A field of ten lines up for the Grade One Desert Stamina Cup this weekend. Part of the lucrative Sand Castle Festival which features a bevvy of big time stakes action, this race will be run going a mile and three quarters on the dirt. As befits a race in the desert the track is fast. None of the runners here have scored a grade one win yet and only four of them have won any type of graded race. Three of our runners are six year olds at various stages of their careers. There are also two mares entered here after failing to make the field in the female counterpart to this race. Let\u2019s take a look a the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#1 Chewin A Wasp 5\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Six year old Chewin A Wasp is making his first start on dirt in over three years in this spot. He\u2019s got thirty starts under his belt and only one of them has come at this distance (and none going longer). He\u2019s a grade three winner going a mile and a half on the lawn and grade three placed going a furlong longer. His only try at a mile and three quarters saw him finish fifth in a listed. That race was almost two years ago. His recent form is a bit tough, he hasn\u2019t hit the board in a race since January of 2024. Most of his race since then have been in graded stakes although his two 2025 races both came in allowances where he finished fourth. This is a tough task for the old warrior who is a scratchbred gelding by New Approach x Raven\u2019s Pass x Fastnet Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#2 Forty Sevener 5\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first of our two mares is Forty Sevener. She\u2019s a six year old with twenty seven starts behind her but her recent form is not terrible. She was third beaten just over a length in the Grade Three Sigourney Stakes in January. Run at a mile and a quarter that race saw her prompt the early pace before tiring in deep stretch while running a111 speed. She ran that same number in her prior start which came in an allowance going a mile and three sixteenths where she was second. This mare has never traveled this distance before. She ran a mile and five sixteenths as a three year old in a listed, finishing ninth. Her most recent start saw her go a mile and a quarter in another grade three but she was a bit further off the early pacesetter early before making a bid around the turn and flattening out to finish seventh. She\u2019s a scratchbred daughter of Country House x Forty Niner x Broad Brush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#3 Mo Guns Make Sense 3\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Favored in this spot is Mo Guns Make Sense. He is yet another six year old but he has only run fifteen times before and enters in career best form. He is making his first start of 2025 but in 2024 he ran five times, winning four and running second in the other spot. His past three races have seen him win a listed going a mile and five sixteenths, win again in a grade three going a mile and three eighths and most recently demolishing a field in the Grade Two Hamburg Hall over this distance. His speeds in those three races were 119, 117 and 109 respectively and while his speed dropped in that grade two win he won by nine lengths. That race was back in November but if he can run back to last season\u2019s form he\u2019ll be very tough here. He\u2019s a son of Uncle Mo out of a Gun Runner x Street Sense mare. He\u2019s her first foal and best so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#4 Dereyapit 18\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last of our elder statesmen is Dereyapit who is also the longest shot in the field. He\u2019s a son of Eskendereya out of a Tapit x Tanino Gimlet mare. This is the family of grade one winners Bad Qualities and Shaken Gimlet, the latter of which won his grade one going two miles. Aside from his maiden all of Dereyapit\u2019s wins (of which he has eight) have come at a mile and a quarter or longer. That said he has only run in one other stakes race which was this race one year ago. He finished sixth that day and followed it up with a start in a $60,000 claiming event, which he won. He is also making his first start of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#5 The Hambletonian 8\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four year old gelding The Hambletonian is not a miler and he runs much faster than he trots. He began his career looking rather ordinary but when he first stretched out to a mile and three eighths last July he became something anything but. In that spot he won a first level allowance by seven widening lengths and started a five race win streak. During that time the shortest race he ran was an allowance at a mile and a quarter but his last two races have come at a mile and three quarters and two miles. In November he tackled this distance in the Grade Two No Surrender Stakes and won easily against fellow three year olds by stalking the early pace before making a bold middle move where he opened up on the field and then cantered down the lane to win by over three lengths while running a 117 speed. He \u2018only\u2019 ran a 109 in his follow up the Grade Two Buckeye Stayer but in that spot he controlled the pace from the get opened up a huge lead and was eased down the lane winning by a smart two lengths. That race was in January so he\u2019s had plenty of time to train up to this spot. He\u2019s a scratchbred gelding by Authentic x Seeking the Gold x Broad Brush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#6 Smilees 10\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smilees has won both of his starts that came at a mile and a half or longer. The four year old scratchbred son of Curlin x Sadler\u2019s Wells x Tapit ran a mile and a half for the first time in