Jerkens- $100.000 Purse
GP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Inner Turf
January 23, 2016
Last year, the Jerkens debuted on our race schedule and was won by a horse named Candy Cain N Able. It was just the third win at the time, but it would kickstart a highly successful 2015 for that horse. Now, this ungraded stake sees a purse increase to $100.000 and a balanced group of nine heading to the starting gate. There is no particular standout in this field. We have a couple who have done some great things in the past, but are probably beyond their greatest days at this point, though still are plenty good enough to win races like this. We will also have a few very talented up and comers who will look to this race to be a springboard into bigger things. A couple could be seen as their trainers taking a shot, but even they look to be very competitive. Here are our entries for this race!
#1- Flash The Deuce (Mojica Racing, ridden by J J Castellano)- The Secretariat Flash gelding begins his six year old season having won 12 of 34 career races so far. He was more of a well known name in our game back in 2013 when he was regularly competing in graded stakes, though would never hit the board in any of those nine tries. He’s been better since he has been scaled back and has won all three races since he was gelded in October. A little unusual to see a horse go so long without a geld, then get one, but so far it has been a good decision and perhaps leaving other trainers to wonder what may have been. While the races he won don’t have conditions that will immediately impress, he looked good in all of them and stands as a major threat here.
#2- Rocket Man (Downwind Stables, ridden by J R Leparoux)– Like the horse to his inside, Rocket Man is well known for what he has done in the past, which is highlighted by winning the 2014 IL Derby (Grade 3), and then taking part in the BEL that year though he did not beat a horse in that race. Not deterred by that, he would go on and finish third in the PA Derby that season. Since then, things have been less spectacular, though he did run in a handful of Grade 3’s during the spring and summer of 2015. His only wins last year were in open allowances however, though did show promise on the turf in September. The day at the BEL is also the only time he has run this distance, so I do have some doubts here.
#3- Divine and Fast (Simmer Down Stable, ridden by J V Bridgmohan)- After having a hard time finding a steady home in a barn, this four year old gelding put together some good performances for past trainer Broken Spoke Stables, winning four of six for that trainer. Though in something he has been used too, he was sold again, this time in the December auction to his current connections, of which he will run under for the first time. It will be the first time he has run this distance, but I like the way he ran in his last start, and have a feeling that this highly successful trainer who doesn’t often get mentioned in the SRF has him fine tuned and ready to run a big one.
#4- Rock The House (Hambletonian Stable, ridden by Alan Garcia)- In his last start, Rock The House scored a stunning victory in a starter allowance that not too many people may have noticed. At GG on New Years Day, he registered a 100 SRF while going just one less furlong then he will today. His effort that day leads one to believe that he would have rocked that field the same way if he needed to run another furlong. Today, he gets a chance to do that, and while he faces stronger competition today there is no reason to believe he cannot handle it. Going back in his past performances, you can see some big wins scattered throughout his career. I feel that he is poised to run a big one here and will give him the nod as my top choice.
#5- Dan Marino (Wolfs Den, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Only recently has Dan Marino been performing like a horse worthy of that name. His early career saw him mostly running for claiming tags in the $10.000 range. He won some of those, but never was able to see the big time. In July, he was claimed by Wolfs Den for $9.000, and this trainer shifted his career to running longer distances. He has since been to two ungraded stakes and in the true Dan Marino spirit, hasn’t quite been able to win the big one, but has finished second.
#6- Ironmistso (Witeout Stables, ridden by J Lezcano)- Both the trainer and the jockey are off to slow starts in 2016 so far, as of Friday morning press time, but a win in the Jerkens can make up for it for the two of them. In six starts, Ironmistso has only one once and has a third place performance to show for it. At KEE in October, he ran in the biggest race of his career at the Grade 3 Sycamore, which is a race a lot like this one, twelve furlongs on the turf, and was a distant last. There’s no reason to think that the winners here will not be able to run the same type of time as was run there. The bute and blinkers appear to have been removed since then, but will the make enough of a difference?
#7- Dullahan (Crazy Horse Racing, ridden by Ed Castro)- Unless the trainer has another start planned between press time and time, the Jerkens will be their first race of 2016. Dullahan has made his living in this type of race, with his prior three races also being ungraded stakes, running for $100.000. (Or $125.000). His results have been okay, but not necessarily inspiring. The key will be for him to adapt to the distance, and I like his ability to this based on how he closed at the Toronto Cup in July at WO, but then he didn’t quite show the same in the Station, a race in which Divine and Fast beat him by about three lengths. Dullahan could be a worthwhile longshot play, but I need to see more to put him above others.
#8- Pink Star (Eastern Equine, ridden by P Lopez)- This Pink Star is certainly the top up and comer in this field of grizzled veterans. He has raced only five times, but other then his debut effort, he has been first or second in all of them. The highlight is probably the optional claimer win at SAR, though that sprint doesn’t tell us much for this race. In November, he finished second to a graded veteran in the $35.000 Coady Stakes then ran well in an optional claimer, finishing second to a horse that moved up to Grade 2 earlier this month. The distance is the key for Pink Star, but Eastern Equine has been incredibly patient with him, purchasing him for $77.000 in November 2013, then not debuting him until May 2015. Not many other trainers out there who can duplicate that patience, and now the trainer stands to be rewarded for it.
#9- Broken Hero (Pan Farms, M Aguilar)- Amazingly, this will be the third start for Broken Hero under Pan Farms. That alone makes him worthy of the “Hero” moniker, to have avoided a private sale for so long. The majority of Broken Hero’s forty career races have been while running for $5.000 to $10.000 claiming tags, and Pan Farms picked up him when he ran for $7.500. After that claim, the trainer thrust him immediately into the Grade 1 Pattison. How’s that for a wake up call? Broken Hero actually did step up the best he could there, and among the horses he did beat that day was Tucson, who just narrowly finished second in the Bradley Handicap last week. If he runs the same time here as he did in the Pattison, while not surrounded by the likes of Turon Warrior and Stormy Kg, that can be good enough to win this. I wish he would have followed up the Pattison with a better effort, but I like him at this distance quite a bit.
Prediction: 4-9-8-1
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
