Singspiel Stakes – Grade III
WO Race #2 1 3/8m Turf Graded Stake
Purse $150.000 For Three Year Olds And Upward.
1 Forty Exba Maxmillion Farm Bahen S R
A very lightly raced seen year old with only 15 starts he has managed to win six of them. This was a horse that started his career late and then spent most of his days down at the free track. After getting claimed for just $5 by Patterson Stables his career took an upturn but it only came after some runs in claimers until eventually he showed a big step up in improvement at age six when winning his first pay race at the end of last year. Sold for $25 after a fair run in the Appleton where he beat three home he was eventually bought by the turf king himself and went from very ordinary to a stakes winner when taking the Grand Couturier before running a closing fourth in the Read Stakes last time. The bulk of this ones career has been nothing much but his last three races suggest that he is not only a late bloomer but a stakes quality horse. Of course that means that he is a length better than a claimer at HRP but nevertheless he is a horse that will love this trip, is in the right draw and from the right stable so he must be a winning chance.
2 Honor Charge Ezzz Racing Salles L
Another that has come from an obscure career in claimers to being a challenger here he picked up an ELP allowance last time and ran like this sort of trip will be perfect for him. A three year old so getting three pounds here he is working times that put him on par with the older horses so the combination of draw and weight put him in with a chance of stakes glory that would’ve looked a pipe dream at the start of the year.
3 Bunnevera Arindel Moran D
Well beaten in claimers in his last two you have to wonder why he is being bumped up to a stakes race today. Well i guess a short field would have had something to do with it and the fact that he is working as good as most of the runners put him in with a chance of at least making his entry money back. With the exception of Winter Solstice he is on a par with the rest of the field so he shouldn’t be written off just because of his lack of stakes form.
4 Winter Solstice John Henry Hernandez R M
The clear stand out with nearly 3K in prize money, 6 stakes wins including three grade ones and the fastest work times by some margin make him a clear cut winning chance. There are questions of course as this is HRP and nothing is ever a sure thing but even if his age has caught up with him, the race engine throws a curve ball or something else has been sprinkled with fairy dust i cannot see him getting beaten here.
5 Cool Dude Que Nakamura Stables Boulanger G
Two runners from the stable in the two outside draws you would expect some gamesmanship here as they have to try and find a way to beat the horse inside them. This one is having a consistent year winning two and running some fair races at stakes level. He doesn’t look the class of Winter Solstice but he is certainly in the race for second and who knows if the trainer can manage to play the race engine with their two runners he may just find an unlikely win.
6 Cartoonish Nakamura Stables Husbands P
Similar results as his stable mate inside him he has been sprinting in his last three races so with the outside speed push available he may just try and set up a lead and steal the race. Though he has looked more a sprinter he did manage to win the Wright Memorial over a mile and sixteenth last year so clearly has some stamina there and makes things pretty interesting from a spectators point of view.
SUMMARY
Winter Solstice should win doing cart wheels so its is hard to go past him as a selection. Second place is far more competitive but i think i would just favor Forty Exba to nose out the other four.
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
