Shoemaker Mile – Grade I
1 Mile Turf Stake Purse $500.000 Open 3 Year Olds And Up.
1st Jakarta Nakamura Stables Centeno D E
Well, the best horse in the race made it three in a row and to be honest it never looked in doubt. Getting to the front early on he simply ran pretty much the same splits that won him the San Francisco Mile last time and nothing else was good enough to match him. The ‘anomaly’ I mentioned that may be a danger turned out not to have the class gene required to run the time we know he can run at this level so with his no show the race turned into a procession. Once again, we see a five-year-old that struggled at this level as a four-year-old come out and turn it on and i am not seeing too much at this point that can challenge him.
2nd Americas Hope Nakamura Stables Velazquez J R
Well, it is not often we see America’s hope fail against the Indonesian capital but puns aside it was on the cards today. The winners stable mate ran well enough to be second, keeping the winner company for as long as he could keep up and then grinding it out for second. He is a nice sort, and I have a suspicion that we will see him winning races like this as a five-year-old going on the winner’s example.
3rd Eight West Party TwinTowersRacing Franco M
Kept on well without troubling the winner this was a good effort from a horse that generally gives his best. I am still not sure what his best surface or trip is and maybe that will be the thing the trainer will need to determine to get some consistent wins out of him but for now this was a decent run.
4th Rantanen Royalty Stables Dettori L
Drawn wide last time and he battled for the front and then weakened late, drawn inside today like he was in the American Stakes and he settled for the stalk and didn’t have the finishing pace to compete, at least with the winner. He can be good off the lead in lesser grade, but he certainly lacks the turn of foot at this level. Of course, as a four-year-old we may not see the best of him till next year.
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
