Bay Horse Stakes<\/B> So 3-year-old sprinters must be as ignored in the sim as they are in real life \u2013 this graded tilt only mustered seven entries.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Too many are chasing that derby dream, I guess.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>You need to think like the owners of D’ Funnybone: grab the Hutcheson, grab the Swale, and stamp yourself the best sprinter of your generation.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Let your horse do what it does best.<\/P> In any case, what does it take to make an early-season sophomore sprint contender?\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Win first out, it looks like.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>All but one of these seven did so.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>There is also a strong contingent of Aussie-breds, though American shuttle sires fathered most.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Let\u2019s run down the septet:<\/P> WAR MINISTRY(KY)<\/SPAN><\/B>, at the far post, rates as the 2-1 favorite.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>His 9-for-11 record has raised him to 17th in the sophomore sprint rankings.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019s the one out flying on the lead, and usually stays that way.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Two races back he was just nipped in the Equinics Long May It Wave by a horse coming from 18th (and the show horse ran in from 20th), so you have to be impressed that he withstood a withering pace and nearly won.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He was back in the winners circle in the Wild My Flag last out, and the pair of 101s from the last two are impressive.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The <\/SPAN> The horse he beat in the Wild My Flag, INSTRUCTIONS(AUS)<\/B>, lines up in the 4th position at 3-1.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The Dell Futurity (G1) winner started his season sharply with a stakes win, but he was off the board in the Grade 2 Saint Vincent.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>It seemed as if he was not ready to move forward from his solid juvenile campaign, but the strong showing last out in defeat was a reaffirmation.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The favorite will take some catching, but INSTRUCTIONS(AUS)<\/B>\u2019s chances to do so should not be entirely discounted. The other favored colt is BERZERK MYSTERY(AUS)<\/B>, a deep closing sort who has shown more success as a sprinter than longer races.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Despite a decent show finish in <\/SPAN> PRIVATE FLEET(JPN)<\/SPAN><\/B> rates an interesting upset chance from post 3.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The colt has one of the shortest resumes of these, only seven races, and until late December could only count his May debut in the win column.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Since then he has won three straight at seven or seven-plus furlongs, displaying a powerful closing kick.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The billy3shoe<\/I> charge is 8-1, but he could be right among the top finishers. SMOKIN’ TARIAT(KY)<\/SPAN><\/B>, by contrast, has a 12-race record, but his four wins are all at 6 furlongs.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>A strong 99 from last November gives hope amongst this bunch, but his current season races have not been as strong as many here.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The Smoke Glacken product shows versatility in running style, so he should be able to react to any pace scenario.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Overall, though, at 5-1, he\u2019s not a value play. REFINED WELLS TED(KY)<\/SPAN><\/B>, the longest shot at 12-1, has shown improvement since concentrating on a frontrunning strategy.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>His last two races are his first to post a speed out of the 70s, and trainer crow<\/I> showed confidence in placing him in open allowances when still N2L eligible.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Coming from post 6, this Saarlander may use his speed to keep the favorite wide, which may benefit the others if not him. LITTLE LIAR(AUS)<\/SPAN><\/B>, the rail horse, has not won since nabbing a July 2009 stakes.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The Lion Heart son took a step in the right direction speed-wise March 6th, with a 93.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019s shown some weakness in the late stages, which should concern those considering backing him at 9-1.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>There is talent here, but he looks like he is in tough against the best of these. \u00a0<\/SPAN> Seven Contest New York Underfeature<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":173,"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-7933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7933","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\/173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Grade
Seven furlongs
Fast Dirt
$150,000
All horses, 3 years old