ELP Juvenile- $100.000 Purse
ELP- For Two Year Olds
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
August 18, 2019

A field of eight two year olds will be taking part in the eighth edition of the ELP Juvenile, an ungraded stake. The race did initially appear on the schedule in 2004, but from 2008-2015, it was never contested. The $100.000 purse is the highest that it has been for the race since the debut race of 2004. Trainer D J C Racing Stables has been very successful in this race, and will look for his third consecutive win here. Let’s take a look at the field!

#1- Peachtree (Smokey Stover, ridden by A Beschizza)- After picking up a couple of fourth place checks in a pair of similar ungraded stakes, Peachtree took an allowance at SAR a few weeks ago. He has a style where he likes to come off the pace, and as the distances increase, he should be better. He will like running seven here.

#2- Komet (Estero Farms, ridden by J K Court)- After winning a $40.000 maiden claimer at PRX, he was sold in private sales six weeks later for $60.000. New trainer Estero Farms has much bigger plans for him, and just six days later, ran him in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor. That did not go well, and now the horse and trainer have had more time to get acquainted with one another.

#3- Culpable (Crocker Ggs, ridden by M Mena)- A winner of two of three early in his career, and he comes off an optional claiming win against CA-breds against SAC. This will be the first time he battles it out in a stake, and there is plenty of reason to be excited for him to do well running this distance. Works have been showing improvement of lately, so he should be able to handle this competition.

#4- Oh My Gad (Aer Stables, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- This gelding by Brutal is off to a perfect two-for-two start, and now will face his toughest career test. The wins were modest, as he won at GG on debut, and then followed that up with a win at RET. He could be one to watch early on in the race as he likes to be near the lead.

#5- Ben Macdui (The Sidley Stud, ridden by F Geroux)- He’ll be making his fifth start, and has only managed a win in his maiden, which came in his second start. Since then, he’s run fairly well, but also has not run at the high tracks. As a matter of fact, in his last start, he ran in the same optional claimer at RET that Oh My Gad won. Ben Macdui ran third.

#6- Bannister (Fractious, ridden by C J Lanerie)- This one comes out of the Bashford Manor, but he was never a factor in that race. He did fare slightly better then Komet did in the race. Like Komet, his entry into the Bashford Manor about a week after he changed ownership hands in private sales. Fractious has had a little more time to get comfortable with him, and that should be a good thing.

#7- Mic Drop (Fractious, ridden by T C Baze)- The second Fractious entry has won one of his three career starts so far, that coming in his second race. After breaking his maiden, he went to LS, and finished fourth in an allowance. He’s had some time to rest since then, and will need to show improvement off of that race here.

#8- Back To Black (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by B J Hernandez Jr)- Looking to extend his trainer’s winning streak to three in this race. We’ve only seen him race once, making his debut last month at FP and picking up the win. Looks like he got a good bump after that race, and we’ll see how he can follow that up here.

Prediction: 1-6-4-8

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded