Virginia goes to the well one more time this week, bringing back the classic distance runners in the fourth annual running of the Festive Brook Special. In a repeat of last week, the race invites all horses three year old and older to run over nine and a half furlongs of turf for a shot at the $50000 purse. Another week of nice weather here in Virginia has the track rated as firm for the event. It has historcally been a hotly contested race, and draws strong contenders, with thirteen of the previous runners in the race being either graded placed, or going on to score at graded level later in their career. After the favorites walked away with the prize in the first two runnings, last year\u2019s race was won by longshot Bass Fishing<\/B>, who exploded out of the midpack to dominate down the stretch, winning by three lengths. This year\u2019s race draws a packed field of fourteen, with a single three year old taking on a field of four and five year old runners. This one is a bettor\u2019s race, so handicappers, get out your wallets and your lucky hats. A pair of co-favorites go off at a long 6\/1, with seven more contenders weighing in between 7\/1 and 10\/1 odds. If your taste runs to longer odds, the rest of the field comes in between 12\/1 and 62\/1 odds. There should be some excellent money to be made at the betting windows here.<\/P>
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PP 1) Inside The Machine(KY)<\/B> Sired by Dynaformer, Trained by vicsouth. Inside The Machine(KY), the first of the two co-favorites is a four year old colt making career start number twenty seven in this race. He has four previous stakes wins to his credit, all on dirt, with the most recent coming this March. He carries in a 3-1-1-3-1 record from his last ten starts, topping the 100+ speed mark nine times, his best a blazing 116.1 in his stakes win earlier this year. His last race was a twelve furlong open allowance on the dirt in North Carolina, where he crushed the field of eleven down the stretch to win by three and a quarter. He\u2019s predominately a dirt runner, with only two previous grass starts, both coming early last year. He didn\u2019t make a break showing in either start, and has been running dirt ever since. He\u2019s made his mark as a marathoner, with seven of eight career victories coming at twelve furlongs or longer, and in this distance range, he has a single second place to show for five tries. He likes to start anywhere from just off the leaders tail back to the head of the midpack, but outside of his last, he has had trouble making up ground down the stretch in his recent efforts. He\u2019s has shown some excellent speed, but the surface switch is a big question here, as is the shorter distance. I would need to see him duplicate his speeds on the grass before I could recommend him her ein this field of veteran turfers.<\/P>
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PP 2) Big Money Prado(IRE)<\/B> Sired by El Prado(IRE), Trained by willyam46. Big Money Prado(IRE) is a lightly raced four year old colt, making career start seventeen in this race. He steps up in class for his first ever shot at stakes competition in this race. His last ten starts have seen him run to a 3-4-2-0-0 record, with a top speed of 99.2 earned three starts back. His last race was a ten furlong A3x on a tough Delaware track, where he bested a field of seven by two and a half behind a powerful stretch run. After a lackluster at best debut on dirt, he switched to turf, and it seemed to light a fire under him, giving him a big speed jump and top two finishes in his next five starts. The distance is not a problem for him either, with seven starts in this distance range producing seven top three finishes, including a pair of wins. He runs as a midpack closer, and though his close has been a bit of a rollercoaster, he nearly always seems to be somewhere in the mix at the end. He takes a large jump in class here, though, and he hasn\u2019t yet shown the kind of speed he\u2019s going to need to be a threat here. He\u2019s going to need the race of his life by a goodly margin to crack the trifecta in this one.<\/P>
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PP 3) Dancing Master<\/B> Sired by Peintre Celebre(IRE), Trained by yunkai. Dancing Master is a five year old horse, facing his thirty sixth career race in this outing. He carries a number 78 divisional ranking among older horses, with three previos stakes victories, the most recent coming at this distance back in March. He has a 4-1-1-0-0 record over his last ten, reaching the 100+ speed mark in six of those, capped by a career best 109.8 in his last start. That race was an A1s in Ottawa, where he came from off the pace to grab a length and three quarters win in a field of ten. He has a couple of token dirt races, where he performed well, but turf has always been his home. He is a specialist in this distance range, with twenty four of his starts producing ten wins and seventeen top three finishes. He\u2019s a deep closer, but his close has been up and down, partly due to the graded company he has been facing in several of his recent starts. He\u2019s been doing some of his best career running, but he faces a field of near graded quality competition here, and that\u2019s a nut he hasn\u2019t been able to crack so far. His specialization at this distance is a big plus for him, and a duplication of his last could put him right in the mix here.<\/P>
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PP 4) Devil\u2019s Staircase<\/B> Sired by Devil\u2019s Bag, Trained by seapigeon. Devil\u2019s Staircase is a five year old horse, lightly campaigned, making his twenty sixth career start here. He has a number 97 divisional ranking, behind a pair of previous stakes victories, the most recent coming two starts back. He comes into this one off a 3-3-1-1-0 record in his last ten, with eight 100+ speeds figures topping out at 109.4 in May. His last start was a ten and a half furlong stakes on an off track in Michigan, where he settled for second in a field of seven, after leading the race into the stretch. Other than one try on dirt, which only served to reinforce his surface preference, he has run strictly on the grass. His distance of choice has been in the mile range, and in this distance range he has a pair of wins and a foruth place finish in four tries. He has been experimenting with his starting speeds, but recently has looked his best when he gets himself into contention early. He\u2019s shown some ability to close from just off the pace, but that has been the exception rather than the rule. The field compostion here looks to have him possibly getting a piece of the early lead, with the rabbits on the lower end of the average speeds, but he\u2019ll have a couple other speedy stalkers right up there with him. Should still be somewhere in the mix as they head into the stretch, but look for the speed duel to begin to take its toll as they head for home.<\/P>
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PP 5) Barb Saves The Day(KY)<\/B> Sired by Theatrical(IRE), Trained by jakematt. Barb Saves The Day is the young upstart of this field, a three year old colt making only his twelfth career start. He\u2019s no stranger to stakes competition, but he\u2019s still looking for his first win at this level. In eleven career starts, he is 3-3-2-1-0, with a top speed of 106.4 coming in his last race. That race was a mile and a half stakes in Rhode Island, where a powerful second half close saw him fall short, settling for third in a field of eleven. He has a dirt start early this year, but turf has always been his paycheck. This will be his first try in this distance range, though in his only other start beyond eight and a half, he posted a respectable 98.7 speed in a losing effort at twelve furlongs earlier this year. He is a midpack to deep closer, and while showing flashes of brilliance, he\u2019s had a hard time bringing it home late. The distance here is a double edged blade, providing him some extra room to close late, but also quite likely to put him in a deeper hole than he is used to seeing as a veteran of shorter races. His last start was far and away his career best, but he will need to prove that it wasn\u2019t just an anomaly to close the gap late in this one.<\/P>
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PP 6) Bagored(FR)<\/B> Sired by Bago(FR), Trained by zwhisper. Bagored(FR) is a four year old colt, taking the gate in career start number twenty four here. He has one prior stakes win to his credit, which came at this distance earlier this year. His last ten races have seen him put up a 1-3-1-1-1 record, with seven 100+ speeds, his best being a 106.5 three starts back. His last start was a ten and a half furlong stakes on an off track in Michigan, where his jomp came way too late, seeing him settle for fourth. After debuting on dirt, a switch to turf produced top three finishes in his next six starts, and he has never looked back. Distance wise, he has tried a little bit of everything, with his strongest racing looking to be in the mile range. In eight starts in this distance range he has six top three finishes, with a single win. He\u2019s a deep closer, and while his close has been consistent, he\u2019s had a tough time getting all the way back. He\u2019s getting back on track after an injury earlier this season, and if he shows the close he\u2019s capable of, he could be a threat here. In order to do so, though, he\u2019s going to need to find another gear late and raatchet up his speed another notch.<\/P>
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PP 7) Dynariver(DUB)<\/B> Sired by Dynever, Trained by zyro. Dynariver is a four year old colt, stepping to the track for career start twenty six in this race. He has one previous stakes victory, which came in his last race. He boasts a 5-3-1-1-0 record in his last ten starts, with five 100+ speed figures capped by a 110.0 two starts back. His last start was a stakes at this distance on an off track in Argentina, where he grabbed a two length victory over a field of nine behind a powerful second half close. Much of his early career was spent on dirt, but he has stayed on turf since early last season, and it is really starting to pay dividends for him. He appears to like the distance range here, as well, with five starts producing four wins and show. He\u2019s a deep closer, and his close has been the picture of consistency in his recent efforts. He\u2019s really started to blossom recently, and he\u2019s riding a hot streak with wins in four of his last five, and showing speeds that are more than enough to be a threat against stakes quality competition. This one is ripe for a good closer, and though he is looking at some very solid competition threatening late, he\u2019s a good bet to pad your trifecta boxes with at 8\/1 odds.<\/P>
