The 15th race in Virginia is the Hunt Turf Cup stakes which will be run on the inner turf course, going a distance of 9 furlongs. This race is for bargain bred horses 3 years and up and entrants are restricted to predetermined owners who all think they have the best bargain bred around. Let’s see how the field looks:<\/p>\n
1. Hawkz Quest 30-1
Hawkz hasn’t won a race since March of 2007 and has hit the board only 7 of 19 races. He show some early footing and tends to fade back at the midway point. He seems doubtful in this affair.<\/p>\n
2. El Condo Passa 22-1
El Condo last outing against starters was one to forget. One of three gals running in this event, she finished way back in 11th going 10f in her last. The three prior races were decent with a win and two thirds going between 8 and 9 furlongs. All three were in speeds rated in the low 90’s. She will need to show that form again to have a shot here.<\/p>\n
3. Ten Lost Pyramids 7-2
Ten Lost Pyramids loves the turf, hitting the board in 14 of 17 turf starts. This 5-year old also has experience in stakes races with favorable results (in 11 starts, he missed the board twice). He is the returning champion to last years Hunt Turf Cup, which he won in a speed of 100. He keeps the field within striking distance and is the one to beat.<\/p>\n
4. Houndville 8-1
Houndville was a longshot winner in his last race, which was part of the bargin bred series. He set a personal speed record of 97 going the 8f in that race. He can be a hard closer and does like the turf. He has won 4 of his last 6 and should be considered a contender in this race.<\/p>\n
5. Clearance Clarence 8-1
A well raced 7-year old who has managed to hit the board in 26 of his 44 turf starts. Clearance does have his problems finding the winners circle as he only has 5 lifetime wins, the latest over a year ago. He is also ran in last year’s Hunt Turf Cup with a 5th place finish. He has been racing over 12f distances since December and takes a drop here. He has run well on this track in the past, but it is hard to see him crossing the finish line first.<\/p>\n
6. Somet Smells 17-1
Somet doesn’t seem to figure well here. Somet’s last win was May, 2007. Since then, Somet has not hit the board. Additionally, Somet is trying his first route since 2006. Just don’t see him being a factor against this field.<\/p>\n
7. Shoaib Akhtar 5-1
This 4-year old mare could be the gal who beats the guys. She has already run in two prior bargain bred races this year, grabbing a victory and a third. Between those two races, she ran 8.5f in 102. She has an impressive record on the turf of 23-10-3-4 and should be running near the front end. Watch out boys!!!<\/p>\n
8. Jacobite Arc 39-1
Jacobite will need his best effort, and then some, in order to steal this race. He has been winless since Februry, 2007 and has been racing mainly distances over 10f. His speeds have been lower than many in this field, mostly in the 70-80 range. He is taking a dip in distance, but I’m not sold that will improve his chances.<\/p>\n
9. Champaigne 50-1
Champaigne has a lot to proof here. She broke her maiden back in December and has made two starts since. She is well rested for this event and does like the turf. I don’t think she’ll hit the board, but I believe she will show improvement off her last, which wasn’t a bad 6th place finish in a speed of 87.<\/p>\n
10. Polo Player 12-1
Polo put in two nice seconds in his most recent starts, running both at a rated speed of 93. He does have problems in stake outings. In his only two starts, he finished well back behind the winner, never posing a threat in those events. He will need to step up to the plate and hold tough to win this.<\/p>\n
11. Runlykehell 37-1
I love the name of this colt, and he will need to live up to his name in this race. He has picked up a paycheck in each of his last six races, going primarily against claimers. His speed ratings are of concern, lately in the mid 70’s to upper 80’s. Several horses in this field are scoring higher ratings. He’s shipping in from France for this race, and that may take a toll too.<\/p>\n
12. Far Beyond the Sun 4-1
Far finished second behind Houndville in his last race, going a speed of 95. He set the pace early before being run down late in the race. Since last May, he has put in speeds of 90+ in all his starts with the exception of one (which was on an offtrack). A career record of 15 out of 31 races hitting board on turf is respectible. He should walk away with a paycheck.<\/p>\n
13. Amber Net 5-1
Amber has been putting in impressive speed numbers lately with 5 of his last 7 races rated between 97 and 106. Careerwise, he has won 8 of 17 races with 5 victories in routes. While all this points to a contender there is a catch…Amber has only one start on the turf which resulted in a second place finish in a field of four back in 2005. I recommend passing here until we see if the track surface agrees with the horse.<\/p>\n
14. Jericho’s Trial 21-1
Jericho is the oldtimer in the race at age 10. He has been through the sim-pool of horses in his past and was recently claimed. He has hit the board in 10 of 18 turf starts. Although age may be a concern, he did recently put in a career speed record of 93 going 9f. Additionally, he likes the Virgina track, with a first and second in two starts. He closes hard from the back of the field and if a longshot should take this, Jericho may be the one.<\/p>\n
Ten Lost Pyramids is my choice to win this race. He is very consistant, likes the turf, and can repeat as the defending champ of this race. Shoaib Akhtar can compete with the boys in this one and she hates to lose. She wins just shy of half her races and must be respected. Houndville has been racing well and is a proven winner and should get a piece of the pie.<\/p>\n
Now, for those who don’t know yet, I have challenged my “experience” in analyzing and picking horses against the randomness of the dice roll. So far, after one race, I have 1 in-the-money to the die’s zippo. Here is the die’s choices:<\/p>\n
14-Jericho’s Trial
3-Ten Lost Pyramids
6-Somet Smells<\/p>\n
Good Luck to all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hunt Turf Cup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"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-6072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6072","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=6072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6072\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}