Saturday nine horses will take to a firm turf course in the $200,000 Sandy Ray Handicap at 1 1\/2 miles. Three millionaires, a five millionaire, a Blazing Saddles turf champ, and a Cavalcade Cup winner will enter the starting gate all well backed at the windows. Yet, is there an upset just waiting to happen from one of three longshots? A very interesting race, as there seems to be a complete lack of early speed. Most in here enjoy settling into a nice stride before unleashing their explosive moves in the final furlongs. Positioning will be key in this race. <\/p>\n
#1 Tour Escort(Ky) – HIHOSILVER – D Dimekia 4-1… 6yo Mineshaft- Awesome Again is the first $1m earner to look at from Bond77. Has not tallied a win since his Gr II Del Web Handicap over this course last August. Showed signs of slowing down until he picked it up again in last two starts. In Florida he found himself unable to hold off the late run of Breeders Bowl Turf Champion Title Defense. Then lost an open allowance in Arkansas where the winner ran a career best effort. Believe this one still has it in him to finish well.<\/p>\n
#2 Max California(Ky) – BUFFY5 – F Gossett 6-1… This 6yo by Rock Hard Ten- Secretariat is the $5m earner of the group. From Winterfell Racing for GR Simsters. Third to Tour Escort in last summers Del Web. The ’08 Breeders Bowl Turf and Ark De Triumph runner-up has struggled in Grade I’s of late. Had a very nice second in last summers Gr.I King Geoff & Queen Beth’s Emerald Stakes. Looking to get back to some former glory. Very similar to Tour EScort in ability. Interesting player.<\/p>\n
#3 Sadler’s Prayer(Ire) – PAZTHREE – A Lewis 5-1… 5yo son of Sadler’s Wells- Kingmambo is another $1m earner. From Paz Jazz Music City Stables for Minnesota Downs residency. Has a win, over this course and distance, when winning last October’s Grade III Delta Burke. HIs best win came in the $1m Mejuro Handicap at Japan last May. Should be sitting in an excellent striking position from the get-go. A very dangerous horse indeed and maybe the one to beat.<\/p>\n
#4 Grand Ball(Ky) – POINTBLANK – O Brim 10-1… 4yo son of Dynaformer- Northern Dancer hails from Right at Home Stables supporting GR Simsters. Has had much success over this turf course in winning three of four lifetime. Only loss came at the hooves of Khartoun Killer in the Gr.I Los Angeles Turf Cup. In that race he defeated Tour Escort. Has shown a tendency to sit in the back of the field. I have a feeling he will be much closer Saturday. Another that can be very dangerous.<\/p>\n
#5 Charlie Waffles(Ky) – OPTIMAL – M Staples 3-1… A 5yo son of Distorted Humor- Pulpit is the last of the millionaires of the bunch. From Circusham Stables representing DelPenn National. Has won 12 of 25 lifetime over the sod. Five time stakes winner, has won the Gr.III Weld Stakes and Gr.II Carlton Fisk last year. Has only been on United States soil three times in his career however, he has taken down a stakes event everytime. Consistent closer would love to see a pace develop up front so he can keep his American record perfect. <\/p>\n
#6 The Bodyguard(Ky) – WOETTE4 – T Bates 15-1… 4yo son of English Channel- Sadler’s Wells represents The Royalstables of Ostend supporting Benelux. Has been on the uptick lately winning his last three firm turf starts and improving his speed number each time. Yet another willing to hang back early and wait to make his move, he would benifit Saturday by trying to stay a bit closer. Forget his two efforts when he last tried Group company, he is a more professional runner now as he has matured physically. Longest price would not suprise me if he takes this.<\/p>\n
#7 Late Night Magic(Ire) – DESPERADO2 – R Simcox 6-1… 4yo by Sadler’s Wells- Forty Niner, out of Gr.II winning dam A.P. Magic. From Desperado Stables supporting Blazing Saddles. Only stakes victory came in the restricted Blazing Saddles Breeders Showdown Turf at this ditance and over this course. Likes to hang back early and may be at the mercy of a slow pace. <\/p>\n
#8 Rockwells King(Ky)- PHANTOM3 – F Griffen 5-1… 5yo son by Rock Hard Ten- Sadler’s Wells for Phantom Pharms supporting Northwest Racing Circuit. Has settled into stakes company nicely, winning three of late. Travelled twice over this course and distance last fall. Taking fifth in Sadler’s Prayer’s Gr.III Delta Burke, next winning the 2009 Cavalcade Cup Turf. Has the tactical speed to stay in contention early and gain good position. <\/p>\n
#9 Wells Dream(Fr) – GUNNER3669 – J Nabbs 10-1… 6yo by Zieten- Dream Well is the local favorite having won three times over this course along with other placings. Best race came in a loss to Play Station Three in the Gr.I Roberto Clemente here. Should be able to set the pace or sit just off. Defenitely a chance at a fine price.<\/p>\n
I am going to make a wager on this race… Here’s how I will play my $2500.<\/p>\n
$250 exacta 4,9 over 1,3,4,6,8,9= $2500<\/p>\n
I will be looking for one of the longshots, either Wells Dream or Grand Ball to make a big splash….<\/p>\n
Have an excellent weekend all and good racing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Upset Looms in Sandy Ray<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":319,"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-7866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7866","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\/319"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7866\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}