The Busanda [KYO]
1 1/8 Mile Dirt Stake Purse $100.000 Filly 3 Year Olds.

With a new race engine and a full field over a decent trip this was going to be an interesting race for many reasons. First and foremost, we had a KYO qualifier so after the dust settles, we will have a clearing picture of the premier fillies as we move towards the big classics and secondly, we had a race where we could really see what the new race engine could do. I will talk about the horses a bit later but firstly I would like to share what I saw from the race engine. Firstly, and most noticeably the start was equal, nothing lost its chance out of the gate, and nothing was ten lengths behind after a furlong and that has to be a HUGE improvement. So far so good, as the race carried on round the two turns, horses did duck to the rail or move inwards where they could, but the wide horses stayed wide, and the race did look a little like it was being run on a straight track. The widest didn’t make much ground on the turns but they didn’t lose ground either, so the wider draws (including the eventual winner) maintained their competitiveness throughout which is also an improvement even if it didn’t look too ‘real life’. The horses finished much closer, the leading group kept on the closer’s closed, and we were left with a close and exciting finish.
So is it better than what we had. Well, my own conclusions are that more horses in big fields will be competitive because the starts have been changed and the horses clearly aren’t penalized as much for running wide. This may lead to more blanket finishes, dead heats and tenth beaten two lengths but it will also lead to races where every horse will get its chance unlike the old engine. As people adjust their instructions and the top players get to grips with the new reality, I am sure the races will spread out a bit more. We have yet to really see the effect of a crazy early pace or seen if a horse can perform and place consistently over time, but the initial thoughts are that they have at least corrected two of the glaring faults. Will this be the final product? I doubt it, is it a step in the right direction? On balance maybe it is but what we need to do at this point is give it some time to play out, time for everyone to get to grips with it and maybe in 3 months or so have some serious discussion about the next update.

1st Bravo My Beast Waldo Alvarado F T

So, onto the most important thing the horses and the result. I was thrilled with this performance as I am sure the owner was. Stuck widest throughout she looked beat on the home turn but produced an amazing finish to get up by a nose right on the line. On the old engine this would’ve been an almost impossible win off a sedate early pace so it is hard to weigh up exactly how good she was to run so wide throughout and still get up, on the old engine I would’ve been hailing a superstar on the new one this was a hugely promising effort but only time will tell whether it was superstar stuff or just a game performance.

2nd Lindt Hippyheart Velazquez J R

Stalking the leaders from a nice position on the rail she looked like she may be blocked and an unlucky fourth, but she moved out at the right time and went to win her race before the winner came from very wide to nut her on the line. If her movement was due to improvements in the race engine, then it was a real plus but either way she did everything but win today and should be very proud of this performance.

3rd Rekindle Mb Stables Franco M

It looked like everything was going right for her in this race. A little wide early she got as close to the rail as she could in running the stalk and broke the line at the right time looking like she would go on and win this race with a furlong to run. Her legs started to turn to jelly close home though and, in the end, she was run down pretty quickly after holding a decent lead with just a furlong to go.
 
4th Sneaky Panther Nakamura Stables Centeno D E

Again, her early position of ninth to well past halfway would’ve been difficult on the old engine and maybe 7 lengths off the leaders but the new engine it seemed to keep them all closer, and she was never more than four or so lengths off the leaders. Running on strongly at the end she was only beaten a length and you would have to say this was a much-improved performance giving the stable some hope that she may fulfill her potential down the line.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded