The Clement Turf – Grade I
1 1/2 Miles In Turf Graded Stake Purse $750.00 Three Year Olds And Upward. At SAR
The Clement Turf: I will admit right now that I just don’t know my way around these horses. As I go through the form, I see reasons to like every one of them. I have four horses at 4-1 and one at 5-1. Any one of them is the winner, and then I look around and think ‘well, there’s plenty to like about this one… and that one. Ah, screw it. Where’s that pin?
Here’s the field:
Horse Owner Odds SRF
Ello Santa Mb Stables 4-1 99
State Cavier Diablo Diablo 4-1 97
Tom Kha Gai High Voltage *4-1 102
Sunflowers TwinTowersRacing 20-1 90
Dangerous Fugitive Night Rider Stables 5-1 100
Theegala Mb Stables 8-1 94
The Golden Age Mb Stables 15-1 98
Great Vault Winning Link Stables 20-1 97
Kegger arrives here off back-to-back second place finishes in Grade II marathons at SAR: the Bowling Green at 1 3/8 miles and The BEL Gold Cup at 1 1/2 miles. And it’s been pretty much like that for the twelve races he’s had for Ajm Stables since he was claimed from Threshold for $40.00. I was obvious he was worth much more when Stu entered him for that price, but he is one of those horses which gets purchased too low in the beginning because “Well, I got him for $41.00, so I can always let him go cheap.” Three races later, this $40.00 horse wins the Grade II Bowling Green.
2 The Golden Age Mb Stables 98
Four-year-old The Golden Age started off his sophomore year winning three stakes races, two of which were Derby qualifiers, so when the KYD arrived he was double invited. Didn’t help; he ran ninth. He did win a Derby, though, The Grade III IND Derby. After that things cooled off a bit, and after running sixth in the BC Dirt Mile, he took some time off. On coming back, he was switched to turf and liked it very much finishing second beaten but a nose after a layoff. He followed that with two easy turf wins including his most recent, a two length romp at 1 1/2 miles in a SAR open allowance.
3 Tom Kha Gai High Voltage 102
Tom Kha Gai just beat defending champion Kegger in the Grade II Bowling Green at SAR last out, starting a string for the horse which also won The Grade III Dinner Party Stakes at LRL. Interestingly, Tom Kha Gai is an excellent marathon horse, but slow to take it up. He has only had four marathons starting with a third in the 1 1/2 mile Grade III Sycamore at KEE, then he won the 1 1/2 mile Grade III San Luis Rey Stakes at SA and then was third in The 1 3/8 mile Grade II United Nations Stakes. That’s two wins and two thirds from four tries at marathon distances.
4 Great Vault Winning Link Stables 91
Winning Link Stables bought Great Vault from Spinetingling for $20.00 and had him running in the money in Graded stakes races within two races. He worked his way up through graded stakes races until eventually he won The 1 1//2 mile Grade I Sword Dancer. Two races later, he ran second beaten only a neck in the BC Turf. Since then, he has been somewhat off the boil.
5 Sunflowers TwinTowersRacing 90
Well, here we go again. Sunflowers, a lightly raced colt from a stable that loves putting long shots in races like this and surprising us time and again. It’s sorta like an HRP puzzle game: “Figure Out What Tommy’s Up To Now”. Let’s see, he’s been in nothing but allowance races lately, and only the most recent has shown anything. Yet, he’s no stranger to graded races. Back in May of ’25, he tried graded turf for the first time and went off as a 68-1 shot in the Grade III PEN Mile, and his late closing third impressed enough that no more giant odds but still the big kids were knocking him around until his first marathon in The $3,500.00 Grade III Nashville Derby where he put on a spectacular deep close to catch a close fourth. That dropped his odds to 6-1 for his last marathon the Grade I Pattison Canadian International in which he failed to fire. So, do I know any more about what Tommy’s up to? Nope. But I’m still betting my $2.00 to place on Sunflowers.
6 Ello Santa Mb Stables 99
Ello Santa has been off his best in his last couple of races, but it’s my opinion you don’t bet on this horse at your own peril. After finishing third beaten only a quarter-length the BC Turf at the distance of this race, he got the year off to a slow start. That means he only won two of five starts and earned “only” $590.00. How many of us would go crying to Support over a start like that? He may not be the favourite in this race, but I would never let Ello Santa go off at 1 1/2 miles without my $2.00 on him.
7 Theegala Mb Stables 94
Theegala is another that was devalued early, only this time it didn’t involve a lot of changing of hands, just the sale by Broken Spoke Stables to Alydar Stables for $50.00 to establish that mindset “Well, I only paid $50.00 for him.” And so, the horse went on to become a millionaire, ran fourth in the BC Mile, won and placed in graded stakes and stakes and always “Well, I only paid $50.00 for him.” And Mo Mentum Farm claimed him for $40.00. One winning race later Mo collected the race winnings plus $25.00 purchase claim price for the millionaire graded stakes winner. In his next race he won The $1,000.00 Grade I Manhattan at SAR. He followed that up with his most recent, a second in The Grade II United Nations Stakes at MTH behind State Cavier.
8 State Cavier Diablo Diablo 97
Seven-year-old State Cavier is a dedicated marathoner which waltzed to a two-length victory in The Grade II United Nations Stakes last out at 1 3/8 miles at MTH. It was after Diablo Diablo grabbed him for $1.00 in the Smokey Stover Dispersal that he began to try marathons, and of the six he tried, he placed in the money in five graded stakes and the other was a graded stakes fourth.
9 Dangerous Fugitive Night Rider Stables 100
Dangerous Fugitive finished fourth behind Tom Kha Gai and Kegger last out in the Grade II Bowling Green. Prior to that Dangerous Fugitive won with Kegger second in The Grade II BEL Gold Cup. A couple of races before it was the Grade III San Luis Rey Stakes in which Dangerous Fugitive won and Kegger finished third. This is why I say I don’t know squat about these marathon horses. That’s Dangerous Fugitive beating Kegger two out of three, and yet my handicap has Kegger third and Dangerous Fugitive sixth. Sorry, Raj, I’m an idiot.
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
Leave a Reply