Big Red Giant in Japan
And It's Not Godzilla
OK, well, I wasn't gonna do a race this week, seeing as it's Derby time in my hometown of Louisville, and as Mike will attest, things get a bit crazy around here this time of year. I'm also in a business that relies on tourism to flourish, so this is a big time of the year for us (I've already worked 50 hours this week, and have 2 days to go), but I found a chunk of time here on Friday, so I thought, well I'll give this one a go. I'm also definitely not going to be able to write one next week, and I thought two weeks without Buster's Upset Special, or the Bobble Head of the Week? My gosh, how would the game survive? All the bettors will be lost without me, they won't know which horse NOT to bet on, lol. Anyway, this week we are off to Japan for the 750K Grade III “The Antares”, 9 furlongs on the fast dirt, for all horses 4 years old and up. Wow, I have to say, this is an amazing purse for a Grade III race! Despite that, we will not have a full field starting here today. Only 10 horses have shown up to take advantage of the chance to get a piece of that 750K. Of course, many owners no doubt want to race on Derby day, so maybe that's not all that surprising. Also, Japan has decided to get into the Bobble Head mix, and so this week they are offering, that's right, you guessed it, a Godzilla Bobble Head (OK, this is just getting silly, yeah?)! The weatherman is promised fantastic weather for Saturday's racing, and this is the second of two Graded Stakes races on the card, both with amazing purses, I might add, so there will be plenty of excitement for everyone. The handicappers seem to think the field here is pretty tight, so let's see if we can break it down a bit, shall we?
Right off the bat, we have a tie for the early morning line favorite, as we have 2 horses, both going off at 9-2. The first of these, coming from the 7 hole, is Snarky Remark (IRE), out of Invincible Spirit (IRE) x Diesis (GB) x Lyphard. This 4 year old colt races for stable Looneylopo, and his game Dam is Threepeat (GB). Threepeat was not all that successful on the track, bringing home only 35K lifetime, but this 7 year old mare has already produced 3 foals, although Snarky Remark is her only Graded winner so far. All have been winners though, and have out earned mom. Snarky Remark has brought home over 2 million lifetime in only 21 starts for his owners, winning such prestigious races as the Grade II “Sand Castle Goldolphin Mile”, and the 2008 Grade I “Breeders Bowl Dirt Mile”. He started his career on turf, getting his first 2 wins on that surface, before switching over to the main track and really flourishing there. He is coming off 2 wins in his last 2 starts, one being the aforementioned “Sand Castle Goldolphin Mile”, and has really been putting up some great Beyers figures lately. There is no doubt why he is one of the favorites in today's race. He is one of those deep closers, so look for him to hang back, and make a big move late.
The other co-favorite, coming from the 10 hole, is Rock Hard Korn (KY), out of Rock Hard Ten x Seattle Slew x Nijinsky II. This 4 year old colt races for stable Korn, and has brought home over 5.5 million in his career for them. He has only 22 lifetime starts, and has finished 3rd or better in exactly half of them. He is also a Grade I winner, and is coming off a win in his last start, the Grade I “Sand Castle Classic”, in which he posted his best Beyers ever. He really seems to enjoy the challenge of racing Graded Stakes as he has almost exclusively been raced there since April of 2008, and the one time he did not, he posted a fairly mediocre (for him) 99 Beyers. He is another horse who started his career on turf, but was fairly quickly switched to the main track, and has been there ever since. He actually has posted a better Beyers than our other co-favorite, so the stage is set for a great race between these 2 today. Look for him to stalk the pace closely, waiting for the stretch to make his big move.
Right behind them, we have 2 more horses, both going off at 5-1. The first of these, coming from the 3 hole, is Trophy Of Triumph (KY), out of A.P. Indy x Northern Dancer x Exclusive Native. This 4 year old colt races for stable Fairhaven3 and has brought home over 400K for them lifetime. He is extremely lightly raced for a 4 year old, having only 10 starts, despite that, however, he is a Graded Stakes winner. He has shown a real fondness for the off tracks, having both put up his best Beyers there, and also getting his only Graded win there. Unfortunately, that will not be a factor today. He started his career on fire, winning 5 of his first 6 races, but is coming off his worst start ever, where he finished a disappointing 8th in the Grade I “California Handicap”, a race where he just never seemed comfortable, and failed to fire at all. Since 4 of his 10 races have been on the off track, I don't think there is enough evidence yet to say he is exclusively a mudder, so we will have to see what he can bring today. He likes to run from the front, so look for him to go out fast and duel for the early lead.
The other 5-1 horse, coming from the 9 hole, is Legendary Thief (KY), out of Cat Thief x General Meeting x Mr. Prospector. This 5 year old horse races for stable Twister, and has brought home over 200K in 32 lifetime starts. His game Dam is Meet The Legend who was highly successful on the track, bringing home over 2 million in her career, including Graded wins. So far, she has not been as stellar in the breeding shed, producing 4 foals so far, 2 were claimers, and Legendary Thief is the only real successful horse to date. Legendary Thief is still looking for his first Graded win, but it does not seem that age has slowed him any, as he posted 2 of his best Beyers ever in his last 2 starts, winning one, and placing second in the other, the Grade III “The Skipping Away”. If he can continue his success, he will be a real force to be reckoned with today. He also is one of those deep closers, so look for him to go straight to the back, with our co-fave Snarky Remark.
Behind these 2 are 3 more horses, all going off at 8-1. The first of these, coming from the post position, is Ahead, out of Dubai Destination x Summer Squall x In The Wings (GB). This 6 year old mare has brought home almost 700K for her stable Spacerace, and has won 16 of her 43 starts. No doubt she has the experience here today. Age also has not slowed her, as earlier this season she posted one of her best Beyers ever. She will be returning to the Graded ranks today after a long hiatus, her last Graded start was in March of 2008 in the Grade III “Sand Castle Distaff'”, in which she finished 6th. She also has not seen the Winner's circle yet this season, her last win coming in November of last year, so I'm sure her backers hope she can get up today. They are taking a bit of a chance here today, running her with the boys, but maybe they feel this could provide the spark she needs. This will be her second start lifetime against the boys, the first coming way back in 2007, so we will have to see how she responds today. She likes to run from up front, so look for her to go out quickly, and duel Trophy Of Triumph for the early lead.
The second of our 8-1 horses, coming from the 5 hole, is Dollis Hill (JPN), out of Afleet x Deputy Minster x Storm Cat. This 4 year old colt races for stable Liam, and his game Dam is Red Duhlert. This 10 year old retired mare was very successful on the track, bringing home over 1 million, including Graded wins. Since moving to the breeding shed, she has produced 5 foals, including 1 Graded winner and one Graded placed horse. Dollis Hill is the Graded Winner, and has brought home over 400K in just 22 lifetime starts. He has won 7 of those starts, including 2 on turf, although he has posted his best Beyers on the dirt, and has his only Graded win there, in the Grade II “Sleepy Fan Stakes” in 2008. He was also a starter in last years Grade I “Bluegrass Derby”, but finished a disappointing 8th. Despite only having 1 win in his last 4 starts, he has really posted a string of his best Beyers ever, and looks very sharp coming into today's race. If he can continue his recent success, he will definitely figure in the finish today. He seems most comfortable running a bit off the pace, so unless the start is extremely slow, I would look for him to run mid pack, saving his best for the stretch run.
