Toronto Cup Stakes, Purse $125.000, Ungraded, A Mile and 1/8th , Turf for 3 year olds
Today at WO there are a couple of nice stakes races, and this is the undercard one to a Grade 3 turf sprint that will come up later. This race however is a nice purse for an ungraded race for open 3 year olds routing on the turf. There is a nice field of 4 signed up in the race, where there was a recent stakes winner going for 2 stakes wins in a row. Let’s take a look at the field:
1-Officer Outcast (Downwind Stables)- Has 3 wins in 11 starts but has hit the board in 6 of 11 career races. He has really shown his ability since he has been switched to turf winning 2 out of 3 races on the grass including his last race on July 4th in a statebred overnight stake at EVD. Owner Downwind Stables decided to give him a slight step up and is having him carry 2 more pound then the rest of the field in hopes to duplicate the last result. It may happen since he is the only one with a stakes win and appears to be in good form.
2-Dullahan (Crazy Horse Racing)- Has won 2 out of 7 lifetime starts with 2 other 3rds. The problem is that none of these wins have come on the grass. He has one lifetime start on the grass and it was a 3rd place finish and that was 3 back in a $15.000 claiming race where current owner Crazy Horse Racing claimed him away. Since then he has been stepped up routing on the dirt and won an allowance race and finished 3rd in a stakes race, which has shown that he is in good form. Since the claim there are not any public turf works to help indicate if the good form will continue but it is a small field so it may happen.
3-Hide the Parachute (Night Rider Stables)- Has won 2 out of 8 career starts including his most recent start going 1 mile on the turf in a $47.000 claiming race. 7 of 8 races have come on the turf so this horse knows what the grass feels like and owner Night Rider Stables should know what to expect out of him. Since the last race for this horse he has come back well and is working well in the morning which helps tell me that the last win was no fluke and could have just been a stepping stone up to bigger and better things. Is this race going to be just another step? We will see on Sunday.
4-Le Grand Enquisiteur (Axeman)- Was claimed out of his last race for $22.500 going the exact same distance as this race. That race was a nice closing win for this horse, which was his 3rd lifetime win in his 11th lifetime start. Two out of these three wins came routing on the turf so it looks as if he has found out exactly what he likes to do. There has only been one public work for this horse since the last win and claim and it was a very nice work breezing 111 flat at WO on July 22nd. Could and owner change be the wake up this horse needs to get his first stakes win?
There are a few horses in this race who decided to take a shot and step up and get their first stakes win. The decided to take the shot at the right time as this is a small field which makes it a bit easier on them. Here is my prediction. 3-4-1-2
Warbucks
Categories: Ungraded
