Race:<\/b> Buck Dharma Handicap – Grade II – $150,000
ID:<\/b> 4204.0209
Track:<\/b> Florida
Restrictions:<\/b> All horses, 4 years old and up
Distance:<\/b> A mile and three eighths on the Turf
Again we\u2019re in Florida this weekend, this time for the running of the Buck Dharma Handicap (G2). The race has been run in Louisiana the past nine years, but will return to Florida this weekend. The race will be the first of quite a few graded stakes on the card for this Saturday in Florida. The race will be the ninth on the card this weekend, and will be run over a mile and three eighths over the inner turf track. The Grade II race will be open to all horses, four-years-old and up. The winner of last years race, which of course was held in Louisiana, was monte1<\/i>\u2019s Monte Youn (IRE)<\/b>, who won the race at nine years of age last year. Lightly raced, the horse did go on to win other graded stakes races. There is going to be some rain later in the week, but fortunately this will all be cleared up by this weekend for the Buck Dharma Handicap, so we can expect a firm turf course at post time on Saturday. This race has surely attracted some top turf runners from around the country, drawing in a total of six horses for the race, lets take a look at the contenders.
1. Rev\u2019s Ransom (ENG)<\/b> – (Red Ransom x Seattle Slew x Graustark) – poppoptwo<\/i> of Poppoptwo Stables – R. Maire – 7\/2
Foaled in England, this six-year-old chestnut horse will be making his thirty-fifth start this weekend in the Buck Dharma Handicap (G1). The horse, with career earnings of $597,220, has won a total of seven races within his lifetime. The most recent race for the horse was the DPCD VIII Turf Classic Restricted, a twelve furlong listed stakes race. The horse went wire to wire in this race, winning impressively by four lengths with an effortless speed figure of one hundred eight. His prior start came in the Carlton Fish Handicap (G2). Again, he went straight out to the front of the pack out of the gate, but came up short in the stretch when he faded in the final furlongs and finished second. The horse will almost certainly be our pacesetter this weekend while he will try to take the entire mile and one eighth from wire to wire.
2. Gai<\/b> – (Cryptoclearance x Sadler\u2019s Wells x Habitat) – tulloch<\/i> of Tulloch Stables – W. Case – 5\/1
The first runner to be entered into the Buck Dharma Handicap (G2) this weekend, this mare is out of the graded placed broodmare My Island Home. The mare is six-years-old and is fairly lightly raced for her age, making a total of thirty-two starts. She has career earnings of $1,112,730 and a total of six lifetime wins. Like the other mare in our race this weekend, she made her last start in the DPCD VIII The Penn Test (G1). The chestnut Kentucky-bred broke out of the gate in fourth and was held behind a few front runners until the field began to move towards the stretch. The mare was urged forward and crossed the wire in second, three and a half lengths back, though setting a speed figure of one hundred seven. Her prior start, The Flying Filly (G3), resulted in a win by one and three-fourth lengths, for the mare. The mare will most likely break towards the middle of the field this weekend, though she has also been held closer to the pace in a few of her races, back behind a few front running horses.
3. Remember Pops<\/b> – (Awesome Again x Kingmambo x Northern Dancer) – afc3<\/i> of Afc Stables – O. Barrett – 6\/1
Making just his third start in graded stakes racing, the four-year-old chestnut colt is out of the graded placed broodmare Pop\u2019s Birthday Gift. The Kentucky-bred has made fourteen lifetime starts and has won four times in his career, with three of these wins coming over the turf that he will racing over this coming weekend. The most recent race for the colt came last month in the At Night Cap (G2), last year run over a good turf course here in Florida. After breaking mid-pack at the start of the race, he quickly began to pick off other horses throughout the race, ultimately finishing second, three and a quarter lengths off the pace of the winner, He settled in with a speed figure of one hundred three, well down from the speed figures the colt had been recording over the firm turf. Previously over the firm course he had won two races consecutively, including the Bristol Rovers Special, a listed stakes race over twelve furlongs. The colt will probably put some speed in the race, although he has also rated back quite often in his races, so we may very well see him rated a bit off the pace as well.
4. Sake<\/b> – (Dynaformer x Danzig x Alydar) – 2tohold<\/i> of More Evil Than The Evil Empire! – L. Buchta – 4\/1
One of the top horses coming into the race this weekend, she is one of a few mares in this weekends race. At five-years-old she has made thirty-one career starts and has racked up career earnings of $2,137,675. The most recent start for the Kentucky-bred mare came in the DPCD VIII The Penn Test (G1) at twelve furlongs. The mare broke near the lead, waiting off the pace of a few front runners, but faded as the field came down the stretch, crossing the wire in fifth, back by seven and a half furlongs, with a speed figure of one hundred three. Her start prior to this was a disappointment as well, with the mare finishing fourth, though six and a half lengths off the pace, during The Best Of Rome (G1). The connections are hoping their mare will rebound this weekend and return to the form she exhibited when she won both the Vermillion Stakes (G1) and the Yolkshire Oaks (G1) consecutively in the middle of the past\u00a0 year. The mare usually breaks out of the gate near the lead, usually held off the pace by a few front runners. She will likely be tucked back in third at the break.
5. Title Defense<\/b> – (Awesome Again x Kingmambo x Storm Cat) – futurestar<\/i> of Dixiedotco Racing – V. Gardner – 2\/1
Out of the top notch Grade 1 winning broodmare Dangerous Reward, this four-year-old colt sired by top stallion Awesome Again, will certainly be a ruling force to be reckoned with this weekend. The Kentucky-bred colt has made eighteen career starts, finishing on the board in an impressive fifteen of these races. The colt has seen eight wins throughout his career. The most recent start for the brown colt was in the twelve furlong Japan Classic (G1). The brown colt, after breaking out of the starting gate towards the middle of the pack, started gaining ground as the field entered the stretch, but only managed to cross the wire in third. He set a speed figure of one hundred twelve. The last victory for the colt came in just his prior start, The Breeders\u2019 Bowl Turf (G1). The colt effortlessly won the greatest of American turf races by two and three-fourth lengths with an even greater speed figure. The colt definitely has the background to move forward in the race this weekend, and the connections of the colt are confident he\u2019ll do well. He is a versatile runner, capable of either running on the pace at the front of the field, or in being held back slightly to bide his time in the middle.
6. Tour Escourt<\/b> – (Mineshaft x Awesome Again x Danehill Dancer (IRE)) – hihosilver<\/i> of Bond77 Stables – A. Darling – 7\/2
Accomplished at running on both the turf and the main track, the six-year-old veteran will be making his thirty-seventh career start this weekend. The Kentucky-bred chestnut horse made his most recent start last month across the country in The Los Angeles Turf Cup (G1) at twelve furlongs. The horse broke out of the gate behind a few front runners, but faded as they came down the stretch. The horse, still managing to cross the wire in fifth, finished eighteen and a half lengths off the pace with a speed figure of ninety-five. The most recent win for the horse came just a few months before, also out in California, during the Del Web Handicap (G2). Like his most recent race, he was placed behind a few front runners, but took off in the stretch instead of fading, and won by two and a half lengths. The chestnut horse will most likely be placed in a similar position this weekend, just a little bit off the pace behind a few front runners.
Flrancho\u2019s Picks<\/u><\/b>
Win:<\/b> Title Defense
Place:<\/b> Rev\u2019s Ransom (ENG)
Show:<\/b> Remember Pops<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rev\u2019s Ransom (ENG), Tour Escourt Highlight Field<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"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-7685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7685","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\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}