The Andrew Cote Japan Classic is one of the richest races this season on the Sim-circuit. This G1 race boast an odd purse amount, but very attractive at $6,012,010. I have no clue as to why it\u2019s not just $6 million even, but someone through in the odd change into the purse funds.<\/p>\n
Anyways, this is a turf race open to all horses age 3 or over and goes the long distance of a mile and a half. A full field of 14 are here to compete that include some of the finer horses running today. There is one mare in this race who happens to be ranked #1 amongst the girls in long route races, Khartoum Killer. She has raced with the boys before and can be competitive. Here\u2019s who she will square off against:<\/p>\n
1. Red Fog 5-1<\/p>\n
Red Fog has been tagged as the favorite in this race and comes off two nice performances in the Millwood Cup (16f) and Ark De ComicDog (12f) where he faced many of the entrants appearing in this race. He won the Millwood with a career best speed of 115 by nearly 4 strides. He was third in the Ark De ComicDog with a speed of 104, narrowly missing second. Six of his nine starts this year have been over 110 and he could make it two in a row!<\/p>\n
2. Quaint 7-1<\/p>\n
In his 7 graded starts this year, Quaint has won three times with a show and three fifth-place finishes, thus, he has gained purse money in each start. He has averaged a speed of 108 over his last five starts and has not run a sub-100 speed for over a year now. Quaint may be a bit underrated right now but a top-three finish in this race will earn him a ton of resprect.<\/p>\n
3. K\u2019s Kunaviche 12-1<\/p>\n
K\u2019s Kunaviche has been on the board in each of his 15 turf starts with a record of 8-4-3. He\u2019s 2-1-1 in graded racing and comes into this event with a third in the non-graded Meet The Mets Cap where he went 12f in a speed of 102. That race, in my opinion, was a softer field than he meets in this race and his effort as the favorite was not the sharpest. Looks like he may have a tougher time this time out.<\/p>\n
4. Stray Dog 17-1<\/p>\n
Last month, Stray Dog appeared in his first graded race and won the Jockey\u2019s Weapon (12f) with a speed of 106. A bit of a surprise in that race as the favorites faltered in the 6-horse field. He has won his last two starts and has finished first or second in ten consecutive races. He does face his toughest field to date and will need to bring his best stuff to pull out the upset.<\/p>\n
5. Title Defense 7-1<\/p>\n
Out of all the active horses racing today, Title Defense has the highest amount in earnings with over $10.5 million overflowing in his bank. Unfortunately, Title has been in a slump and I was hoping he would break out of it in the Breeders\u2019 Bowl Turf. No such luck as he finished tenth and was not a factor in the race. In his last 5 starts, he\u2019s finished in the money once. I don\u2019t know what to say about this talented 4-year old. Just roll the dice and hope for the best.<\/p>\n
6. King Tachyon 9-1<\/p>\n
King Tachyon has early speed and could be the leader. He ran second early on in the Breeders\u2019 Bowl Turf in his last start and but back peddled in the second half of the race to finish ninth. In 5 starts at the graded level he is 2-0-1 and has averaged a speed of 109 at this grade. He doesn\u2019t seem to like fields of 10 or more as he has faced these larger fields ten times, finishing in the money three times, but two were wins. He\u2019s hard to sell.<\/p>\n
7. Dylan Tom N Jerry 18-1<\/p>\n
As an experienced graded stakes runner, Dylan Tom N Jerry has recorded a record of 4-4-1 in 15 starts. Dylan is loaded with late speed and can win a race after trailing by 18 lengths. He\u2019s been somewhat reckless lately with speeds ranging from 93 to 110 in his last 5 turf starts on dry tracks. Dylan last ran in the Millwood Cup (16f) and finished 10th, way back. His form has been poor lately, but longshot players may love the opportunity with the highest odds he\u2019s ever seen.<\/p>\n
8. Carnival of Love 7-1<\/p>\n
Top ranked Carnival of Love comes into the race after a regretful outing in the Breeders\u2019 Bowl Turf. As co-favorite, he just could not find his late footing and finished eleventh. Carnival put in a splendid performance in the Ark De ComicDog with a four length win after rallying from a 14 length deficit. He\u2019s worth watching with Ledwith (30% win) aboard. The pair won the Ferdicehnko Cup back in January on this track with a speed of 113. Could happen again.<\/p>\n
9. Fusaichi Zombie 12-1<\/p>\n
Fusaichi Zombie showed improvement in the Breeders\u2019 Bowl Turf after a pair of disappointing races in the Boston Derby (9f) and Ark De ComicDog (12f). In the latter pair of races, he finished 7th in both starts. In the Breeders\u2019 he finished forth, missing by just over 2 strides, and set a career mark speed of 112. He returns to Japan where he finished 2nd in The Futurity (8f) and a win in the Japanese Derby (12f). This 3-year old is worth a look.<\/p>\n
10. Naked Boot 7-1<\/p>\n
I have to say that I don\u2019t recall hearing of this horse before, but am impressed by his 3-4-3 record at the graded level in 14 starts. He\u2019s won his last two, both 12f, Coffeefields Cup by 4 lengths and 110 speed and the Europe Classic \u00bd-length and speed of 112. His career best is a speed of 114, which he established last December in the Winter Cup over this track. He may go out for the lead or settle in behind the pace setters, either way, he is dangerous.<\/p>\n
11. The End Begins 18-1<\/p>\n
This 3-year old colt has recently joined the graded company ranks. The End Begins has three races at this level since September with a record of 1-1-1. A good win in his last start, the Vicky Derby (13f) rallying from 10 back and cruising to a 2 stride win with career best speed of 108. He is an up-and-coming colt and has something to prove\u2026and just may do it in this race. I think he\u2019s another one longshot players might find appealing and don\u2019t be surprised if he improves his career speed mark in this race.<\/p>\n
12. Khartoum Killer 17-1<\/p>\n
The only filly in this race is Khartoum Killer who is the top ranked female in long turf races. Although she has not won a race against the boys, she has performed well with finishes in graded races such as a third in the Greatest Show on Turf (11f) and second in the Good Day (10.5f) as examples. She likes to run near the front and can even wire the field. Her last outing in the Breeders\u2019 Bowl F&M Turf was a huge failing finishing twelve and faded fast in the last quarter of the run. She\u2019s a nice girl but her speeds are a bit lower than most of the boys and it\u2019ll be a hard showcase for her to excel in.<\/p>\n
13. Wolfman Has Nards 15-1<\/p>\n
The Wolman Has Nards has appeared in 11 graded races with a record of 1-2-3. This three year old didn\u2019t fare well in the Vicky Derby (13f) finishing fifth with a speed of 99 and 11 back, but trailed by well over 20 earlier in the race. He can make up tons of ground with his late speed. His career best is a speed of 106 and that will need to be enhanced considerably in this event.<\/p>\n
14. Tex Gold 11-1<\/p>\n
There just might be some gold to be found in this guy. Tex Gold has 14 graded starts throughout his career and a record of 5-2-2. He loves to run on the lead and is capable of wiring the field. Recently, Tex won the Coalminer Cup with a speed of 108 and drew away from the field with a 4 length lead. However, he followed that in his last start in the Coffeefields Cup with a third, 9 strides back, easily giving up the lead. Flip a coin on this one.<\/p>\n
Naked Boot gets my selection as he has been improving nicely with each start. Looks ready to take on the heavy hitters.<\/p>\n
Carnival of Love hooks up with Ledwith again, could make trip back to winner\u2019s circle.<\/p>\n
Fusaichi Zombie with nice effort in Breeders\u2019 Bowl Turf. Similar effort here would be a winning one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Top ranked female looks to take on boys<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"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-8688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8688","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\/363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8688\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}