The Achievement Stakes, Purse $150.000, Ungraded, 6 Furlongs, Dirt for 3+
There is a nice field of 7 lined up for this ON bred dirt sprint stake for 3 year old and up. This is a nice race to help wet everyone’s appetite for Sunday and the Queens Plate. Let’s take a look at the field:
1-Traffic Court(Night Rider Stable)- Comes into the race on a nice 2 race win streak including a nice win last out in the exact same conditions at the same track in a nice state bred overnight stakes race. He got up just at the wire to win that race by a nose in a nice time. That win will cause him to have to carry 2 more pounds in this race, where he will share the co-high weight with 2 other horses. He came out the race well with so nice public works so I don’t suspect the extra weight will slow him down too much. I expect this one to be right there at the end.
2-Asereje (Rockitpad)- Last year’s Queens Plate winner is coming back and running again this year on Queens Plate weekend. He stated off the year with a nice win in an allowance race routing on the dirt, and has started two times since then, with a 3rd and a 10th place finish. Both of those races were also going long and he is shortening back up to a sprint for the first time since May of 2014 where he broke his maiden sprinting at WO. He has some nice works coming into the race; can the shortening up wake the horse back and get him back into the winners circle? We will find out on Sunday.
3-Vesuzard (Sarah Stable)- Has 1 win in 4 starts this year and that win came 2 back sprinting on dirt at PRX. This horse is a multiple graded stakes winner and has won sprinting on drit and both routing on the turf and dirt so he has shown to be a versatile one that can adapt to where the owner wants to place him. The bad is that the most recent graded win was in April of 2014. The horse has been working well in his recent public works so taking a shot here looks like a nice placement of the horse.
4-Honey Badger (Maverick Racing)- Has been a bit off form lately only hitting the board 1 time in the last 5 starts with that being a 3rd place finish in an allowance race 2 back. He has won a state bred stakes race sprinting at WO but that was as a 2 year old in November of 2014, and that was his last win. His recent public works seem to be just a bit below the rest of the field, and I feel this horse may have a bit too much to do to get to the winners circle today.
5-Forsaken (Captinj)- Has been on a nice run of form hitting the board in six straight races with 2 of those races being wins. All of these races have been sprinting on the dirt and the wins have come in an allowance race and an OC race. He did manage to hit the board in a couple of overnight stakes. He has been a nice horse at picking up checks but has not yet been able to get over the hump and take down a stakes race. Could today be the day? We will see but the public workouts lead me to believe he will have a chance.
6-Grand Taureau (Hambletonian Stable)- He is the low weight of the field and has yet to taste defeat in 3 career races. This will be the first race under new ownership as he was recently bought in auction for $89.000. The bad he is unknown on dirt as all 3 races have come sprinting on turf. Since the purchase there is only one public work and it is going 3f on dirt and it was a nice work, but with that work only it makes it tough for me to figure out if he can translate his form from the turf to dirt and more importantly with a step up to stakes class. This is a true wild card in this race.
7-Saint Emilion (Mo Mentum Farm)-Has won half of his last 6 starts all sprinting on the dirt, with one win coming in an overnight stake in December of 2014 and also winning his most recent start in an allowance race. He appears to have come out of that last race very well and is working just as quickly as he was going into the race. Can this horse put a win streak together? He looks like he may be tough, but we will find out on Sunday.
This should be an exciting race on Saturday and I could see the results going in a number of different ways but here is my prediction. 1-5-2-3
Warbucks
Categories: Ungraded