The final 8-1 horse, coming from the 6 hole, is Eddard's Revenge (IRE), out of Giant's Causeway (IRE)(I just love Mariah's Storm, don't you?) x Theatrical (IRE) x Nureyev. This 5 year old horse races for stable Ballylinch, and his “step-papa” is Durty Nellie's (IRE), who brought home over 60K in just 25 starts. Eddard's Revenge has out done papa, bringing home over 600K to date in 34 starts. He is coming off 2 wins in his last 2 starts, including the Grade III “The March Stakes”, and he has posted some of his best Beyers ever lately. He is one of those odd horses you occasionally see at the Graded level that have been run in claimers a couple of times. He was picked up twice in auction, and obviously Ballylinch saw something in him that some other hadn't. He certainly didn't pick up right away, either, so kudos for sticking with him until now, when he seems to be coming into his own. Look for him to stalk the pace closely, looking for an opportunity to make his move.
Behind those 3 in the morning line are 2 more horses, both going off at 10-1. The first of these, coming from the 4 hole, is Chose To Lose (AUS), out of Redoute's Choice (AUS) x Galileo (IRE) x Deputy Minister. This 4 year old colt races for stable Zjkj, and has brought home over 300K in just 19 starts for them. He has won 6 of those starts, and is coming off a win in his last 2 starts. However, that win was at allowance level, and he is still looking for his first Graded win. Despite that, he has put up his best Beyers figures in his last 2 starts, and if he continues that here today, he will definitely figure in the finish. He also started his career on the turf, but quickly found his comfort zone on the dirt. The biggest knock on him today would be his consistency and he seems to follow a few good starts with a string of bad starts. He is a classic mid packer, so looker for him to settle off the pace, and look to make a big move down the stretch.
The second of the 10-1 horses, coming from the 8 hole, is Broadway Dancer (KY), out of Kingmambo x Deputy Minister x Alydar. This 4 year old colt races for stable Super20, and has a “step-papa” in the game, Confrontation, who brought home only 24K lifetime. Broadway Dancer has brought home over 570K in just 21 lifetime starts, winning 5 of those. He is a Graded winner, having won at both the Grade III and Grade I levels, although the last of those was in July of last year. He is coming off a win in his last start, although that was at the allowance level, however, despite that, he has put up his best Beyers lately, a string of 6 starts with triple digit Beyers. This string started after a disappointing 12th place finish in last years Grade II “Bluegrass Cup Classic”, so perhaps he has found his stride lately. Look for him to run off the pace a bit, and make a big run at the finish.
Our final horse, going off at 14-1, and coming from the 2 hole, is M. Rutherford (MD), out of Waquoit x Mr. Prospector x Nashua. This 5 year old mare races for stable Salsabil, and has won over 300K lifetime in just 38 starts for them, winning 8 of those. We also saw her recently in the Grade II “Bertrando Handicap”, where she also ran with the boys, however, she finished a dismal 10th, and just failed to fire, never getting up. Today she will be running with the boys again, and despite the finish in the last race, she has put up many Beyers figures that would put her firmly in this company. She also tends to follow a bad race with a pretty good one, so I think her chances look better today than they did in the “Bertrando Handicap”. She has also put up some big races against the boys, so I don't think that will be a problem for her. Despite that, it has been a long time since she saw the Winner's circle, her last time being in April of last year. I'm sure her backers are hoping she can get up today. Look for her to run just off the pace, and look to make a big run at the finish.
Alright, well, that's our field for today. Now it's the time everybody has been waiting for, with bated breath. That's right, it's time for Buster's Upset Special. I'm gonna go back to the 8-1 group for my special today. I like Eddard's Revenge (IRE) to bring home the gold for owner Ballylinch. I just can't root against a grand baby of Mariah's Storm and I really think he is coming into his own now. As always, remember the Upset Special is just for fun, and is not intended to be a condemnation of any horse in the race. I wish the very best of luck to all the owners and horses in the race. Come out and join us in Japan for the 750K Grade III “The Antares”, 9 furlongs on the fast dirt, for all horses 4 years old and up. I really think it will be well worth the trip, and what the heck, everybody needs a Godzilla Bobble Head, right? We'll see ya there.
