{"id":9340,"date":"2011-06-09T22:14:10","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T22:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=9340"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"oldbtb_1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=9340","title":{"rendered":"Who Will Be Crowned The Prince Of Whales?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Good day andwelcome to Berkshire, England, home of the Grade 1 Prince of Whales<\/b>.\u00a0 <\/span>Thesky is clear, the turf is firm, and while we may not be near the coast thesewaters are churning!\u00a0 <\/span>Most talkabout a big fish in a small pond, but the ponds don\u2019t get any bigger than Grade1, and these are whales<\/i> we are seeinghere today.\u00a0 <\/span>Six horses are goingto the post for a run of 10 furlongs and the title of Prince of Whales.\u00a0 <\/span>Let\u2019s take a look at the contenders…<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Post 1: The far-travelling Right Whale<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Our first runneris Shapeshifting<\/b>, owned by muninn240 <\/i>of Tees Stables<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span>Afterwinning an allowance at 9 furlongs in March, Shapeshifting<\/b> dived right to a Grade 3.\u00a0 <\/span>This can be a pretty big leap for any horse, and reminds usof the Right Whale\u2019s yearly journey from the North Atlantic to the sunny coastof Florida.\u00a0 <\/span>In this case, Shapeshifting<\/b> thrived, winning theGrade 3 Milers Cup with a speed figure of 113.\u00a0 <\/span>He followed that up with a 4th<\/sup> place finish inthe Grade 1 Locksmith 4 weeks ago.\u00a0<\/span>Shapeshifting\u2019s<\/b> best runs havebeen at a mile, so it will be interesting to see if he can get the addeddistance.\u00a0 <\/span>This 4yo son ofKingmambo is 7\/2.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Post 2: The much-hunted Gray Whale<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Here we find Gimlet Chilled<\/b>, owned by skunkfeed2 <\/i>of Skunkbarn Stables<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span>Like Shapeshifting<\/b>, Gimlet Chilled<\/b> made the jump directlyfrom allowance to Grade 3, placing second in The Ambrosia at ten furlongs(coincidentally, the same distance as the Prince of Whales).\u00a0 <\/span>Unfortunately for his connections, Gimlet Chilled\u2019s<\/b> most recent startended in disaster as he came home a beaten 10th<\/sup>, over 18 lengthsback.\u00a0 <\/span>BUT, before you write himoff, remember this: the Gray Whale is known to fight back when hunted, hassurvived where others have not, and is repopulating areas where no whales havebeen seen for decades. \u00a0<\/span>This horseis a fighter.\u00a0 <\/span>Gimlet Chilled<\/b> has had poor performances before, and, while it maytake time, has come back.\u00a0 <\/span>This 4yoson of Tanino Gimlet is 3\/1.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Post 3: The clever Dolphin<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In post 3 todayis Curtainsforsirtin<\/b>, owned by trotter201 <\/i>of Trotter200 Stables.<\/i>\u00a0<\/span>Most scientists consider dolphins to be in a completely different familyfrom whales, and Curtainsforsirtin<\/b>has also been running in a different class.\u00a0 <\/span>We have seen our last two contestants making the successfulswitch from allowance to Grade 3, but Curtainsforsirtin<\/b>is attempting to go straight to the top in Grade 1.\u00a0 <\/span>He won easily in his last start, an open allowance at 9.5furlongs, but with a lifetime high speed figure of 105 he will need to step itup here.\u00a0 <\/span>Will he pull it off?\u00a0 <\/span>Trotter201<\/i>thinks so, and Curtainsforsirtin<\/b>has done everything asked of him to deserve a chance here.\u00a0 <\/span>This 4yo son of Beat Hollow is 11\/1.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Post 4: The ancient Sperm Whale<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This is Gormenghast<\/b>, owned by ceclaim21 <\/i>of <\/span>Royal Belgian Kempen Farm.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 <\/span>This horse deserves respect, having won11 races and $1.7 million.\u00a0 <\/span>Gormenghast\u2019s<\/b>last start was a win, an allowance at ten furlongs, but it had been a longdry spell before that.\u00a0 <\/span>Gormenghast\u2019s<\/b>last win had been in October of 2009 in the Grade 1 Coffeefields Cup.\u00a0 <\/span><\/b>Is it time for a comeback?\u00a0 <\/span>Does this whale who hunts squid in thedeep still have it in him to take down Captain Ahab?\u00a0 <\/span>This last win looked promising, and Gormenghast<\/b> hascertainly had some close finishes during the last year and a half.\u00a0 <\/span>This 6yo son of Danehill Dancer is 6\/1.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Post 5: The musicalHumpback Whale<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Here we have Ricciarelli<\/b>, owned by catspaw2<\/i>of Elenalag Stables<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span>This horse has some diversity.\u00a0<\/span>Ricciarelli<\/b> has won at 8 furlongs, 14 furlongs, and hit the boardat everything in between.\u00a0 <\/span>Do Imaybe hear the complex song of the Humpback here, trilling up and down andtravelling for miles (or, 14 furlongs)?\u00a0<\/span>Ricciarelli\u2019s <\/b>prior start was a second in the Grade 2 DeltaRepublic, a decided improvement over his 9th<\/sup> in the Grade 2 SankaHigh.\u00a0 <\/span><\/b>He will need toimprove further in order to be a factor here.\u00a0 <\/span>This 4yo son of Pivotal is 9\/2<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Post 6: The record-breaking Blue Whale<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Our final entrant is Mount Samson<\/b>,owned by bjbandit<\/i> of Bigkev and Bjbandit Farms<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span>Pay close attention here; this is thenumber one ranked turf horse in his division and has earned $3.4 million.\u00a0 <\/span>Mount Samson <\/b>has been competingin Graded races continually since April of 2010, and only twice in that spanhas he failed to bring home a check.\u00a0<\/span>This is like saying, \u201cThat whale is the largest creature ever to inhabitthis planet.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Mount Samson<\/b>\u2019slast win came in the Grade 1 Good Day, followed by a third in the Grade 1Singapore Cup.\u00a0 <\/span>And, guess what, 10furlongs looks like one of his favorite distances.\u00a0 <\/span>This 5yo son of Danehill Dancer is 3\/2.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

And there we are, six runners going for thetitle.\u00a0 <\/span>But, before heading to thebetting window, make sure to note that this race is devoid of any pacesetter.\u00a0 <\/span>All six of these runnerslike to run just behind the leader into the stretch.\u00a0 <\/span>Someone will have to be in front, but right now one wantsit.\u00a0 <\/span>This is the big variable thatleaves this race wide open.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six swim…I mean…run for the title<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"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-9340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9340","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\/170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9340\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}