Elkhorn – Grade II
KEE Race #2 1 1/2m Turf Graded Stake
Purse $350.000 For Four Year Olds And Upward.

1 Spankersville The Sidley Stud Baird E T 123 —

Ran down the field in the 2020 BC Turf Juvenile after a very busy juvenile season and as can happen when they are pushed early, he went off the boil a little afterwards showing glimmers of that ability in some good placings but generally struggling to win. Roll forward to September 2022 and after an average run in the Pacific Classic he suddenly seemed to turn a corner with a good second in the Greenwood Cup and then three straight wins culminating with the grade two Diarmida last time out. He is a classic HRP horse in that he showed he had the class gene and the ability and then it was just a matter of waiting for his code to take him up his improvement curve to where he is today. The five-year-old can certainly win this as he gets his fourth favorable draw in a row it is almost like fate and software says he will, but I am not sure picking the winner will be as easy as that.

2 Hardline Hugo Riggins Racing Ortiz I Jr 123 —

The trainer has been on a crusade to rebuild their stable to its former glory years and bought this one for $120.000 after a string of good wins in hot claiming company. I think the new owner may be onto something because no horse wins four from his last five in good company without having a little X factor. The big question here will be the class gene, has he got it or not………well after five good draws in a row he gets another here, so he has every chance if the code says so.

3 Ziccio Night Rider Stables Castellano J J 123 —

There certainly seemed to be some untapped ability with this lightly raced gelding and Night Rider is a master at finding it or at least throwing some entry money at the problem and finding out. In his first start for the new owner after running in a cheap claimer the race before he came out and ran third in the JC Derby and then went on to win a high-level big-ticket allowance proving that the class gene was there, and that the new owner was certainly onto something. Two good runs and one win in HOU ungraded stakes sets him up for another crack at graded level today and on those last four efforts he certainly has a good chance.

4 Ptyrannical Arindel Gutierrez Mario 123 —

Well, there is no doubting this one’s ability or the existence of the class gene because he has been all sorts of good for a while now. Beaten a head in the BC Turf mile last year and a dual grade one winner he won arguably his biggest race when taking the Pegasus World Turf Cup at the start of this year. I guess the question mark here of there is one is the 12 furlongs which is three furlongs further than he has even been before. Having said that age often sees these horses go a bit further and he looked very strong at the end of the Pegasus, so I see no good reason why this one won’t hack up today and march on towards another Breeders Cup Championship race.

5 Fire Marshall Bill Nakamura Stables Alvarado F T 123 —

He was sold for $30.000 last year and then his form followed that similar trend which seems to happen very often at HRP where a new stable seems enough in itself to improve them a few lengths. Within four races he was finishing second in the grade one Hirsch and then won the competitive HOL Turf Cup stamping himself a late bloomer in the ranks of the turf routers. His last start saw him try and make all in the Diarmida but he weakened into fourth behind Spankersville, and if the same tactics are employed today, I can’t see him turning the tables on that one.

6 Prom King Mb Stables Elliott S 123 —

Another that changed hands and morphed into a different horse less than a month later he just got home by a neck in a very cheap one-win allowance at TAM and then won the Muniz Memorial Handicap at grade two with triple digit speed figure in his next start. The stable can do no wrong at the moment, so you would expect a big race from this one.
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7 Dark Arts TwinTowersRacing Geroux F 123 —

Not a bad sort but gets thrown in here with the wide draw just to further handicap him, and it is tough to see him winning from here.

SUMMARY

Well, Ptyrannical should win this doing handstands but knowing HRP he will win by a neck at 50/1! I really can’t see how he can be beaten unless the Mb factor that has surprised me more than once this year can be enough to lift Prom King over the line.

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES