\nIt\u2019s called The Greatest Show on Turf and it is a grade one race\nwith a purse of $1,500,000 but the name is arguable. The race is run\nin South Africa at a mile and three eighths over a firm turf and has\nattracted a well matched field of ten, only one of whom has a\nprevious grade one win and only four others have graded wins. One\nthing I do like about these horses is that two of them traded hands\nin claiming races (a third was an auction buy). It\u2019s always\nrefreshing to know that with the right luck any player can grab a\nhorse with a shot at a graded win. Anyhow let\u2019s take a look at\nthese runners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courtyard LV\t\t\t\t5\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A horse that really\nloves this distance is Courtyard LV. He\u2019s five years old but only\nhas twenty one career starts. He enters off a grade two win at this\ndistance in the M-Class Stakes. That race was about six weeks ago\nand he ran a 114 speed. That was his second grade two win, the\nprevious one came in the eleven and a half furlong Shinko Classic\nlast August. He really drops well back in the field early on and his\nlate charge doesn\u2019t always get to the finish first. If there is\none knock on his resume it is that he has only one third in three\ngrade one tries. He is making his third start off a layoff which is\nalways a positive move. He\u2019s a son of Camelot out of a Fastnet\nRock x Cozzene mare. He is the second graded winner for the mare who\nhas seven foals to race including an allowance winning two year old\nof 2020. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finke Daimler\t\t\t\t4\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making his third\nappearance in The Greatest Show on Turf is Finke Daimler. He won the\nrace two years ago and was fifth last year. The six year old gelding\nalso has two other graded wins on his resume, both at eleven\nfurlongs. One of those wins was the Grade Two M-Class which he won\nprior to his win in this race two years ago. He prepped in that race\nagain last year and finished second. This season he also prepped\nthere and was second again behind Courtyard LV whom he faces again\nhere. He ran a 112 speed there, showing that he hasn\u2019t lost a step\nat his age. That was his third start of the year and first on the\nboard finish. He\u2019s a son of Darci Brahma out of a stakes winning\nMontjeu x A.P. Indy mare and he is the best of her five foals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tete Ezayah\t\t\t\t\t11\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are two five\nyear old geldings in this race from the mighty sabbath stables and\ninterestingly they are closely related. Tete Ezayah is by Temple\nCity out of an Authorized x Galileo mare. His second dam is named\nTete\u2019s Gal, the dam of Tete Enslaved. Tete Ezayah is not nearly as\naccomplished as his stablemate. He has never won a stakes race and\nhas been well beaten in all of his attempts there, including a listed\nrace in his most recent start. But sabbath is a savvy trainer and\nI\u2019m sure what he sees is a horse who is 6-4-1-0 at this distance. \nIndeed two starts back he won an allowance by an easy three lengths\nalbeit over only three other competitors but he ran a 106 speed in\nthat start. He also was just gelded back in August and he didn\u2019t\nmake another start until March of this year. All of his three starts\nthis year have seen him run triple digit speeds. He may not seem a\nlikely winner but there are a number of angles that work in his\nfavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elusive\nKanaloa\t\t\t\t12\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elusive Kanaloa is\nan interesting prospect. He only has two wins in his thirteen race\ncareer but one of those wins was a listed win at this distance. He\u2019s\nalso multiple graded placed including a third place finish in his\nlast start, the M-Class Stakes. The first two finishers there are\nboth running back here. The late runner also finished third in a\ngrade three at this distance in his race prior to the M-Class. He\u2019s\na son of the top-class Japanese sire Lord Kanaloa who may be a bit\nunderrated in the sim and he\u2019s out of an Elusive Quality x A.P.\nIndy mare. The four year old is her second foal and first stakes\nwinner. Can he break through here and get his third career win in a\ngrade one? It\u2019s certainly possible. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flying\nO\u2019Reilly\t\t\t\t29\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The longest shot on\nthe board and the horse with by far the most starts in this race is\nFlying O\u2019Reilly. The eight year old scratchbred son of O\u2019Reilly\nx Flying Spur x Zabeel has forty starts under his belt and is a\ngraded placed stakes winner. O\u2019Reilly was a very good sire in New\nZealand who was given an upgrade in the sim and promptly died a week\nlater. Flying O\u2019Reilly changed hands prior to his last start which\ncame in a grade one mile race where he finished last, beaten twenty\nsix lengths. He ran an 82 speed there. A month prior he did run a\nbit better in a longer race, a listed where he finished sixth with a\n97 speed. His best races came back in 2016 and it is hard to\nimagine that he will revert to that form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conquering\nLiam\t\t\t\t8\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conquering Liam is\nthe horse with the fewest starts in the field but the best in the\nmoney percentage. He\u2019s got ten starts with four wins, four seconds\nand a third. The four year old scratchbred son of Fastnet Rock x\nKingmambo x Seattle Slew won his first stakes race in his most recent\nstart going a mile and five sixteenths. He does have one race and\none win going eleven furlongs in an allowance back in October. The\ncolt has a lot of early speed but doesn\u2019t have to be on the lead to\nwin. He\u2019s had three starts this year and his speeds have been very\ngood, increasing from 111 in his first start to 113 in that most\nrecent race. He did have a two month break at the end of last year\nand again with only ten starts he\u2019s hardly over raced. