Likely Exchange Stakes ($125.000 Purse)
TP- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile on the Dirt
January 13, 2024
The last time that the Likely Exchange Stakes was a part of the schedule, it was in 2013, and ran for a $50.000 purse. After that, it seemed to die off, possibly due to the lower purse level not being appealing for the game to put on the schedule. It returns in 2024, for an amount of $125.000 that we have never seen before! Unfortunately, only four horses have made it for the race’s return but hopefully they can provide us with entertaining action. Usually, I will mention the last winner of the race, and if you were wondering, that was Emancipation for Canadian Racing. Good to throw his name back out there! Here’s our foursome for this race.
#1- Black Moon Concerto (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by A Cedillo)- The last time we saw this filly, she put in a respectable performance in the Grade 3 Comely around Thanksgiving at AQU. That actually makes her the only horse to come into this race off any type of stake, and that should bode well for her and may have led to me picking her. However, I’m put off just a little bit by her inability to pick up wins since the start of 2023 regardless of what type of race she was in.
#2- Toppifiant (Our Athletes, ridden by A Beschizza)- Back in August, Toppifiant finished third in the Grade 1 Test at SAR, getting her picture taken with the winner at the wire. She ran well in the Prioress after that, and if that’s where it ended with her, she’s a lock to win this race. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Toppifiant was not good in the Grade 2 Raven Run in October, and while we could try to forgive that, what happened in the optional claimer at DMR is very discouraging.
#3- Nine Laffs (Riggins Racing, ridden by R M Hernandez)- Picked up by the trainer in July in private sales for $45.000, and ran in a bunch of ungraded stakes afterwards. Not the biggest ones, other than $250.000 Bison City for ON-breds, where she was third, but she still managed to cash a check in all of them. Despite that, she was dropped in a $16.000 claimer for her last race, where no one picked her up, and she won. Now, she’s back in the type of race she’s been accustomed to being in with Riggins.
#4- Lalande (Alabarda Stable, ridden by J Talamo)- It took this filly a while to break her maiden, but once she figured out how to win, she has been making a habit of it. That said, we’re not talking about high priced races, with a bunch of runs at TUP, before she started to climb the ladder in class. That would reach PRX, where she was in her last race and finished second in a photo. Now, she’s making another jump, and for a horse that usually represents herself very well every race, she will be up to the task. Gets a small field, so that will help a bit.
Prediction: 3-1-4-2
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
