Race:<\/b> Movieland Turf Cup – Grade I – $300,000
ID:<\/b> 4337.0111
Track:<\/b> California
Restrictions:<\/b> All horses, 3 years old and up
Distance:<\/b> One mile and one quarter on the Turf
The first graded race on the card for California this weekend will be the Movieland Turf Cup (G1) over a mile and one quarter over the turf course. The prestigious race will be the eleventh race on Saturday\u2019s card and is sure to attract some of the top turf horses within the region. The race will be open to three-year-olds and up. Last years\u2019 winner of the Movieland Turf Cup (G1) was stupor2<\/i>\u2019s Club Fortune<\/b>, who defeated four other horses to win as the favorite in 2:02 3\/5. Over the course of the races\u2019 history, it has drawn quite a few good horses including the now-retired Creepshow<\/b>, owned by lenny28<\/i>, who ran in the race two consecutive years. This year we have a brand new cast though, as a field of seven horses takes to the field this weekend in their attempt to become a star here in California. It will be sunny all throughout the week with absolutely no chance of rain for this weekend. The course will be listed as firm at post time. Let\u2019s take a look now at this years\u2019 runners.
1. Grand Ball<\/b> – (Dynaformer x Northern Dancer x Secretariat) – pointblank<\/i> of Right At Home Stables – 8\/1 – J. Fraser
Another of the younger set in the race this weekend, he\u2019s fairly lightly raced with just seventeen lifetime starts. The four-year-old colt is coming off two consecutive wins at the graded level, and his connections are no doubt looking for a third this weekend. The chestnut colt made his two most recent starts, which were both consequently victories, right here in California. His most recent start was during The James Murray Handicap (G2), in which the colt sat behind a front runner to take over late in the stretch and win by a slight head-bob at the finish. His prior start, The Sandy Ray Handicap (G2) was won in a more impressive manner of three and a half lengths. He set a speed figure of one hundred thirteen in that race, a lifetime best for the colt. The colt should be placed towards the front of the pack on Saturday, though he will likely be placed behind at least one front-runner if things work out their way.
2. Deathsmilesatusall<\/b> – (Giant\u2019s Causeway (IRE) x Roberto x Blushing Groom (FR)) – willsyam12<\/i> of Willyam13 Stables – A. Lewis – 7\/2
In this third consecutive graded stakes this weekend, the chestnut colt is one of the younger horses in the field at four years of age. The Kentucky-bred colt has made eighteen lifetime starts, winning seven of these. He has also brought home more than a million in prize money. His most recent start was overseas in Hong Kong in the Queen\u2019s Spring Cup (G1) at the same distance he will be running this weekend. The colt was settled off the pace behind a few front runners, being held back in fourth. Unfortunately, he didn\u2019t gain much ground in the race, and crossed the wire where he started in fourth, five lengths off the pace. He set a speed figure of one hundred eleven. His prior start was a win over a yielding turf course during The Chuck\u2019s Truck (G3) in Japan. He was held further off of the pace in this race, more towards the middle of the pack. Though capable of running in both of these styles, the colt will more likely be sent towards the front of the field, likely behind a few pacesetters.
3. Minesweeping Cat<\/b> – (Mineshaft x Southern Halo x Storm Cat) – mtkplaz3<\/i> of MTK and GALLOPLAZ SIM Joint Venture – M. Staples – 7\/2
With twenty career starts, the brown Kentucky homebred has career earnings of $1,07, 525 and a total of eight lifetime wins. The most recent start for the five-year-old horse came last month in The Woody Ford (G1) over nine furlongs in Kentucky. The horse sat back towards the middle of the pack out of the gate and quickly began to move up in position. He would finish third, two and three-quarter lengths off the pace with a speed figure of one hundred eight. His most recent victory came a few months before in a mile long allowance race overseas in the United Arab Emirates. Throughout his racing career, the horse has been based primarily in California and Florida, and will be returning to California this weekend for the first time this year. The horse will usually run around the middle position in the field, though he has been held further off the pace in more of a closing position.
4. A Skunk Vice (JPN)<\/b> – (Alkaased x Vice Regent x Creme Dela Creme) skunkbred3<\/i> of Skunkbarn Stables – J. Nabbs – 6\/1
Aiming for his ninth career win this weekend, the Japanese-bred four-year-old has been pretty consistent recently, despite finishing ten and three-quarter lengths off the pace in his most recent start, The Honey Do (G3) in France. The colt broke out of the gate behind a few front runners but faded as the twelve furlong race progressed, leaving him to finish fourth. He set a speed figure of on hundred two. His most recent victory was at the beginning of the year in the Gray Trent Stakes (G3), in which, placed behind a few pacesetting horses, he overtook them in the turn and went on to win impressively by two and a half lengths. He will usually sit off the pace of a few front runners in his races, waiting for the right time to strike, but with the lack of any strong speed in this race, it could be possible that we see him on the lead this weekend, as he has taken up that role before in past races.
5. Tara (IRE)<\/b> – (Generous (IRE) x Galileo (IRE) x Warning (GB)) – bredtosell<\/i> of Tulloch Stables – F. Griffen – 5\/1
The only mare in Saturday\u2019s race, the six-year-old is out of the broodmare Siren Song (IRE). Bred in Ireland, the chestnut mare has made thirty career starts and has won over two million in career earnings. She\u2019s returning to the United States this weekend after a brief campaign overseas. The most recent start for the mare was in South Africa last month in the Manha Manha Challenge (G1) over ten furlongs, the same distance that she will be running this weekend. The mare was held off the pace towards the middle of the pack, but she didn\u2019t make much progress throughout the race, eventually finishing just out of the money in sixth, though three and three-quarter lengths off the pace. The mare hasn\u2019t seen a win since 2007 when she was victorious by two and a half lengths in the Penn Distaff \/ Devil\u2019s Slide Handicap (G1) at ten furlongs. With perhaps some wear and tear setting in on the six-year-old mare she\u2019ll have her work cut out for her in the race this weekend. She is a versatile mare, capable of adjusting to running anywhere in the field, though lately she has been running towards the middle of the pack out of the gate.
6. Barb Saves The Day<\/b> – (Theatrical (IRE) x Mr. Prospector x Halicus (GB)) – jakematt3<\/i> of Jakematt Stables – O. Brim – 4\/1
Lightly raced at five years of age, the brown horse has made just eighteen lifetime starts in his career. The Kentucky-bred has made all but one of these on the turf. The most recent start for the brown horse was last month in Surrey, England in The Brigadier (G3) over ten furlongs. The horse was sent up towards the front of the pack out of the gate, settling in behind a few front runners. He would rally late to finish third, though he was still six lengths off the winner. He posted a speed figure of one hundred eight. His prior start was a one and a half length win in The Rennen Classic (G3) in Germany. The horse will likely be forwardly placed this weekend, though probably behind a few front runners. He is versatile though, and has run successfully from off the pace as well.
7. Apples And Aces (IRE)<\/b> – (High Chaparral (IRE) x Giant\u2019s Causeway (IRE) x Gone West) – bobcat<\/i> of Bobcat Stables – M. Billig – 4\/1
Returning to graded stakes for the first time in two years, the Irish-bred, who is out of the stakes placed broodmare Apple Of My Eye (IRE), has won eleven races out of twenty-eight starts. The five-year-old made his most recent start overseas in Japan during The Galaga Dash, a listed stakes race over ten furlongs. After being held back at the break towards the middle of the pack the horse quickly began to pick off his competition. At the wire the horse would finish second, two and a quarter lengths off the pace. He set a speed figure of one hundred nine. He won his prior start in The Rockland (GB) Memorial, another listed stakes, this one over nine and a half furlongs. His most recent graded start was way back in 2008 when he started in the Saint Lodge Stakes (G3) overseas and finished seventeen and a half lengths off the leader. The horse has improved a lot since then however, and the connections are sure of a better finish. Like much of the field this weekend, the horse likes to sit around the middle of the pack at the break, but will probably begin to pick off other horses fairly quickly in the race.
Flrancho\u2019s Picks<\/u><\/b>
Win:<\/b> Deathsmilesatusall
Place:<\/b> Minesweeping Cat
Show:<\/b> Tara (IRE)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Race hosts Co-Favorites<\/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-8126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8126","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=8126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}