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Horses and\nScotch\t\t\t\t5\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This weekend\nfeatures a number of major turf races for three year olds and up\nincluding two at this distance. That makes for poor scheduling as\nthese races compete with one another. The other eleven furlong race\nis the United Countries Handicap which is also a grade one. A horse\nwho won that race twice is Deputy Cadet. Deputy Cadet is a half\nbrother to Horses and Scotch who shows up in this race for the first\ntime. The five year old son of Fastnet Rock is the final foal of\ngrade three winning Jade Hunter x Deputy Minister mare Mother Deputy.\n Mother Deputy produced another grade one winner and three stakes\nwinners from nine foals. Horses and Scotch earned the biggest win of\nhis career in the Grade Three Ark Trial back in September. That race\nwas at this distance and he ran a whopping 120 speed. Since that\nrace he has made five starts, four of them in grade ones where he\nfailed to hit the board and one of which was an allowance that he\nwon. His early pace stalking style has not helped him in these runs\nbut he has consistently run triple digit speeds in his losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Henrythelawndude\t\t\t\t6\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last season\nHenrythelawndude was claimed for $30,000 by his current connections. \nHe had previously run a number of triple digit speeds, including a\n113 going a mile and a half in an allowance. He has rewarded his new\nconnections handsomely, winning a local championship stakes in his\nsecond start off the claim and an open stakes race at eleven furlongs\nback in February. He added a third in a grade two after that, his\nfirst graded placing. That race came at thirteen furlongs and he ran\na 111 speed. He followed that number up with another 111 going a\nmile and a half in another grade two where he finished fourth. He\ntends to sit off the lead but allows the early leaders to open up on\nhim a bit. His stakes win at eleven furlongs came over a good turf\ntrack which he won\u2019t see here. The biggest question for the\nscratchbred son of Henrythenavigator x Kris S. x Alleged gelding is\nwhat is his best distance? While he does have the stakes win at this\ndistance it seems like he may be a bit better going a little longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tete\nEnslaved\t\t\t\t\t5\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tete Enslaved is by\nleading Japanese sire Heart\u2019s Cry. He\u2019s one of two sires from\nJapan represented in this race that I think is a bit underrated in\nthe game. Tete Enslaved is out of the stakes winning, graded placed\nGalileo x Deputy Minister mare Tete\u2019s Gal. Tete Enslaved was so\nimpressive a mate that her four and three year old foals are both by\nHeart\u2019s Cry and the four year old is a grade three winner already. \nShe has also produced another graded winner by Rock of Gibraltar and\ntwo listed winners from twelve foals. Tete Enslaved\u2019s two stakes\nwins have come at a mile and a quarter. The first was a local\nchampioniship stakes race back in October and then in his most recent\nstart he took the Grade Two Kinsho Kho Classic with a 112 speed. \nHe\u2019s run eleven furlongs twice, winning an allowance in April of\nlast season with a 114 speed and then was second in another local\nchampionship with a 112 speed. His career best speed came last June\nwhen he ran second in a grade one going a mile and a half with a 115.\n The five year old is one of several runners in this race with\ntactical speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stars Over\nRome\t\t\t\t6\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Claimed after his\neighth start, a $50,000 maiden claiming event, Stars Over Rome\nimproved dramatically for his current connections. His last five\nstarts have come at a mile and a quarter and he won three of those\nraces including a listed stakes and the Grade Three Chaucer Gold Cup.\n In all three wins he ran a 112 speed which is his career best. It\nmay seem that he is at a disadvantage at this distance but he does\nhave wins at both twelve and thirteen furlongs and in both wins he\nran triple digit speeds. This is his fifth start off a layoff that\nbegan last August and ended at the end of December. His big hiccup\ncame in his most recent start, the Grade Two Kinsho Cho Classic where\nhe ran an inexplicable seventh. The five year old gelding is by\nGalileo and based on an Animal Kingdom x Giant\u2019s Causeway hemare. \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s called The Greatest Show on Turf and it is a grade one race with a purse of $1,500,000 but<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"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-52300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52300","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\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52300"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52301,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52300\/revisions\/52301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}