ELP Derby

1 Mile Stake Purse $400.00 Three-Year-Olds. At ELP

ELP Derby is an interesting collection of sophomores which had their shot at the KYD and either failed or passed and horses that, for whatever reason, never had a shot at the big show. I like a mild upset by TwinTowersRacing’s Sinissipi Swinger which won a place in the Derby starting gate but went off the boil and had to give the Derby a miss. He looks to be improving back to form right now. Mo Mentum Farm’s Coach McGuirk was born to late for the KYD, but he’s been making a lot of noise since getting here and seems a strong chance to win this Derby. And then there’s Maxmillion Farm’s Reciprocal Rubber which actually raced in the KYD but unfortunately finished last. He was awfully good getting to the Derby.

Here’s the field:

Horse                                  Owner                               Odds  SRF

Sinissipi Swinger               TwinTowersRacing              5-1        94

Coach McGuirk                  Mo Mentum Farm                4-1        96

Reciprocal Rubber            Maxmillion Farm                 *3-1        95

Sweet N Spicy                    Mb Stables                          4-1        94

Angel In Command            Mb Stables                        10-1        92

Olden Times                       Paradise Stable                 20-1        90

Final World Gullis               Noblepark                          20-1        93

1  Olden Times                         Paradise Stable                    90

His owner keeps believing in Olden Times, and he keeps  letting him down. The best you can say about him is he seemed to be waking up in his last two races. I hope he likes quick turnarounds because its been only around two weeks since his last race.

2  Coach McGuirk                       Mo Mentum Farm                 96   

Born too late for all the KYD stuff, Coach McGuirkis running in his Derby today. Only seven races, this is one hot horse: throw out those first two races and this horse has never been worse than third in the remaining six starts. Obviously, much was expected of him early as he was sold by his breeder Patterson Stables for $250.00 after his first maiden loss at BTP. After another disappointing loss, whatever made him worth $250.00 kicked in and he ran second at FG and then ran a string of three straight culminating with The $125.00 Pegasus Stakes at MTH. Most recently he finished third in The Grade III IND Derby. So that was his Derby Prep, and this is his Derby.

3   Sinissipi Swinger                    TwinTowersRacing               94

Sinissipi Swinger started off the KYD qualifying season with a bang by making the Grade III Lewis Stakes his third straight win. Unfortunately, he went off the boil and rather than using his Derby card, he rested six weeks and returned in a six-furlong blow out allowance at CD which was not promising. Still his connections entered him in The Grade III Maxfield Stakes where he showed a flash of the old Sinissipi Swinger and finished third. Now, with this progress, I expect we will see the Lewis Stakes Swinger.

4   Sweet N Spicy                    Mb Stables                     93

Sweet N Spicy is a promising Mb Stables colt the finished third in the Grade I SA Derby. Since that Derby, he has been fed a steady diet of seven-furlong races, starting with a third in a very rich KEE allowance race. He followed that with a come from behind victory in The $200.00 Lee at SAR, and then most recently, a seven-furlong wire-to-wire win in a PRX Optional Claimer. He’s a decent miler, and I think the seven-furlong preps will help stop him from doing what he did in The $150.00 Jerome when he got so far back, he couldn’t get up in time and had to settle for third.

5   Angel In Command                    Mb Stables                      92

Mb Stables picked up Angel In Command as an undefeated two-year-old from C And C Racing for $200.00 and got him to run second in The $135.00 Gander at AQU, but since then, not too much on the stakes stage. He won those first two, but no wins since and his latest start was up the track in The Grade III Maxfield Stakes.

6   Reciprocal Rubber                 Maxmillion Farm                  95

Reciprocal Rubber was all over the place in the Run for the Roses. He won his first ticket into the Derby while he was still a two-year-old by winning The Grade I Champagne at AQU, then he ran third in the BC Juvenile, followed by his second ticket into the Derby by winning the Grade II KY Jockey Club at CD. The rest of the season leading up to the Derby went smashingly with only one stumble in the Rebel, but he bounced right back with a win in the $250.00 Rushaway Stakes at TP. Then came the Derby and a last place finish. I expected better. After the Derby, he tried the Grade III Winn and he finished up the track. I expected better. It could have been the effect of finishing 20th. This is exactly the kind of spot he wakes up.

7   Final World Gullis                          Noblepark                       93

Lightly raced Final World Gullis has had a lot thrown at him in only five races. He did well to finish third in the $125.00 Snow Chief Stakes but couldn’t stand the competition in The Grade I Haskel. Perhaps a drop to Grade III and his growing ability and confidence will make him a factor here.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded