{"id":624,"date":"2005-09-16T16:47:04","date_gmt":"2005-09-16T16:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=624"},"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=624","title":{"rendered":"Stretch Could Make \u201cSong\u201d a Hit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Smarty\u2019s Song<\/B>, by Smarty Jones and out of Jones Jett (by, Unbridled\u2019s Song), stretches out to a route while dropping from graded stakes ranks to loom a strong presence in Saturday\u2019s Colonel Port Stakes. At a mile and a sixteenth on the main track, the $50,000 feature has attracted nine two-year-olds, including three route winners, specifically a winner at Saturday\u2019s distance. Smarty\u2019s Song, a two-time winner that faced winners for the first time in the Catapult Stakes, winning easily before a strong rally that proved too little, too late in the Grade II Faber Juvenile College, appears to need only a fondness for the distance to notch his third win.<\/P>

With a rallying style in sprints, the transition to longer distance should be easily evaluated in this spot, with the appearance of ample early speed, and the lack of a bona fide monster in the field. While his running style insinuates that more ground should be beneficial, the female side of the pedigree offers mild pause. Jones Jett, a five-time winner was more effective sprinting, winning only once going long, her maiden victory in just start number three. Her four allowance wins were all in sprints, in fact, after her maiden breaking route win, she ran long five more times in succession, the ran her final fifteen career starts in sprints. However, his sire, Belmont Stakes winner Smarty Jones clearly makes a strong case for downplaying concerns of distance limitations.<\/P>

Fuzzy Magic<\/B>, stakes placed by way of a \u2018last-out\u2019 second in the One Minstrel Memorial at a flat mile, may be the one to gun down in the closing stages. A maiden winner at seven-eighths, the son of Kingmambo has excellent tactical speed and has already held his own against solid company around two turns. With jockey Guadalupe Giant drawn outside of most of the rival speed, Fuzzy Magic should be well-placed early and figures to get fist run from just off the speed turning for home. <\/P>

Vicenicetwice<\/B>, breaking from the outside, may be the speed of the speed, looking to clear away from Fuzzy Magic, Aubisque<\/B> and Out of Tune<\/B> early. A winner in his most recent, an allowance going a flat mile, the son of Valid Expectations made the transition from sprinter to router successful in his first attempt. With enough early speed to contest the lead going five and a half furlongs, Vicenicetwice was able to relax just off the pacesetter to register a career best effort in his mile debut. If capable of fending off several early challenges on Saturday, Vicenicetwice need only reproduce his most recent performance to play a major role in the outcome.<\/P>

Out of Tune not only successfully made the jump from sprints to routes, but improved dramatically while breaking his maiden at a mile in his second career start, his most recent start. After dueling for most of his six furlong debut and simply tiring, he returned to overcome post twelve around two turns his second start, wiring the field in rather convincing fashion. By Out of Place and out of Light Launch (by Majectic Light), his affinity for two-turn racing is hardly a shock. His maiden winning performance was strong enough to earn him deserved respect on Saturday, but this field will offer a true gauge of whether or not that respect is deserved.<\/P>

Empire Statement<\/B>, like Smarty\u2019s Song, appeared poised to make a quick splash into the realm of two-year-old routers when he lined up for the Grade III Pea Patch Juvenile. A debut winner from far off the pace, the son of Empire Maker backed up his maiden score with a huge late run to win the six furlong Virtuous Wingo Special. However, though facing much better, Empire Statement\u2019s two-turn debut was largely a flop, laboring in last, far behind early and offering only a mild late run to pass badly tired foes in the Pea Patch. Did he run poorly in his route debut? Or did he simply face a superior field and made his run, it being simply not good enough? Clearly he has the talent, this race certainly should answer all questions regarding his route prowess.<\/P>

Aubisque is easy to overlook, but impossible to dismiss. A debut winner at a mile and a sixteenth against ten rivals, the Johar colt has already twice done what much of the field has yet to do. He certifiably supported his route ability by returning to run a strong second, beaten just a half length after leading inside the sixteenth pole against allowance rivals. The knock is that the allowance group was both small in size and depth and neither effort yielded a gaudy speed rating. Furthermore, he appears to face ample early pressure by some strong talents, which could make him rather vulnerable turning for home. Worth noting, Bad Girl, his dam, won only once in her career, as a two-year-old. <\/P>

Roar Pretty<\/B> started his career in smashing fashion, winning both of his first two starts, a four and a half furlong maiden and a six furlong allowance. Six weeks after the second win, he jumped up to stakes competition while stretching out, contesting the Arse Goes Down Stakes at a flat mile. Last for most of the race, the son of Malabar Gold managed to eke his way past tiring rivals to earn fifth, some ten and a half behind the winner. The pace figures to be honest, so if he wants any part of route racing, he should get the opportunity to prove it.<\/P>

The experience leader, Tunaman<\/B>, has started seven times, winning once, a six furlong maiden race. Though his running style varies from race to race, his effort level seems to be consistent, reliably running his race. Usually just a cut below the others, he has banged out a handful of solid races, including a second in a turf stakes and a fourth in stakes company on the main track. He is untested going long, which may be his most appealing attribute, for despite his decent races, he still looks to need improvement to make a prominent impact on Saturday.<\/P>

Silver Hair<\/B>, a first time starter, was nice enough to join the field, presumably as a generous offering, allowing the track to offer superfecta wagering (Maine law requires a field of more<\/I> than eight for superfecta wagering). By Finocchio, he was a private purchase at auction just last week by a barn that has already once pulled off a mild surprise with a recent two-year-old acquisition. Raw Meat<\/B> was claimed off trainer Bargaina for $4,000 in Wyoming and returned four weeks later to run a strong third in a $15,300 allowance at 18-1. Still, that interesting feat aside, Silver Hair appears to be in major trouble.<\/P><\/FONT><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who’s Longing To Go Far?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"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-624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624","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\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}