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PP 8) Chaparral Slam(IRE)<\/B> Sired by High Chaparral(IRE), Trained by nwrc2. Chaparral Slam is a hard run five year old horse, making his fortieth career start here. After running a combination of high level claims and conditional allowances, he steps up in class to stakes for the first time since his two year old debut. He has a 0-2-0-1-2 record out of his last ten starts, putting up a top speed of 98.8 last September. His last start was an A*600 at a mile in Vermont, where he finished sixth in a field of eleven. He\u2019s spent the bulk of his career on turf, and seems to be stronger there. The mile looks to be his best distance, though eight starts in this distance range have produced five place and a show, though not against anywhere near this level of competition. He generally likes to get himself out front early, but he\u2019s shown a lack of stamina in the second half of most of his recent starts. He hasn\u2019t shown anywhere near the speed he\u2019s going to need to compete in this field, and you can look for him to live up to his 62\/1 odds here.<\/P>
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PP 9) Pub Crawl(IRE)<\/B> Sired by El Prado(IRE), Trained by stormborn. Pub Crawl(IRE) is a five year old horse, making career start forty one in this field. He has five prior stakes wins, including a pair of Grade I victories, but four of the five came in his two year old campaign and his most recent coming two starts back. He\u2019s raced to a 4-0-1-1-1 record in his last ten starts, with eight 100+ speeds, the best being a 109.6 in his stakes win this year. His last start was a spate at this distance in Argentina on an off track, where he gave up over a four length lead down the stretch to finish fifth in a field of nine. He\u2019s had a decent showing in a pair of career dirt starts, but turf is how he earns his living. Six to eight furlongs is where he has made his real mark, though he has a pair of wins to show for four starts in this distance range. He\u2019s a speed ball, liking to put up a big cushion early, then just hold on for dear life. He can handle himself in and early duel, but it has a tendency to take its toll on him late in the race. He shouldn\u2019t have a problem getting clear early here, but he\u2019s going to have a couple decent starters pressing him early, and it\u2019s going to be hard to build up enough of a cushion to be able to hold off some strong late closers. Look for him to lead the way to the half post, but from there on things will be touch and go for him as they head for the stretch.<\/P>
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PP 10) Two Kings<\/B> Sired by Cat Thief, Trained by queenab. Two Kings is a five year old horse, seeing action in career start thirty three in this race. He has one prior stakes win which came on off track dirt last October. He\u2019s been a contender in most of his last ten, but never the winner, going 0-3-5-0-0 with seven 100+ speed, maxing out at 107.6 early this season. His last race was a stakes at this distance on an off track in Argentina, where he propelled himself to third in a field of nine behind a powerful second half run before running out of real estate. He began his career on dirt, and while he performed well, turf has been his mainstay. This is his distance range of choice, and in sixteen turf starts, he has a pair of wins and fourteen top three finishes. He\u2019s a midpack to deep closer, and while his close has been quite consistent, only twice in his last ten starts has it been able to get him less than two lengths out in his last ten starts. If you are looking for something a bit longer to pad your trifecta box with, he could be a choice, but I think in this field, he\u2019s going to need a strong race and a bit of luck besides to sneak in here.<\/P>
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PP 11) Theological(AUS)<\/B> Sired by Arazi, Trained by summit. Theological(AUS) makes his twenty third career start here, running in his four year old campaign. He has four prior stakes wins, three of them coming at this distance, the most recent in may of this year. Overall in his last ten starts, he\u2019s posted a record of 3-0-1-2-1, cracking the 100+ mark nine times, capped by a 109.2 in a stakes win earlier this year. His last start was in a Nevada stakes race at a mile, where he grabbed a lead just past the half before falling to the deep closers down the stretch, settling for third in an eleven horse field. He\u2019s never set hoof off the turf, and with a winning percentage of nearly 41%, there\u2019s really been no reason to consider a switch. This is his distance of choice, and he has notched seven wins and eleven top three finishes in seventeen tries in this distance range. He\u2019s a stalker type, liking to sit just off the lead until he can really open it up as they go into the second half. He\u2019s carried a third call lead into five of his last eight, but has found himself in trouble trying to hold off strong closers late. He\u2019ll be challenging hard here as they get into the second half, but he\u2019s going to need a stronger late kick to hold off some good deep closers here.<\/P>
