The LRL Turf Cup (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
LRL- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
September 24, 2016
While the racing at PRX might get your first attention, there is also a fantastic card going on a bit south at LRL. There are three graded events taking place on Saturday here, and one of them will be the return of the LRL Turf Cup after a full ten years. That’s right, the last time we held this race here at HRP was in 2006, and this will be just the third total time we have had the race. It is a much different race now, as before it was an ungraded race that ran for $75.000 and $100.000. Now it has earned a Grade 2 designation, doubled the purse, and the end result is a good quality field. The last winner of this race was My Night To Howl in 2006, trained by Beav Racing. When was the last time he was mentioned in the SRF? This year, we have a field of nine going to post. Let’s take a look!
#1- Lightning Bolt (Blushing Meadows, ridden by V R Carrasco)- Has won two of his seven career starts, which is a fine number in itself, but he hasn’t hit the board in any of the other five. He broke his maiden earlier this year at SA, and did get a solid allowance victory at CD. That’s all good, but when the trainer has tried to move him up into this level of competition, Lightning Bolt has not delivered the stretch thunder. Perhaps he gets this inconsistency from his dam. The namesake, of course. I’m skeptical, but never rule anything out that starts on the rail.
#2- Friday Thirteenth (Australia Wide, ridden by H A Karamanos)- This three year old gelding has won four of seven, and only once has he failed to be a part of the exacta. On KYD day at CD, he picked up a win in the undercard, taking the Grade 2 American Turf. After that he was fifth, but only out by a length in the Grade 3 PEN Mile. Despite the finish in the running order, his career still seemed to be going forward, so it is surprising that he has only been in optional claimers in this last two starts. This looks like a great spot for him to win a big one again!
#3- Prince Hal (Boomtown, ridden by E Camacho)- After many close finishes, Prince Hal was finally able to break his maiden at WO this June, which (excluding his debut at MNR) represented his first true race on the grass. That went well, and so did the races that followed, and he is coming off an allowance win at DMR in which he received a 101 SRF. He has earned the right to move his career forward and will certainly be in the mix here. Now that he has figured out how to win, there may be no stopping him.
#4- Try Me Bro (Joseph Racing, ridden by J Pimentel)- It is Try Me Bro who is actually trying something here as he takes on graded company for the first time. Joseph Racing was able to pick him in the June auction from Mb Stables for $25.010, and immediately put him into a couple of small ungraded stakes. Both saw yielding turf, and he did get a victory in his most recent start, the $75.000 Horizon Stakes at BTP. He’s been very consistent in his career, and is very capable of getting a win here.
#5- Heart Pocket Jeans (Yahudi Stables, ridden by Je Toledo)- This four year old colt has been consistent in his ability to finish second this year, with four runner ups in six starts. Unfortunately for the trainer, there are no wins mixed in. He’s been with Yahudi for two races now, since a private sales transaction of $150.000 saw him be acquired from Deja Vu Farm. This race seems to be an excellent landing spot for him after his last outing, where he was dead last in the Grade 1 Arlington Million. He won’t see that level of competition again here and I think all he needs to do is repeat his effort from the Poker Handicap in June, and he can win the race if he does.
#6- General White (Eastern Equine, ridden by An Cruz)– I’ll be a biased breeder with a rooting interest for this race, and I will hoping that General White runs better then he did the last time I saw him. He was unable to get it done in the Grade 2 Sky Classic, but like Heart Pocket Jeans, he too is landing in a much better spot to get a bounce back result. He needs that, as all he really has to show for this year is one third place run back in January. Since then, he has not even hit the board, and he seems to be too good for that.
#7- Indian Chief (Scorpion Stables, ridden by X Perez)- This three year old Chief Prospector colt has been running especially well ever since this spring. He had always shown promise, but his run in the Grade 3 TX Mile opened eyes, as he earned a 102 SRF in that big victory. Right after that, he showed that it wasn’t a fluke, and won again in the $150.000 Easy Goer, while carrying 128 pounds! Those results led Scorpion Stables to run him in the Grade 1 Haskell against the some of the very best in his division. That didn’t pan out, and now the trainer is going to see what he can do on the turf. Would’ve liked to have seen a more recent work to get a better feel for how he may handle it.
#8- Hes Juiced Up (Joshua Stables, ridden by E S Prado)- Purchased by Joshua Stables from Mb Stables in June for $76.010. A few weeks after the sale, Hes Juiced Up made his debut on the turf in Grade 2 King Edward BC Stakes and stunned the field as he picked up the win! Joshua tried to see how far he could go with him, and sent him to the Arlington Million after that, but he would only finish 8th there. So now it’s a step back in class and a step back in distance to be more along the lines of the race he won in July. If he runs like he did in the King Edward, he will win this race. Though that may be tough to repeat.
#9- Pump Action Shotgun (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by F Boyce)- On the outside, Pump Action Shotgun looks to be one of the top horses in this race. He was bought for a bargain price in private sales, just $50.000 from D J C Racing Stables in July after several off the board finishes in graded company. Maxmillion cut back on his distance to seven furlongs, and would get a runner up performance in their only race together thus far, the Grade 2 Play The King Stakes at WO. Here, he gets another furlong to race, and that will come in handy. I’m making him my pick.
Prediction: 9-8-5-2
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES
