{"id":5940,"date":"2008-05-08T11:04:12","date_gmt":"2008-05-08T11:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=5940"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"oldbtb_1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=5940","title":{"rendered":"Great Fiddle Sticks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The eighth running of Maine<\/st1:State><\/st1:place>\u2019s Grade III Great Fiddle Sticks Stakes is ready to go this weekend.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>There were rumors early in the meet that this stakes may be moved to a different week.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Again, what ought to be a highlight of the racing season for three-year-old fillies, is being ignored by the biggest names in the division, and has attracted a small field of only six runners.<\/P>

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Conventional wisdom says running one week away from the Kentucky Oaks causes most trainers to point their best to that race and not to this week.<\/P>

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If the top names aren\u2019t here, that doesn\u2019t mean the small field is weak.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The fillies that are here are for the most part lightly raced and rapidly improving.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Here\u2019s hoping this year\u2019s field turns out like the first two that ran the Great Fiddle Sticks.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The first two winners each went on to capture three more graded wins in their careers.<\/P>

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PP 1 VHEISSU(KY) <\/STRONG><\/SPAN>(SPEIGHTSTOWN x SAINT BALLADO x ROUND TABLE) bred and trained by astinator8<\/I><\/B> (Astin\u2019s Place, 24%) Odds: 7\/5<\/P>

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The favorite here will take some beating.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She would have made the Oaks field last week had she entered.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>With six wins in eight starts and a last time speed figure that is some seven points higher than any other filly here has run, she\u2019s an obvious choice.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>But it gets better.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She had a huge jump in performance last time.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>That coincided with her first try around two turns.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>That was a small listed stakes, but it contained a contender in the Oaks and a lone speed filly.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Vheissu (which is either means asking the name of the German filly to her right in the starting gate or is an anagram for shuives (which is also not a word)) had no trouble running down either.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Top jock McClendon already has two Great Fiddle trophies in his case.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The one trend she\u2019s up against is that no favorite has ever won this race.<\/P>

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PP 2 COILETTE(GER) <\/STRONG><\/SPAN>(MONSUN(GER) x A.P. INDY x SPORTIN’ LIFE) bred and trained by lygerbomb<\/I><\/B> (Rvd Stables, 13%) Odds: 7-1<\/P>

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Monsun\u2019s runners have done a bit better on grass as did this one\u2019s dam, so the barn started this one there for her first three races.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She closed out her two-year-old season with a dirt try on an off track.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She responded like a schoolboy at the bell at the end of the day: she had never moved so fast.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Her four races since turning three have been very strong.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She shows only one call where she did not lead.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Barn has patiently worked her through her conditions and she makes the big step from allowance company to graded stakes.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>In her favor she made another jump in performance last time when shortening up a half-furlong to taday\u2019s distance.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Also, she\u2019s the only speed horse in the field.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She gets to set whatever pace she likes.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>On the downsides, her best speed figure is a few notches below others in this field.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>No Great Fiddle Sticks winner has ever gone wire to wire, even though some early speed fillies have gotten comfortable leads.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>It would be more encouraging to see her handled by a higher percentage rider.<\/P>

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PP 3 NEW BOLTON(KY) <\/STRONG><\/SPAN>(DYNAFORMER x CARSON<\/st1:City><\/st1:place> CITY x GREEN DESERT) bred and trained by paddy<\/I><\/B> (Twoofus Stables, 13%) Odds: 13-1<\/P>

Two past winners went turf to dirt and New Bolton (who I hope sings nothing like Michael) tries going that route.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>When she broke her maiden on the turf in April last year, she did it against a field that produced three stakeswinners and a fourth winner.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>That only makes it harder to forgive her last race, a disastrous last place in a Rhode Island<\/st1:State><\/st1:place> listed stakes on the turf.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She can\u2019t use the grassy surface as an excuse.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s been exhibiting a frightful trend in her past four races for a three-year-old: each one has been one has been slower than the previous.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>There\u2019s no question this is a talent filly.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s cashed checks in four stakes races, including a promising fifth in a loaded GII Mistaken Soda Identity.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Perhaps she just needs a bit of a rest to get back on track.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She gets six weeks.<\/P>

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PP 4 UNREAL WOLF(KY) <\/STRONG><\/SPAN>(STEPHEN GOT EVEN x DUBAI<\/st1:City><\/st1:place> MILLENNIUM (GB) x SOVEREIGN DANCER) bred and trained by graywolf17<\/I><\/B> <\/I>(Wolf\u2019s Den, 12%) Odds: 5-1<\/P>

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Last year, Graywolf\u2019s Snappy Hero won Maine<\/st1:State><\/st1:place>\u2019s Grade II Mellow Breeze and followed that with a win in the Great Fiddle Sticks.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This year, he entered a pair of runners in the Mellow Breeze and won it with one of them.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Unfortunately the one he brought back here was the other one.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Unreal Wolf has not looked competitive in either of her previous graded races.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She does seem to do her best running at this distance and fillies this young can always make sudden improvement, so a piece of the check would not be out of the question.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Crafty trainer makes it possible for even more.<\/P>

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PP 5 LIFELESS PULP(KY) <\/STRONG><\/SPAN>(SMART STRIKE x DANZIG<\/st1:place> x SECRETARIAT) bred and trained by rori<\/I><\/B> (Pierchinski Stables, 18%) Odds: 5-2<\/P>

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After a swift third against the boys in the Grade III Tommy Wayne Johnson, this one had her connections Derby<\/st1:City><\/st1:place> dreaming.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>They shipped her to Dubai<\/st1:City> and back to Kentucky<\/st1:State><\/st1:place> to try boys in derby lock races.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>While she was not close to winning either, she deserves credit for beating half the field both times.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>There is a chance she\u2019s been discouraged by her distant seventh place finished, but this is a huge drop in class, and while her figures seem to trail the favorite\u2019s, she\u2019s undoubtedly matured since her 99 figure in the Tommy Wayne Johnson.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>So expect something well into the 100\u2019s.<\/P>

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PP 6 NICE DEEZINE(KY) <\/STRONG><\/SPAN>(STORM CAT x MR. PROSPECTOR x NIJINSKY II) bred and trained by borrow1<\/I><\/B> (Deadinthelane Stables, 13%) Odds: 4-1<\/P>

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She won her first three races in classy style, including her very quick win in a listed stakes against a very strong field that included the 11th<\/SUP> ranked filly and several other stakeswinners.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>It seemed reasonable to take a big step up from there for this most expensively bred filly.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>A Grade I win would put her in the Oaks, so connections put her in the Grade I City of Angels.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She stayed in contention for a half, but it was just too much too soon.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She should find the competition easier here and would be no surprise.<\/P>

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Summary. <\/B>\u00a0\u00a0<\/SPAN>It\u2019s tough to argue with the morning line on this race.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Vheissu has been running the fastest, but Lifeless Pulp has been running against better and Nice Deezine is rapidly improving and lightly raced.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Timmn will say Lifeless Pulp<\/B> \/ Vheissu<\/B>\/ Nice Deezine<\/B>.<\/P>

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Small But Full of Promise<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":432,"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-5940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5940","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\/432"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5940\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}