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PP 12) CK El Pulpo(JPN)<\/B> Sired by Forty Niner, Trained by docoz. CK El Pulpo(JPN) is a four year old colt, taking the gate in start number nineteen of his career. He\u2019s has one previous stakes win, coming at a mile in his final race of last season. His last ten starts have garnered him a record of 4-0-1-0-3, eight 100+ starts, three of them over 110, with a best of 112.2 in his stakes win late last year. His last start was an A2s at a mile in Massachusetts, where he pasted a field of eleven by four and a half lengths to land himself in the winner\u2019s circle. Dirt gave way to turf for good in the middle of last year, and he\u2019s made it pay off. He looks to be near the outside of his distance range here, and while posting two wins and a show in six starts in this range, his speeds take a real drop in the ten furlong range. He\u2019s a deep closer, and his close has been more on than off, though he\u2019s had trouble getting all the way back, especially if he finds himself out too deep. He\u2019s been putting up some big speed numbers, and that makes him dangerous here, but it looks like the distance could be a shade too long. Should be eating up ground as they head into the stretch, but I see him stalling a bit towards the wire.<\/P>
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PP 13) Gotta Go Go<\/B> Sired by Symboli Kris, Trained by goonergeez. Gotta Go Go is a lightly raced five year old horse, facing only his twenty first career start here. This will be his third try against stakes competition, and he\u2019s still looking for that first win at this level. He\u2019s put up a 5-0-1-0-3 over the course of his last ten, with six 100+ speeds, capped by a 111.3 speed earlier this season. His last start was right here in Virginia in the Mario\u2019s Logs challenge at ten furlongs, where he got off to a good start before fading in the second half to settled for fifth place. After spending the bulk of his early career on dirt, ultimately landing in cheap claims, his new trainer switched him to the turf early in his three year old season, and watched him smartly walk up through his conditions since that point. He\u2019s a perfect 4-1-1 in six starts in this distance range, and has shown the stamina to go a little farther at need. He\u2019s a fast starter, and has held a first call lead in each of every start under his most recent trainer. The field composition doesn\u2019t favor him here, with pressure both early and late, which could be a problem. His speeds have been on a two race cycle recently, and if that holds true here, he could be ready to pop of another big one. You could do worse than to box him in your trifecta at 10\/1 odds here.<\/P>
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PP 14) Alligator Arms<\/B> Sired by Dynaformer, Trained by gr8bigsea. For the second week in a row, the co-favorites bookend the field, this week in the form of five year old Alligator Arms, who steps to the gate for career start number thirty nine here. He comes off his first career stakes victory in his first try last outing. Overall in his last ten, he has galloped to a 5-2-1-0-0 record, with seven 100+ speeds, topped by a blazing 111.3 in his last start. That was a ten and a half furlong stakes in Idaho, where he came from nowhere to thrash a field of eight by two and a half lengths. He\u2019s a veteran turfer, showing a strong affinity for the grass. He\u2019s been strong anywhere from eight to ten furlongs, looking his best in the ten furlong range. In six starts at this distance range, he has three wins and a place. He\u2019s a deep closer, and his close has been impeccable lately, regularly making up large chunks of ground in the second half of his races with a particularly strong kick down the stretch. The field sets up well for him here, with much of the battle happening in the first three quarters of the race, a scenario at which he has excelled. Look for him to be flying down the stretch, most likely once again coming from nowhere to be right in the mix as they reach for the wire.<\/P><\/BODY><\/HTML><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Race looks to be a barnburner from beginning to end<\/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-6811","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\/6811","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=6811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6811\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}