydar)- 6\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The favorite in the race this weekend comes by way of\nLenny271 stables. Like Magician\u2019s Blood,\nhe will be coming into the race today off of just five days\u2019 rest. He ran in California last Sunday and fared a\nlittle better than Magician\u2019s Blood finishing 3rd<\/sup> in the Grade 1\nPartnership. That performance produced\nhis career best speed figure of 103 and he was 11 lengths back before making a valiant\neffort on the comeback. His career has\nbeen pretty consistent as he has hit the board in 9 of his 10 races. His only miss came three back in his first\nGrade 3 attempt where he finished 5th<\/sup> though he was making a strong\ncomeback in that one too. This will be\nhis fifth race of the year and 3rd<\/sup> in the last month of racing. The same questions from Magician\u2019s Blood\napply here and he made the same trek from California to Kentucky for the race\nthis weekend. There is a lot of late\nspeed in this one and you have to wonder if Into Being Bad will have the guts\nto make a late comeback just six days after his first attempt fell short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 13- Moland (Uncle\nMo X Grand Slam X Dixieland Band)- 13\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The only filly in the race this weekend will come out of the\nGraywolf6 stables. This will be the\nsecond time that the filly has taken on the boys and her first attempt did not\ngo as planned as she finished 13th<\/sup> in a 14 horse field. She was never a factor in The Hopeless Stakes\nback in September of 2019. She has had\nan up and down career where she won first time out and then ran second in three\nstraight attempts in a listed stakes and two Grade 2 races. Then came the attempt against the boys where\nshe faltered. She has hit the board just\nonce since that race against the boys where she would best a Grade 3 field in\nNovember of 2019. All other races have\nbeen against Grade 1 company since that try against the boys. She has comeback in a lot of those races, but\nhas fallen short of hitting the board in many of them as well. She\u2019s hit the board just one time in five\nattempts over 8 furlongs though she did match her career best speed figure of\n97 last time out at 9 furlongs. There is\na lot of late speed in this one and she will be one that is looking to make a comeback\nlate. Does she have what it takes this\ntime around to take down the boys?<\/p>\n\n\n\n PP 14- Hard Rock\nJungle (Rock Slide X Harlan\u2019s Holiday X Danehill)- 11\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rounding out the field today, we have a colt out of the\nFastnfirm stables. One of the more\nlightly raced horses in the field comes in with seven starts. In those starts, he has hit the board in five\nthough his last two Graded attempts have been two 10th<\/sup> place\nfinishes. He started his career on the dirt\nwith a win and two 2nd<\/sup> place finishes before attempting the Grade 1\nMerry Chirstmas. He ran 10th<\/sup>\nin that race and made the switch to the grass for his first start in his\nthree-year-old campaign. He won that listed\nstakes race with a 98 speed figure\u2014a career-tying best. He would then make the switch to the dirt\nlast time out in a Grade 3 where he would run the previously mentioned 10th<\/sup>. He is one that looks to sit just a little bit\noff of the pace and in his wins he has managed to make the comeback. He will be in a tough spot today with the two\nearly pace setters and all of the late charges. \nThis will be his first race over the 8.5 furlong distance which could\nhelp or hinder his chances this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That wraps up our fourteen horse field. I expect two clear pace setters this weekend\nwith a lot of late speed. I will be\nwatching three things this weekend. The\nfirst is how the two horses running on just a week rest will perform. That is such a daunting task for the\ntwo. Second, will be whether the early\nor late speed wins out. There is some of\nboth this weekend though the majority will be coming late. Lastly, I will be interested to see how those\ntrainers with multiple horses in the race perform. Overall, you have to like this field that\nwill be looking to take this last chance and make it their first Grade 1 win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It may not be Europe, but we are in the \u201cFinal Countdown\u201d before the big one in about one month. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"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-51739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51739","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\/156"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51740,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51739\/revisions\/51740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}