Horses to Watch

Kentucky Downs

9/9/17

Race #2 – Mdn Sp Wt – 6 1/2f  turf – #4 – Shirl’s Ready

Shirl’s Ready = This son of More Than Ready was off four months coming in from CD. Ricardo Santana aboard and he looked to be heading for a big effort. – He sported a nice work at Ellis Park and shifted out and dug in gamely showing a very solid turn of late kick. He will most probably be heading back to CD and we’ll be looking there and possibly Keeneland for a trip over the greensward.

Race #4 – Mdn Sp Wt -6 1/2f turf – #7 – Jolly Good

Jolly Good = Daughter of Paddy O’ Prado making her first start in just a shade over 4 months coming in from Keeneland. She is bred to relish the turf and was coming off a 6 1/2f effort on the dirt and getting her day on the undulating turf. – She was slow to begin and forced to steady. Her late kick was evident and she can easily stretch out in distance. Keep your eyes peeled for this gal.

Race #8 – KyD Ladies Sprint – 6 1/2f turf – #2 – Fair Point

Fair Point = 3rd start off the layoff for the daughter of Smart Strike. She was exiting some nice stake races in New York and getting added distance. Her efforts put her in the mix looking for a hole and was forced to steady at the 1/4 pole and some back later down the lane settling for 4th with plenty left.

Del Mar

9/3/17

Race #8 – G2 Del Mar Derby – 1 1/8 on the turf – #3 – Bowies Hero

Bowies Hero = A son of Artie Schiller who was 2/2 at Del Mar. He comes from the high percentage Phil D’ Amato barn and came in off a win in the $100,000 Oceanside. He did a perfect job stalking and tipped off the rail going wide and lost his whip in the final 1/8th of the race. All in all, he still managed a very good third place effort.

Belmont Park

9/16/17

Race #2 – Mdn Claiming – 1 1/16 turf – #10 – Culture Carrier

Culture Carrier = Son of Kitten’s Joy for the Chad Brown barn. He is bred to relish the turf and had the services of Javier Castellano in the saddle. He tracked at the back of the pack and tipped off going two wide making a very strong bid. He finished 4th this day and his 2nd effort out should show a much-improved runner ready to seal the deal.

Race #5 – Mdn Sp Wt – 1 mile on the turf – #9 – City Day

City Day = Daughter of City Zip for Christophe Clement. She was getting first time Lasix (24%) and making her second start moving from the dirt to the turf. Her dam has 6 winners from 9 starters on the weeds and she had a couple works on the deep Oklahoma training track at Saratoga. – She tracked near the back and swung out 4 wide making a solid bid to be 3rd. This is a great building block race for efforts to come.

Race #7 – A.O.C – 1 mile on the turf – #10 – Black Tide

Black Tide = He is a blistering speed type under the handling of Jose Lezcano. He is 6/9 ITM over the Belmont turf and exits the $150k West Point stakes. Trainer David Cannizzo has him cranked up and he shows his early foot every time. He led all the way and floated out 7 wide in the turn and when Lezcano got him back on task he did some bumping down the lane. He got the show-dough this effort and can wire them easily. Just keep your eyes peeled for race lacking a torrid pace.

Race #9 – The G2 Sands Point – 1 1/8 on the turf – #10 – Inflexibility

Inflexibility = Daughter of Scat Daddy shipping in from Woodbine. She broke her maiden on the Belmont turf and is 3/3 ITM on the sod. She has a good late kick and was making a step up the class ladder against this field. Chad Brown trainee with Javier Castellano in the irons. – She was wide early on and was forced to steady off of heels early and gave her best effort to be 4th. I think she is sitting on a big effort but you just can’t strut your stuff against better when you have any kind of traffic problems.

Race #10 – Claiming – 1 mile on the turf – #12 – Performance Bonus

Performance Bonus = Chad Brown runner breaking from the far post this day. He is a solid 3/3 ITM over the Belmont green and was dropping down in condition claiming levels. He was a beaten chalk the last race and Brown comes back to win (30%) on this move. He was hung even wider after the break and saw about an 1/8th of a mile if not further than the rest. Javier Castellano managed to rally for 3rd and this was a respectable effort all things considered.

Belmont Park

9/9/17

Race #2 – Mdn Sp Wt – 6f on the turf – #5 – Solid

Solid = Manny Franco in the irons for the Kiaran McLaughlin barn. He is a son of Smart Strike and has the breeding to suggest he will relish the turf. – He was off slow from the start spotting the field extra ground. He made an excellent drive to get back in the game and made striking move splitting runners down the lane to be 3rd this day.

Race #4 – Mdn Sp Wt – 1 mile – #5 – Coal Truth

Coal Truth = A son of Mineshaft was making his 2nd career start for the Chad Brown barn (27%). He was a beaten favorite his first time out and going from a sprint to a route where Brown scores at a (32%) clip. – He made contact with some runners this day and the two-yr-old was squeezed back at multiple times. He ran third but was put up to 2nd as the result of a DQ. – Keep this race on your “key races” to watch runners who exit.

Race #9 – AOC – 1 1/16 on the turf – #2 – Vision Colors

Vision Colors = Speedster shipping back from Parx. This son of Pollard’s Vision loves Belmont going 10/11 ITM at “Big Sandy.” – Manny Franco in the irons and stumbled at the start and still managed to get to the lead and show the way. He led all the way and called it a day at the top of the lane. Maybe the distance was too much or it was the compromised beginning that caused him to use up his early speed.