Virginia race fans get another look at the two year olds in this week\u2019s spotlight race, the North The Baby Bonanza. The race invites all two year olds to run over seven and a half furlongs of turf for a piece of the $55000 purse. It should be a perfect race day, with pleasant temperatures, and the track will be rated as firm for the event. This is the fourth running of the yearly event, which has historically been a jumping off point for two year old turfers. Of the fourteen previous runners in the first three races, nine have gone on to become stakes winners, and unusually for any two year old race, only two of the prior entrants have found their way into claims. Last year\u2019s race was won by Soul Of Sioux(KY)<\/b>, who came from just off the pace to grab his third win of a five race winning streak. This year, we have four colts taking up the challenge. This will be the longest start to date for all of them, so it should be an interesting one. Oddsmakers are calling for a tight race here, with two horses coming in at under 2\/1 odds, and the pair of “longshots” at 3\/1 and 7\/2 odds. Handicapppers may want to hold on to their money again this week and hope for some more favorable opportunities down the road.<\/p>\n
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PP 1) Heavy G(KY)<\/b> Sired by Bandini, Trained by catfish. Heavy G(KY) is the veteran runner of this field, with five starts already under his saddle. He comes into this start behind a 1-0-2-2-0 record. He had a pair of dirt starts to begin his career, but a switch to turf has proved profitable, and he has a win and a pair of shows in his three turf starts. His last start was a five and a half furlong turf stakes in Puerto Rico, where he finished third in a field of five, posting a career best 68.8 speed number. This will be his longest run by a full furlong and a half. Bandini\u2019s progeny have been at their best in shorter sprints, without much of a turf upside. He is however only a second crop sire, and that could explain the weighting. The Fusaichi Pegasus line throws a lot of milers, especially among his turf running offspring. As a dam sire, Awesome Again also shows a strong dirt preference, with a healthy dose of speed, though his turf runners have had the bulk of their success in that mile range, as well. This colt generally like to run from the head of the mid pack, but for the most part, he has shown very little inclination to close any real kind of gap in the second half of his races. The longer start here could mean even a bigger gap, and that could be worrisome for him. His speeds have been a bit below average for this time of year, and he will need to crank it up a notch to be a serious factor in the stretch here. Look for him to finish this one off the pace by a bit unless he can find a stronger second half push.<\/p>\n
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PP 2) Zeco De Lago(AUS)<\/b> Sired by Encosta De Lago(AUS), Trained by loisblack. Zeco De Lago(AUS) makes his fourth career start in this race. After a moderately disastrous dirt debut, he enters this race looking to keep his record perfect on turf, notching back to back wins on the grass. His last start was a six furlong A1x in Maine, where he eked out a victory by a nose in a very tightly contested field of nine. In the process, he also fielded his career best speed of 79.0, nearly fifteen points higher than his previous best. He goes a full furlong and a half beyond his previous longest race here. His sire Encosta De Lago(AUS) has field his highest number of winners at a mile on both surfaces, but overall, his winners have preferred shorter sprint distances. Seeking The Gold, on the dam side, has fielded about an even split between sprinters and milers, with the turf progeny overwhelming excelling at the mile distance. Zeco De Lago(AUS) prefers a closer\u2019s break, and he has shown the ability to close a second half gap, as well as hold his own in a field of closers if the need arises. He\u2019ll have some speed out in front of him here, and that should set him up well if he shows the close he is capable of making. The big question for me here is that last speed figure. The big number pretty much came out of nowhere, and it is hard to say whether it was a fluke, or the new benchmark for this young colt. In this field, that shouldn\u2019t be too much of an issue, though. Look for him to be making a run at the leader late in what looks to be a very close finish.<\/p>\n
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PP 3) Loch Doon(IRE)<\/b> Sired by Dylan Thomas(IRE), Trained by grittar. Loch Doon(IRE) takes the gate for his fifth career start here. All four previous starts have come on turf, resulting in a record of 1-1-1-0-0, with two previous stakes tries. His career best speed of 71.6 came in his last start, a six furlong stakes in Argentina, where he began to fade at the half post after opening up a lead, finishing third in a field of five. This will be his longest career start, as well, with his previous long being at six furlongs. Dylan Thomas(IRE) is a freshman sire, so the jury is still out, but so far his progeny have shown a marked turf preference, and eight of his thirty turf wins have come at a mile, a rather high percentage for two year olds. With Danehill and Diesis in his lines though, they should show plenty of stamina. Black Tie Affair(IRE) through the dam line adds some speed to the mix, and his turfers have been solid at anywhere from six to ten furlongs. This young colt like to run from the midpack, but the only time he was asked for any real kind of close, he couldn\u2019t muster one. He\u2019s been at his best when he\u2019s had a piece of the early lead in a shorter race. He\u2019s shown a tendency to fade late in his shorter starts, and that doesn\u2019t bode well for him with the added distance here. He looks to have some speed out in front of him here, and he should be a bit off the pace as they enter the second half of this one. He could be a threat if the longer distance allows him to get his close on track, but judging by his reaction last time he was asked to close, I don\u2019t see that happening here.<\/p>\n
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PP 4) Picoturquino(IRE)<\/b> Sired by Montjeu(IRE), Trained by nky586. Picoturquino(IRE) makes his third start here. This will be his second stakes run, but he is still looking to break his maiden, with second and third place finishes in his first pair. Both his previous starts have been on turf, and both have been at seven furlongs, making him the only colt in this field with any experience beyond six furlongs. He put up a 75.3 speed in his last start, a seven furlong outing in D.C., where he gave up a big lead late, having to settle for second in a field of four. His pedigree has distance written all over it. Montjeu(IRE) has fielded over thrity percent of his stakes winners at ten furlongs and longer, with a strong preference toward turf. And on the dam side, we have Kingmambo, who adds even more stamina to the mix, as well as a healthy dose of speed. Picoturquino(IRE) like to run with a piece of the early lead, and he shouldn\u2019t have too much trouble getting himself a cushion again in this one. He\u2019s shown himself vunerable to the closers in his first two starts, fading alarmingly down the stretch in both races. I think his biggest advantage here is the distance. He has a solid closer behind him, but that colt has never raced this long, nor has he ever been asked to close from more than a furlong and a half out, a situation that could very likely change here. If he opens up the same kind of lead he did in his last race, he could very well hold on to notch his first career win in this one.<\/p>\n
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Long sprint should be a test for this field<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":472,"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":[2,3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews","category-reviews","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6588","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\/472"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}