The highlight race this weekend and our fifteenth race of the day this coming Saturday in North California will be the Grade II Golden Platter Handicap. This ace is open to three year olds and up and is run over a mile and one quarter on the inner turf track. Last year\u2019s winner of the Golden Platter Handicap was the >bobby2khw<\/i> owned and trained Hayden\u2019s Splash<\/b>. The current stakes record was set in 2006 by wire to wire winner Tenpin Gold<\/b>, trained by tenpin6<\/i>, who won at a time of 2:01 2\/5 over the ten furlong turf race. Its been steaming hot here in Northern California this week and according to weather reports conditions aren\u2019t likely to improve this weekend. The weather has been in the 90s but is expected to shoot up to around 100 degrees this Saturday around post time. With no chance of rain this weekend here in the Northern section of California, the trainers of these magnificent horses running in the Golden Platter this weekend will want to find a way to keep their horses cooled down in this race. Despite the forecasted unbearable heat, eleven horses have drawn into this year\u2019s field of the Golden Platter Handicap.
1. Turn To Roads (IRE)<\/b> – mrb<\/i> – G. Kernutt – 26\/1
Drawing the rail in the Golden Platter Handicap is this five year old roan horse, (Fair Mix (IRE) x Strawberry Road (AUS) x Turn-To), who was recently purchased out of a $30,000 claiming race by new owner Pauliev Stables. The horses most recent start came just last week in the ten furlong NY Island Cap (G1), which to date, has been the horses only stakes start of his career. He finished a well-beaten tenth, twenty-eight and a half lengths behind the eventual winner and setting a speed figure of eighty-four. His only other start under his new owner\/trainer was in a nine furlong allowance caliber race in Ascot last April where the horse finished on the board in third with a speed figure of ninety-one. Previously in his career, the horse was a high end claimer where he was very successful, repeatedly finishing on the board at the claiming level. Perhaps somewhat outclassed in a graded field, it will still be interesting to see where this hose ends up after a slight step down in class to a Grade II race, though in the end he may be more apt to listed stakes or allowance levels.
2. Pleasant Emblem (JPN)<\/b> – koolaid<\/i> – S. Munoz – 30\/1
In the second slot in the race will be this three-year-old chestnut colt (War Emblem x Lemon Drop Kid x Hennessy), who is out of the race-winning mare Pleasant Lemessy. The Japanese-bred colt is raced by Legendary Stables. The colts last graded start came in April during the Lone Star Mile (G2) where he finished a disappointing twelfth, sixteen and three-fourth lengths off the pace in his first and only graded start. However, the colt is stakes placed with a second place finish in the Pearl Rick (IRE) special and a third place finish in the Lois\u2019s Prospects Stakes early this year. To date the colts lifetime best speed figure was a ninety-nine which was achieved in the Pearl Rick (IRE) Special last May, which was the horses last race.
3. Duke Pinky<\/b> – gbracing<\/i> – T. Silk – 55\/1
Next in the post parade will be this twelve-year-old horse (Geri x Antheus x Spectacular Bid), who is currently raced by Gbracing Stables. The bay horses last start came in December of 2005 during a nine furlong allowance caliber start in British Columbia where the horse finished sixth, seventeen and one-fourth lengths off the pace, after being sent out of the gate in third. The horse set a speed figure of only sixty-nine for the race. You would have to go all the way back to 2000 in the capital\u2019s Major Price (G3) to find the horses last win. This was a one length win over nine and a half furlongs on the turf with a recorded speed figure of one hundred six. Though an accomplished horse and graded winner in his day, it looks like Father Time may have taken its toll on this bay horse, and coming off a break of three years of inactivity, the likelihood that he has improved with more age is low.
4. Testing Adventure (AUS)<\/b> – buckplace<\/i> – T. McGriggs – 7\/1
From the land down under and into the fourth slot here in North California will be this four year old chestnut (Testa Rossa (AUS) x Conquistador Cielo x The Minstrel). The chestnut colt is owned and trained by Crawford Incorporated. The chestnut colt had his last start last month in the eight and a half furlong listed Setanta (IRE) Stakes overseas in Epsom. The horse finish just two lengths off the leader in fourth in this race after coming from mid-pack to attempt to challenge in the stretch. The colt put up a valiant effort, setting a speed figure of one hundred nine for the race, a lifetime best speed figure for the colt. The colts only previous graded stakes start came last year in the World Cup Turf Classic where he finished sixth, sixteen and a half lengths back in the race. He has improved drastically since 2007 and has finished out of the money only once this year.
5. I Don\u2019t Stutter<\/b> – hoofhearts<\/i> – M. Artie – 11\/1
Up next in the field will be this four year old impeccably bred colt (Kingmambo x Sadler\u2019s Wells x Shirley Heights (GB)), who is proudly raced by Timmn Stables. The bay four year old had his last start last month in the nine and a half furlong listed Reward Challenge where he set a speed figure of one hundred after finishing second by a little over a length in the turf route. The colt has never started in a graded stakes race, however he also has not finished out of the money in a race since late last year when he finished sixth in an allowance caliber race. The colts last three starts have all been listed stakes races and have all ended with a finish in the money for the bay colt
6. Theological (AUS)<\/b> – summit<\/i> – C. Winter – 7\/2
The first of our favorites is up in the sixth post in the form of a tall four year old brown colt from Australia (Arazi x Green Desert x Storm Cat), who is out of the graded placed mare Feline Fantasty. The brown colt is raced by OC International Racing Stables. His last start came last month in the nine and a half furlong listed Spear Me (GB) Challenge in Ontario where the colt won convincingly by three and a half lengths after setting an effortless speed figure of one hundred two for the listed turf race. His most recent graded start was the month prior in the Florida Turf (G3) where he came up a six furlongs short in fourth with a speed figure of one hundred nine, a speed he duplicated form the B. Orphan (IRE) Challenge which he won in wire to wire fashion by one and one-half lengths. One hundred nine is his lifetime best a speed figure, a feat which he as duplicated three times in his racing career so far. The colt has not finished out of the money in his last three starts and is consistently finishing on the board in the majority of his starts. As the betting odds indicate, this bay colt seems to be a shoe in for a possible threat to the board this Saturday during the Golden Platter Handicap.
7. Falling Down (IRE)<\/b> – mrv<\/i> – T. Grace – 27\/1
In the seventh slot is the second entry in the Golden Platter Handicap for Pauliev Stables. This four year old Irish-bred chestnut colt (Galileo (IRE) x Sakhee x War Chant), is out of the stakes placed mare Glory Of Rum and has had twenty-four lifetime starts. The first and only start for this colt under his new trainer came last week during the NY Island Cap (G1) right along with his stablemate Turn To Roads (IRE)<\/b>. This colt didn\u2019t fare much better in the race, finishing twenty-two and one-fourth lengths off the pace in eighth with a speed figure of ninety-one. Previously the colt was raced by shamrandk<\/i> before he was purchase by mrv<\/i> in a $40,000 claiming race. Like his aforementioned stablemate, Falling Down (IRE)<\/b> has done very well against claiming and allowance level competition. The colt has even placed in some listed stakes races when run by his previous owner and even finished second last year in the Queen\u2019s Flower Pot (G3). While not high-end graded race material, this colt should be able to hold his own in listed stakes and perhaps lower end Grade 3 stakes races.
8. Otto Oh No<\/b> – freeky<\/i> – J. White – 5\/1
Following in our eleven horse field will be this five year old bay horse (Mineshaft x Irish River (FR) x Kris S.), who is proudly owned and raced by Pierchinski Stables. The bay horse has started twenty-three times in his career and has lifetime earnings of $2,795,300. His last start came last month overseas in Japan during the Kinsho Kho Classic (G2) over ten furlongs where the horse finish nine lengths back in fourth with a speed figure of one hundred six. The colts last few races have been somewhat of a disappointment with the fourth in the Kinsho Kho Classic and two out of the money finishes in both the Long Legged Handicap (G3) and the Explosive Bet Stakes (G1). The horses last win came in in a nine an a half furlong allowance caliber stakes in South Africa where he won by two and a half lengths with a speed figure of one hundred four. Despite his last three finishes the horse is being returned to graded stakes competition undaunted of his recent failures at the graded level. This race should be a good indicator as to whether the horse is on an improve after a in the money finish in the Kinsho Kho, albeit finishing a well-beaten nine lengths off the pace.
9. Praetorian Prefect<\/b> – empirez<\/i> – Ti. Matthews – 7\/2
Our remaining pre-race favorite is this four year old bay colt from Kentucky (Roman Ruler x Spinning World x Storm Cat), who is proudly raced by Nextbonus Racing with their trademark red and gray silks. The four year old horse colt has been relatively lightly raced with only nineteen lifetime career starts. His most recent start came last month in the ten and a half furlong Rally Cat Memorial in Nebraska where the colt won going away by two an a half lengths with a speed figure of one hundred three after setting off the pace in mid-pack. The colts only graded start came in April during the Hallelujah Turf Cup where he finished a disappointing and well beaten seventh. Perhaps the colts most impressive races have been in the Ynamis Special and in the Too Much Ground Stakes, both which the colt won with speed figures of one hundred ten and one hundred twelve respectively. With the exception of his sole graded start, the colt has not finished out of the money since April of 2007. He looks like he will be a force to be reckoned with during the race on Saturday.
10. Hard Miss<\/b> – newscoobi<\/i> – P. Graham – 9\/2
Up next in the field is this six year old brown horse (Miswaki x Kris S. x Lyphard), which is trained by Rosscoobi Stables. The horses last start came last month in Ireland during the ten furlong Keg of Guiness (G1) where the colt finished six and one-fourth lengths off the pace of the inner in eighth after settling back in ninth out of the gate. His prior race was also a disappointment, a sixth place finish in the S. Demon Challenge in Italy. Prior to these last two most recent starts however, the horse hadn\u2019t finished out of the money since September of 2006. The horse is taking a bit of a step down from his Grade I disappointment and going down a grade, so it should be interesting to follow him throughout the race to see where he ends up.
11. Devil\u2019s Staircase<\/b> – seapigeon<\/i> – J. Star – 9\/2
Last into the gates on Saturday and taking the far outside post will be this five year old striking roan horse (Devil\u2019s Bag x Aptitude x Rahy), who is out of the stakes placed mare Apty\u2019s Rahfly. The roan horse is owned and trained by Brundlefly Stables. His most recent race came last month in the nine furlong S. Dance Handicap where he won in a photo finish by as nose after setting back just off the pace in fourth early on in the race before making his move in the turn to challenge the leaders. The horse set a speed figure of one hundred nine for the race. The horse has finished on the board in his last three starts, his only blemish coming in a ninth place finish in a mile long allowance race here in North California. You may has well throw that race out of the picture though. It was his sole attempt at running over the dirt. Throwing out the dirt race, the horse only finished out of the money once in his career.
Sorria\u2019s Picks<\/b><\/u>
Win:<\/b> Praetorian Prefect
Place:<\/b> Theological (AUS)
Show:<\/b> Devil\u2019s Staircase<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Praetorian Prefect, Theological (AUS), Co-Favorites<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"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-6145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6145","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\/399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}