American Turf (Grade 2)- $600.000 Purse
CD- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
May 4, 2024

Before we get to the KYD on Saturday, we have plenty of other business to take care of as the undercard for the race also has a high level of intrigue. Here we will look at the Grade 2 American Turf, a race for three-year-olds that prefer to do their running on the grass instead of on the dirt. The race first appeared on the schedule in 2004 as a Grade 3 for just a $100.000 purse but would be upgraded to its present Grade 2 status in 2010. Purses would gradually increase, and in 2020, it was as high as $500.000. This year, we set a new purse record with the $600.000 that is offered. Mb Stables won the race last year with On Fire, a beautifully bred horse by Tactical and is out of Wicked Heat. He went on to have a strong season which led to finishing fourth in the BC Turf, however, has struggled to get going this year. For our race this year, the starting gate is full with fourteen runners. Let’s meet them now:

1- The Stars At Night (Luz International, ridden by A Achard)- This is not the easiest way to make one’s turf debut, but that is what The Stars At Night is being sent out there to do. He has four races under his belt, with his lone win coming two back in a three-horse field at HOU. Following that, he took on more competition in the $125.000 Mine That Bird Derby at SUN and did finish fourth but was not near the top three. Only three public works, and none on the grass. So, I’m not saying he doesn’t have a chance because what is behind the scenes may be incredible, but I can’t pick him without at least seeing a grass work.

2- Petranella Man (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by J C Ferrer)- Appearing in a stake race for the first time, and looks to extend his winning streak to three races. Last time out, he had what is a very impressive outing on soft turf at HOU, winning with a 95 SRF, and off of that, turned in a sub 1:35 mile work on the grass at AQU. Still lightly raced, so should still have plenty of upside and he may just be reaching his full potential right now. There are more horses to look at it here, so I might not put him in my picks, but I like what I see out of this one. If it doesn’t happen here, keep an eye on him going forward.

3- Sleeping Giant (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by T Gaffalione)- Also making his stake debut here, so we will see if he is indeed a sleeping giant within this division. At the moment, there’s nothing that jumps out at me in the way that Petranella Man did for me, but Sleeping Giant still looks like a very promising horse in his own right. He’s won twice in eight starts and has hit the board five times. Won of soft turf last time out at SA but has gone back and forth between surfaces thus far in his career. Beginning to show a preference towards the turf now, it appears. This is an excellent test for him.

4- Feared (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by Mar Garcia)- Yes, if you were here last week, you did see him run then. Feared ran here in an allowance on April 27th and had a good-looking victory in what was his second career start. He’s being sent right back out there, and it is certainly not unprecedented for a horse to do well on such short rest. As a horse that has not raced much, as long as the meters can work out, he probably can handle that part. Then, comes the matter of handling thirteen other very strong competitors here. That’s the tough part!

5- Classy City (Asgar, ridden by P Lopez)- With the four horses to his inside either making their turf debut or stake debut, we get no such inexperience here with Classy City. In fact, he is completely on the other side of the equation as the reigning BC Juvenile Turf champion. It was part of a great two-year-old season that also saw run second in the very tough Grade 1 Summer Stakes. He’s only raced twice and was dropped into an optional claimer for some reason after his BC win and didn’t have any problem there. Last month, he took on stakes company for the first time since the BC and was third on soft going in the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes. Doesn’t have the same great works as others, but he knows how to bring it on race day.

6- Way Of The Dragon (Fractious, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Despite showing quite a bit of promise as a two-year-old, Way Of The Dragon was sold by his prior trainer to Fractious for $75.000, and now the gelding is starting to get better results. Before the sale, he was successful, with only the Summer Stakes, which he was rushed into for some reason, being a blemish. He’s two for three with Fractious and comes here out of a win in the $100.000 Pasadena Stakes at SA and seems poised to have a strong run here. I wish I could see a mile turf work, as I suspect it would be very good and may have led to me putting him in my picks.

7- Fanatical Empire (Smokey Storm, ridden by R M Hernandez)- This looks like one of the top horses in the race, as he checks all of the boxes of things that you want to see in a race like this. He’s won three in a row, including the Grace 3 Transylvania Stakes over soft going at KEE last month. That was his stake debut, and you have to like how he stepped up to that level of competition and handled it so well, going wire to wire. His works are excellent, including an impressive going in February at AQU. He doesn’t have one more recent than that at a mile on the turf, but if he’s been improving, we can only assume he can do at least that, if not better, again. Hard not to pick him, but you have to wonder how much of a short price he could be.

8- Exemplary (Mb Stables, ridden by F Prat)- I love the breeding on this one, being by Tactical and out of The Belle Tolls. That dam was someone that I always enjoyed covering and had a knack for stepping up in races that I wrote up. Having said that, Exemplary might be a little overdue now to step up with another big run. His last win came in October, at the Grade 3 Futurity at AQU, and he would run in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint. In 2024, he was moved to the main track to chase KYD glory on the TC trail, and that did not go well for him. Exemplary will like going back on the turf and should bounce back effectively here.

9- Influence (Mb Stables, ridden by M Franco)- A lightly raced horse, with just four wins and one trip to the winners circle. After breaking his maiden on the turf at SA, Influence was sent to the main track to also try a couple of KYD prep races. They went decent enough, running fourth in both the San Felipe and the AR Derby, but that’s not enough to get into the big race, and in this barn, it likely means you are down the list of top three-year-old contenders. He’s moved back to the grass here and is working well on the surface. Maybe he can make a name for himself in this stable on the green.

10- Diamond Haggis (Fractious, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- One day after selling Way Of The Dragon to Fractious for $75.000, Arkansas Elite supplied another strong horse to one of the game’s elite trainers, as Diamond Haggis was shipped off for $300.000. Diamond Haggis has run three times in his new silks, winning the Grade 3 Kittens Joy, and then after a failed attempt in a KYD prep, recovered to finish second to Fanatical Empire in the Transylvania Stakes. There’s no reason to think that Diamond Haggis cannot reverse the script on him here in the American Turf and it’s very possible that the two of them are running with one another at the front right out of the gate.

11- Struck Down (Fractious, ridden by R L Moore)- The third entry in the race for Fractious, but on this one he did not have to go to Arkansas Elite to pick him up. This is a homebred that has won three times in seven races. His most recent victory came at FG in the $100.000 Black Gold Stakes, so he seemed like he might have a good shot in the Transylvania Stakes, where he would run last month. Since the Black Gold Stakes was also on soft turf, we can’t point to the off track as an excuse, but he had a rather flat performance. He likes to do his running late, but never made that last push there. With a few in here that like to run at or near the lead, Struck Down will have to be a concern to them in the stretch here.

12- Knorth Kinght (Our Athletes, ridden by L Saez)- Made one turf start early in his career, a runner up at WO in a maiden race, but has been otherwise been running on the main track. After being gelded in October, he would have success doing this, winning three in a row, a stretch that culminated in winning the Grade 3 Swale Stakes. But he has not been able to build on that performance, struggling in the Gotham and then running fourth of five in the $400.000 Lafayette Stakes. Each of them was on off tracks.

13- Litlemisscantbewrong (Onlineracingclub.com, ridden by F Pennington)- A regular runner with the PA-bred condition, doing so in five of his six career starts. This race might not be in the Keystone State, but Litlemisscantbewrong will still have a familiar face with him as F Pennington, a top rider at PRX, makes the trip to CD to run him. He’s won his last two, each with Pennington aboard, with the last being an allowance at PRX. Deserves the chance to run at a stake but isn’t used to the type of competition he faces here.

14- Convincing (Diablo Diablo, ridden by D E Centeno)- Typically a consistent horse, hitting the board in seven of ten starts, but the trainer could use seeing a few more wins. Convincing has done so twice, including his last start which was an optional claimer at SA. He’s run at the stake level a few times, all coming in a stretch from late August to February, with the best result being his second place at the Kittens Joy at GP. He was a late running horse in those races but went out on the lead in the optional claimer last month. Great work coming into this, and he has plenty of potential.

Prediction: 7-5-10-2

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES