The Vosburgh (Grade 1) (BC)- $350.000 Purse
BEL- For Three Year Olds and Upward
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
September 30, 2017
Another week has gone by to put us even closer to the BC. There will be a lot of excitement at BEL on Saturday with several different races that will send its winner to BC weekend. The Vosburgh is a race with BC Sprint implications, and it features a field of 10 going to the starting gate. This was a race that the great Alpha Ultimo owned back in the day, winning it three times, in 2005, 2006, and impressively coming back in 2009. Other big winners include the likes of Shoot Skyhigh and Omni, the latter of which won the first such race. Last year, Mb Stables won the race for the first time in his career thanks to the performance of Give Your All. That one would end up finishing 8th in the BC, but if you were here at BEL last week, you saw him win the Kelso, so he’s still going strong! This should be an entertaining race, so let’s meet the field!
#1- Seven Swirls (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- A winner of seven races over his 21 race career, but has been absent from top race tracks over the last few months. His upstate New York summer schedule sent him to FL instead of SAR, where he ran in two allowance, winning one of them, which was a four horse field. He’s tried stakes company here and there, but has not won such a race since August of last year. If the works were stronger coming into this race, I could overlook this, but Seven Swirls has a tough assignment today. Nothing is ever impossible from the rail, though.
#2- Commanding Brit (Lemax Farms, ridden by J M Campbell)- This gelding is very consistent, having hit he board in eleven of twelve starts, and seems to like to cluster together his finishes. First, it was a bunch of thirds, then a bunch of seconds. For the Vosburgh, he comes in on a two race winning streak, so the trainer would love for that trend to continue. Those were in ON-bred races, one a stake, up at WO. He’s ready to roll, and has fired off two bullet works here over the last two weeks. He’ll probably make sure they’re running hard straight from the gate, making him appealing here.
#3- Jesse The Bandit (Scarletandgraystable, ridden by Ju A Garcia)- The trainer has done a terrific job with this gelding as soon as he acquired him in the auction for $25.000 last December. Right away, he advanced him into graded company by understanding that this Bandit wants sprint, and not go long. The results were there right away, and he became a graded winner in Feburary in the Grade 2 Palos Verde at SA, then won here in June in the Grade 2 True North, beating the 2016 winner of this race, Give Your All. He likes to come from behind, but there could be a lot of early speed here, so his start may be critical as to not dig too much of a hole.
#4- Served Up (Mb Stables, ridden by R J Albarado)- The second of two Commanding foals going to the gate, but Served Up does not quite have the experience that Commanding Brit does. This is just the third race of his career, after all. He has not done anything more then win a maiden race, in which he annihilated a field at CT. This is quite a leap, but if it doesn’t work out, the trainer will have two others he can root for which figure to be strong contenders.
#5- Greek Consul (Oquinn Farm, ridden by J R Leparoux)- He has tried graded competition a couple times before, but Greek Consul has primarily been allowance horse throughout his career. In those races, he’s won two of seven, and has been in the money five times, but when he has tried to move his career forward to this level, he has been a non-factor. The works are very good heading into this race, and SAR allowance win is encouraging. Perhaps he steps up now.
#6- Bay Of Plenty (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by J Bisono)- It’s been an adventurous couple weeks for this one, running in the Grade 3 Bold Venture, and seemed to have a strong second place finish there that many of us would have been happy with. Not prior trainer Golden Stables, who would hit the switch on his stable, and sell out. Team 7 Illusions scooped him up for $90.770, and sends him right back out there. I’m very intrigued by this entry here, knowing it would make for a great story if he won the race. Bay Of Plenty has run on short rest before, and interestingly, he really seems to like it. Watch out for this one! Let’s go with him!
#7- Jolly Be Native (John Henry, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- As a two year old, Jolly Be Native was making a name for himself this time of year, including a second place run in the Champagne right here before running third in the BC Juvenile. So, while 2017 brought hope, it’s only actually had one win in seven starts. That win did help him get into the PRK, which has been the highlight of season, and recently he ended up in the barn of John Henry thanks to a $250.000 private sales transaction. He has been cutting his distance back, and he has worked nicely coming into this race. Trying to find a horse that seemed due for a big one didn’t work for me last week, though.
#8- Spring Lover (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- He is the most earnings of anyone in this field, more then double that second highest, which is Jolly Be Native. A big chunk of those earnings came in the biggest race of the year, the BC Classic, where he ran third. That race finished off a strong three year old season overall, but his four year old season did not start off quite as well, though was not terrible. Instead of dropping him down, Mb Stables began cutting his distance, and in his last four races, all at seven furlongs, he has two wins and two second place finishes. The speed figures are incredible as well, including a 104 in his second place run in the Forego, a run in which the trainer really enjoyed the finish of. He’ll be fine at six furlongs, but the bigger question about that, is where he stands against others who have been thriving at it more often.
#9- Acquisitive (Mb Stables, ridden by Mb Stables)- The third entry from the trainer looks like he could have a shot at topping his stablemate to the inside. He is on the upswing, and recently won three in a row, a streak that included the Grade 2 Amsterdam up at the Spa in July. Off of the win, he went out west to DMR, and was in the mix, getting a finish that is probably better then the line shows in the past performances. He’ll make sure a couple others in here are ready to run fresh out of the starting gate.
#10- Red Matic (Witeout Stables, ridden by S X Brigmohan)- On the outside, this three year old colt has been very consistent this year, finishing in the money in six of eight races, including three victories. He’ll be fresh off his biggest race of his career as well, going to up to SAR and topping a very good field in the Jerkens Memorial, a Grade 1 seven furlong race. In the win, he recorded a 103 SRF, and did so, by the way, post #11. So while the trainer would prefer better luck with the post draw one of these times, at least they know he can get the job done despite the draw. He has good chemistry with S X Bridgmohan.
Prediction: 6-8-10-2
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