November of 2024 in an allowance against fellow three year olds. He faced only three other opponents but he beat them like a good horse should, winning by almost fourteen lengths. In that spot he was last early on before making a huge move around the turn and then pouring it on down the stretch while running a 110 speed. He returned to the races in December going a sixteenth of a mile shorter in a listed and he never really lifted a hoof in that spot. In his 2025 unveiling he started in a listed going two miles and that race was very similar to his prior allowance win. He dropped over thirteen lengths back early on before making up all of that ground and putting the field away to win by nearly eleven lengths. He ran a106 in that spot and he\u2019ll likely need to run much faster than that to factor here but he certainly looks like he\u2019s found his sweet spot going a distance of ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#7 Clearly I Remember 14\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A four year old scratchbred Ghostzapper x Danzig x Affirmed colt, Clearly I Remember has had an up and down career. He\u2019s spent almost half of it on the turf and all of it running shorter than today\u2019s distance. That said his best two races have been hi last two. In October of 2024 he ran in a non-winners of three lifetime allowance going a mile and a half and after sitting in last early on before closing to finish second with a 104 speed. A month later he won an allowance under similar conditions going a mile and three eighths with a similar running style but in that spot he ran a very strong 114 speed. Whether he can do something similar going an added three furlongs and off of a four month break is a question that will be answered here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#8 Water Into Gold 7\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The horse with the fewest amount of starts under his belt is this four year old son of Medaglia D\u2019oro. He is the first foal from an Uncle Mo x Gone West mare who was stakes placed going two miles. Water Into Gold won his first two career starts in traditional conditions but then spent seven starts running in stakes and grades. His best finish came when second in the Grade Two Flying Whales Cup in August of 2024. That race was run over a mile and three eighths and saw him sit next to last, dropping over seventeen lengths back before closing to get second, beaten just two and a half lenghts while running a 110 speed. He followed that up with a third place finish in a grade two going a mile and five eighths. His running style was very different, he was \u2018only\u2019 about nine lengths back at the halfway point and even though he finished third he dropped two more lengths behind at the wire while running a 105 speed. That is the longest race he\u2019s ever run in. Water Into Gold has only made one start this year but it was a winning one. In February he took an allowance going a mile and a quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#9 Dancer\u2019s View 7\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2015 the Ghostzapper x A.P. Indy mare Ideal View ran a bang up second against the boys in the Breeders\u2019 Bowl Marathon. She was a grade two winner going two miles and was multiple grade one placed in her career and as a broodmare she has produced three graded winners. The subject of this spot is her five year old son by War Front Dancer\u2019s View. Like mom he\u2019s done his best running going longer although it\u2019s taken him some time to really figure everything out. He earned his first stakes victory last October going two miles. He was second in a grade two at the same distance in November before running in the Grade One Big Apple at this distance in December. That race was run on a good dirt surface and saw him finish a well beaten sixth. Dancer\u2019s View was given two months off before making his only 2025 start in the Grade Three New Orleans Stayer at this distance. That race was run over a fast track and it was the best race of Dancer\u2019s View\u2019s career. He sat midpack early before moving up steadily around the turn and putting his rivals away down the stretch winning by five lengths while running a 113 speed. If he can run back to that race he\u2019s got a very good shot to win here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#10 Pivonag 8\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rounding out our field is the five year old are Pivonag. She\u2019s a daughter of New Approach and based on a Pivotal x Montjeu hemare. She will be making only her second start on dirt and just her third at this distance. Her only other dirt try came when sprinting as a two year old and while she ran badly at that point in her career she wasn\u2019t particularly good on the turf either. Her two prior runs at this distance came in a grade two in January of 2024 where she finished eleventh and December of last year in the Grade Three Crazy Train Stakes where she finished fourth. She hasn\u2019t won a race since she was a three year old and it is hard to think that she will change that here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good luck to all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A field of ten lines up for the Grade One Desert Stamina Cup this weekend. Part of the lucrative Sand<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"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-70117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70117","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\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70117"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70119,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70117\/revisions\/70119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}