The Ft. Lauderdale Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
GP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
January 14, 2017
We’re back from holiday break and ready to get going on this new season. Hopefully, everyone has had a big win or two out there over the last few weeks. We’ll start this off with coverage of the Grade 2 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes, and it comes with a heavy heart out there to be thinking about Ft. Lauderdale given the recent events. As far as the race is concerned, this is the 10th edition, with its purse beginning modestly as a $75.000 ungraded event to ultimately becoming the Grade 2 that it is today. Recently, some good horses have won this race such as Breiterate and Sri Lanka, so it should not be a surprise to see some high caliber horses in this full field of twelve. Another story for this race surrounds jockey J R Leparoux, who will be looking for his third win a row in this stake, and he’ll ride War Scent. He will tie K J Desormeaux for most jockey wins in this race if he does. Here’s our field!
#1-Doctored (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- The gelding rides a five race winning streak into this race, and he has also won seven of eight, overall. His last race, coming around Thanksgiving, served as his graded stake debut, when he took part in the Grade 3 Tropical Turf Handicap, and used that to extend his streak. It earned him a career high 103 SRF, and returns to that same distance here today. This will be the toughest competition he has ever faced, but he has always been able to rise to the occasion.
#2- Zulu Dancer (Witeout Stables, ridden by N Juarez)- An inability to step up has been the thorn in the side to Zulu Dancer over the course of his career. When not running in graded stakes, he has a very nice track record, particularly after Witeout purchased him in private sales for $15.000. However, the trainer has tried to advance his career a couple times, with runs in the Grade 2 Commonwealth Derby and Grade 3, and his finishes were 9th of 9, and 8th of 8, beaten a combined 12 lengths. He’ll be a longshot here.
#3- War Scent (Our Athletes, ridden by J R Leparoux)- The veteran of 32 career races will start his six-year old season running in new silks, having been purchased by the current trainer in the December auction for $50.020. I’m very interested to see what he does here, as I’ll admit I strongly considered a bid of my own when he was up on the auction block. He did seem to like when his distance was cut just prior to the sale to the type of distance we run here today. He’ll also have Leparoux aboard, and he knows how to win this race.
#4- Speedy Concillatory (Cherrytree Hill Farm, ridden by J Bravo)- The trainer searches for his first graded win by a horse not named Compress, and overall he’s gotten off to a good start in 2017 with six wins in 24 starts. The Speeding Home gelding is coming off the best race of his career in winning the ungraded $100.000 El Prado, and even though that race was a little shorter, it does appear as though he found a little something extra to get that win. This is a good spot to see if he can step it up a notch. He worked very well here on the 6th of this month and is ready to roll.
#5- Box Seat (Kopites, ridden by E Jaramillo)- Two weeks ago, Box Seat finished 4th in a $35.000 claiming event at nearly the same distance on the grass, on the other side of the country, and did not get claimed. Off of that, and on short rest, here he is in the Ft. Lauderdale. If this was a smaller field, without the likes of Sir Tom, I could probably see a shot for him to be involved, and don’t completely rule him out of the trifecta.
#6- Sonic (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by R Alvarado Jr)- This colt had a pretty strong three year old season with three wins in nine starts, and he closed it out with a win in the River City Handicap at CD in November. The jockey owes the trainer one with Sonic, too. The last time those two were together, Sonic ran poorly, but it was on yielding turf and that is a result we can probably throw out, unless it rains again. It’s not expected too, so now Alvarado can get some Sonic redemption. He’ll be a threat and is very capable of winning the race. Going with him on a hunch.
#7- Fast As Lightning (Alegria, ridden by T Gaffalione)- Interestingly, we go from a horse named Sonic to one named Fast As Lightning. This is now a six year old gelding with 28 starts to his credit, and he has hit the board in 19 of them, although the trainer would turn in some of those thirds for wins. Much of his early career was running at lower levels, but he did break through with an ungraded stake win in September at LAD, taking the $75.000 Unbridled Handicap. You have to like, regardless of level, that he always seem to be near the front. This is a tough task, though.
#8- West Northwest (Grimley, ridden by J J Castellano)- Twelve days into 2017 and J J Castellano has yet to ride a virtual winner this year. The jockey is 0-for-20 on the year, so he is obviously due for a hot streak. Perhaps this seven year old gelding can be a part of it, though they haven’t had the best runs together up to this point. 2016 was a strong year for West Northwest, but he never did get that stake win, running in stakes in seven of his nine starts. The two non-stakes were wins. His claim to fame is winning the Cigar Handicap in 2015, and will need a win here to show that he could match that performance again.
#9- Tokyo Secret (Tiratzo, ridden by J C Caraballo)- The now four year old gelding has made 15 career starts, and a few of them have been attempts at the graded level. The results are decent in those win two runner up performances, coming in the AP Classic and Kent Stakes, both Grade 3’s. Prior to those runs, he won the ungraded $75.000 Sophomore Turf at TAM. Like a few others, this is his toughest race so far, but he does have the ability to be close at the end, so he could surprise some folks.
#10- Final Decision (Canny Lodge, ridden by J Lezcano)- Entering his four year old season, Final Decision comes off a year where he won two of nine, though hit the board in seven of them. He took a couple cracks at the graded level in that stretch, and did get one his third place runs in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at DMR. Looks as though he needs to find a way to be a couple ticks quicker to have a shot, and I am not sure that will happen based on his recent work.
#11- Sir Tom (Brave, ridden by Ed Castro)- We will have one of the greats in this race as Sir Tom gets set to begin his six year old season just a tad shy of $3,000.000 in career earnings. He won three of seven last year, with his most recent win being the Grade 1 United Nations. Since then, though, Sir Tom has failed to hit the board in three consecutive races, though all are grade 1’s, and one is the BC Turf. Still, that is the longest streak of his career without a top three, and this would seem to be a good spot for him to at least snap that streak, if not win. This horse only works short distances publicly, so it’s impossible to see if there’s a reason to be concerned right now. We’ll see on Saturday.
#12- Japan (Big Jd Racing, ridden by J Rosario)- There will some out there surely hoping for the Japan-Tokyo Secret exacta to play out in this race, and I don’t think either of them should be ruled out. Japan is essentially new to the graded scene, though he did take a shot at one last year, though was a non-factor in the Grade 2 Stars & Stripes. Maybe just not the right named race for him. I like how he ran last month in the CC Emerald, just missing out in a second place photo, and it looks like his works are picking up a bit. Generally speaking, he knows how to be near the front, hitting the board in 21 of 27 career races including an impressive streak from May 2015 to June 2016 (which was snapped in the Stars & Stripes). He’ll be a threat here, but is not my pick.
Prediction: 6-11-1-4
— NS
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES
