Iroquois – Grade III
CD Race #1 1m Dirt Graded Stake
Purse $300.000 For Two Year Olds.

1 Ranger Jim Williams9 Fresu A 120 —

Scraped home in a maiden claimer and was then bought for $35.000 by the current owner who switches him to the stakes racing here for a big leap in form. The trip is a big plus as he stayed the mile well last time and he should get an economical trip in behind the speed but with nothing much else to go on he is hard to recommend.

2 Apirana Mb Stables Alvarado J 120 —

A good winner of an SAR maiden but couldn’t follow that up at allowance level at the same track last time. His works are telling us he is up to this and maybe the mile will suit so along with some stable favor with the draw monster he must be a decent chance.

3 Storm Kash Mb Stables Garcia Mar 120 —

Is this a hit and hope or is it another master stroke from the trainer as we see this maiden who has been sprinting on the turf take on a dirt route? It is impossible to tell how he will run because the works say he can but as we all know works don’t mean much these days. A great draw so the plan has it’s best chance of coming off.

4 Raining Prince Nakamura Stables Castillo I 120 —

You have to like the look of this one’s form as he made it three in a row with a good tough win in the ELP Debutante last time. The works don’t help much as they are pretty much the same as everything else, but the form is outstanding, and he probably rates the best chance of the win here.

5 Launch Code TwinTowersRacing Davis D 120 —

Won nicely on debut but has found it tough to follow that up. A good second in the Graduation Stakes last time he may well be suited by this step up in trip and I think the stable may have a top three chance at good odds with this one.

6 Heel Turn Bigchief Stables Smith M E 120 —

I liked the way this one battled on to win his maiden last time at DMR and with that win coming over the mile we can be sure that he will see out every yard of this trip. A lot will depend on where he can settle from the squeeze draw but if he gets a bit of luck then he will run a strong race.

7 Poor Grandeur LionKing Stables Pennington F 120 —

Managed to grind out the win last time in a DMR maiden claimer but this will be tougher especially with a closing running style. His works are certainly saying he is going in the right direction though and the trip looks like it will improve him again. As long as he doesn’t go too far back, he is a winning chance.

8 Cero Miedo Alydar Stables Dettori L 120 —

Two gutsy efforts after a debut win say this one has the heart and his effort in the Sapling last time was much better than the fourth place he ended with, so he is worth a serious look at. He will be in this race for a long way and battling hard and one of these days the draw monster will give him a better draw, that’s not today though.

9 Haggis Glory The Sidley Stud Ortiz J L 120 —

The stable continues in great form this year but the draw monster has handicapped them with two wide draws with their entries today. A winner on debut he has been close up in three stakes race each time from a similar draw and each time closing too late. You would think the longer trip would help but that doesn’t always make much difference at HRP so the stable will either be relying on a suicidal early pace to help or be clicking the gaming buttons to try and keep this one up with them early. A win chance of things go his way.

10 Daring Ned The Sidley Stud Rispoli U 120 —

A decent win in the TTA Sales Futurity was followed by only a pass mark run in the SAR Special where he never really got involved. Gets another chance but with this draw will be relying on other factors.

11 Palmyra Puncher Xcel Racing Rodriguez A R 120 —

Interestingly came from a mile behind to win a decent allowance at MTH last time and now faces the exact opposite draw so the tactics will be key here. Does he go all the way back again and rely on the pace being right or does he use the speed push to set him up near the lead? This new stable will be thinking hard about what to do but they have a good one here and will be excited to be part of this BC qualifier.

SUMMARY

A tough race to call as all of these juvenile races are. On the face of it Raining Prince has the form to win and would be a strong fancy in the BC should he do so, so he must be the top choice. Beyond him, there are plenty of chances and it may be worth throwing a few in behind him to make up the exacta. Launch Code, Heel Turn and Poor Grandeur would be my choices, but any combination looks good so don’t let me influence your betting decision.

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES