The Nerud – Grade II
BEL Race #2 7f Dirt Graded Stake
Purse $250.000 For Four Year Olds And Upward.

Once again we saw here how the draw is more important than horse ability at HRP as the first second and third from the Triple Bend was turned upside down by the effect of the draw. That however should take nothing away from the winner who looks to me like a BC Sprint winner in the making, which of course will be reliant on the draw come November.

1st Demon Wood Duck Stables Garcia Mar

Getting the perfect stalk on an even pace he proved once again just how classy he is with a game nose win. I think this seven furlongs is right at the end of his stamina when raced on pace but he makes up for that with a real determination to get to the post first. He was a closing sixth in last year’s BC Sprint as a three-year-old getting weight and I feel he has more ring craft this year as a four-year-old and that can be worth more than a few pounds. The trainer has brought him through steadily this year as four-year-olds can often struggle a little in the first half of the year and I feel we are now ready to see the best of him as long as the draw monster keeps giving him the good draws.

2nd California Sun Royalty Stables Talamo J

Turned the Triple Bend form upside down thanks to the draw and tried really hard today to get back to winning ways. He is one of those five-year-olds that has taken the five-year-old improvement well, let’s not forget he was running in a $7.000 claimer last year and he should now be considered a leading sprinter with BC designs. Racing with the winner all the way he kept trying right to the line as was taking ground off him as the winner’s stamina started to falter.

3rd Lokoya Road Establo Pichon Walcott R W

I think the seven furlongs suits this one although his running style always suggests he is more of a miler. He was just a few inches away from getting up here running on strongest of the top three and just failing in what was a three was photo separated by two hundredths of a second. The trainer may see themselves as an unlucky loser here as this one would’ve probably won with another ten yards, but they will take some encouragement in this run as it is his best for some time.

4th= Pray For Sunshine Spankys Barn Davis D

Of course, there had to be a dead heat with the first five separated by a half-length it is actually surprising there wasn’t more than one. Drawn a bit wider he went back today, either by design or instruction from the race engine because he had been a grade three winner as a front runner from a wider draw before and looked a forlorn hop on the turn for home. He started picking them off as they straightened though and put in some impressive bounds down the stretch. If the third horse feels unlucky to have lost, then this one could feel the same too because at the rate of closing it wouldn’t have been much past the post that he would’ve hit the front.

4th= Plan To Wheel Fractious Husbands P

He was the wide runner that the race engine chose for the lead despite never having the pace in 29 previous races to do that. Such is life at HRP, and he did really well in his chosen role in the end actually coming back a little in the final furlong. Second in the Triple Bend from a similar draw he closed that day and led today and it’s difficult to see what was the better option. A good effort in a typically close race.

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES