Seagram Cup Stakes – Grade II
WO Race #2 1 1/16m Dirt Graded Stake
Purse $175.000 For Three Year Olds And Upward.

1 Ferrobomber Laga Lagastable Wenc I C 118 —

Started off the year with three free track stakes wins in a row, which isn’t as easy as it sounds so I wouldn’t be holding that fact against him. Since then, he has had three races on the pay side winning a big-ticket allowance at WO last time and is working the sort of times that suggest this is a far better horse than what he has shown us so far. He gets the ace to draw for this but is stuck with a less-than-ideal jockey so one will negate the other. I have a suspicion that this could be a good one and will be tempted with an each-way bet but there are negatives here and he will have to be good to win, which I think he just may be.

2 Walk Naked Riggins Racing Contreras L 123 —

A solid type with a decent number of races under his belt and six wins. He was claimed recently in a big-ticket claimer, and I think this trainer may be the right one to push him. He has competed and won in stakes races before despite that not being obvious in his recent form and his works are good enough. Drawn in the ideal gate I am expecting a big effort.

3 South China Sea Fractious Salles L 123 —

A very lightly raced five-year-old he has won his last three and is beginning to look like this sort of race is within his scope. His works are very sharp, and he is another who could be joining the ranks of clones that compete in these types of races. Look at his odds before the race and if the odds monkeys have him at over ten to one slip a Disney dollar or two his way.

4 Sunset Wolf Night Rider Stables Kimura K 123 —

I have seen this type of horse so many times and they always seem to be coming from the same stable. One minute they are winning a cheap low-level claimer and the next they are competing and winning in stakes company. I am not sure how to handicap this one as he is a bit hit-and-miss, but his recent mile work was good and he is clearly capable of far more than claimers, in this stable at least.

5 Sinissipi Laughter TwinTowersRacing Boulanger G 123 —

His recent form isn’t too bad but overall, two wins from twenty-eight starts is not exactly encouraging. He went from six furlongs to a mile and a quarter with the usual amount of carefree abandoned horses at HRP tend to, so this trip will not be a problem. His works aren’t too encouraging though and he has a sticky gate so he wouldn’t be my top choice although this is a stable that can turn out big-priced winners like Mb turns out TC qualifiers, so I wouldn’t be writing him off.

6 Apache Rise Again Apache Warrior Walcott R W 118 —

He was absolutely huge in the KYD when only beaten a neck from gate 18 but that effort was a huge one and it really told in his next two when well beaten in the Preakness and the BEL. It is always tough to come back from a TC campaign and whilst he has had a decent rest, he may be a little ring rusty for this. He certainly deserves the win, but I am not sure today will be his day.

7 Ginger Clean The Sidley Stud Crawford J 123 —

This is a super consistent six-year-old with eleven wins and eighteen placings to his name in a long and very good career. He had spent some time sprinting with some success before returning to a route trip last time when taking the Salvator Mile in a sharp time. His recent work was off the scale, and I think this may be a case of a six-year-old finding some traction late on in their improvement curve. The draw is a little awkward, but he can win it from here.

8 Twilight Flame Mb Stables Wilson E J 123 —

Another solid six-year-old who is holding his form well. He managed to top the $1,000.000 mark with a win in the Essex Handicap over this trip, making all from a similar draw, so I think that if things go his way, then he could well be a real chance. Of course, if any stable can find a win in a tight field it is inevitably Mb Stables so he will be well fancied but as they are all very clone-like in works and form it may just come down to who gets the race engine luck.

9 Seydoux II Arindel Carroll D 123 —

Another five-year-old with works that say he could win a BC or run last in an allowance it is really tough to settle on one horse here that has anything outstanding to his name. You can pick a work or a race out of any of their form and make a case and that is the same with this five-year-old who is certainly capable if he can find a way to run his race from gate nine. He has been dropped to overnights to gain a couple of good wins over this course and distance so that may just give him the edge he needs to run a big race.

10 Speter Nakamura Stables Fukumoto D 123 —

Went off the boil a little after winning the Mineshaft but ran pretty well in the Salvator Mile last time suggesting his winning days aren’t over just yet. This is a tough and even field to be winning from the impost of gate ten, but his works are in the clone zone, and you can certainly cherry-pick form that is good enough to win.

SUMMARY

I have been writing for the SRF for a long time and in the last 6 months I have been finding these races harder and harder to try and differentiate between runners. They all have works that would grace a BC runner and if you take their best form then good enough form to win but none of them seem to be outstanding and it makes it very hard to try and work out whose turn it is to win. I think I may go for Ferrobomber Laga here just because of the three-year-old factor and everything else is just too hard to sort through.

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES