KD Turf Cup (Grade 3)- $1,000.000 Purse
KD- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Turf
September 7, 2019

A fantastic race is on the schedule here on a great day at KD. It is the seventh edition of the KD Turf Cup, and the turf starts out to try and get a piece of the largest purse that it has ever offered. On the line is $1,000.000, up from $750.000, and up dramatically from the $100.000 that it ran for the first ever time. It’s not an automatic qualifier for the BC Turf, but you can be sure that there will be a few in that race that came out of this one. Last year, the turf was soft (not expected this time), and Spanish Showboat annihilated the field with a seven length rout. Better weather will assure a closer finish this time around. The gate is full, so let’s look at the participants!

#1- Laffin Jamie (High Voltage, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- On the rail, this gelding has managed one win in his six starts this season, which was the Grade 3 Palm Beach back in March. He comes off a second place run in another Grade 3, the La Jolla Handicap, against three others in his last start. This is along the lines of the BEL Derby, however, and that race saw a flat effort. So, that is a bit of a concern, because he needs to be able to step up to the level of competition. Here is another chance for him to do so.

#2- Oh Awesome One (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by D E Centeno)- The seven year old will make the 44th start of his career. After running in the BC Sprint a couple of times, he is hoping to take on different BC competition. The trainer completely changed up the way Oh Awesome One runs at the start of the year, and he has continued to be competitive. This is not an easy assignment, but this is a gritty horse.

#3- Equivocal (Smokey Stover, ridden by F Pennington)- Seems like I just covered him, and I kind of did. I remember him disappointing me by finishing second in what became a three horse field in the Breeders Stakes at WO. Sure, the turf was yielding, and in all seriousness there is plenty that can be forgiven. But Equivocal, you need to make it up to me! It’s just his sixth start, and he should contend. Maybe he will like a bigger field!

#4- Soviet Warrior (Mb Stables, ridden by Alan Garcia)- There will be two in this field from Mb Stables, and I do like his other entry a little better if he is to defend his stake crown. As I often say then, that probably means Soviet Warrior wins. They both come out of the $1,000.000 SAR Derby, and Soviet Warrior was two lengths behind his stablemate. This is a longer race, and that may be enough for the script to switch between them. Both his dirt sand turf works are excellent.

#5- People Doubted (Aml Racing, ridden by E Maldonado)- Since making an immediate splash on the turf last year with big summertime wins, People Doubted has not been as strong this year. His only in the money finish of the season was a win, The Grade 2 San Marcos, but that’s been it. In several races, he has not been close, and his last four races seen him beaten a combined 22 lengths. I’m doubting, but he has shown he can fire off a big one sometimes.

#6- Raj Action Packed (Arindel, ridden by T Gaffalione)- The trainer picked him via a $25.000 claim from Night Rider Stables, and is hoping that his glory days are not behind him. So far, things have gotten off to a good start for Arindel, with a recent win in the $100.000 Johns Call just three weeks ago. He has been running well in the claimers beforehand, so he has earned this attempt to get back to where he was as a three year old.

#7- Winter Solstice (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- He has won just one time this year, but with a little more luck at the wire, all five of his races could have been wins. Therefore, he really knows how to run well, and is always a threat at the end. Things just don’t quite go his way at the wire. His one victory was a good one, the $1,000.000 Grade 1 Forester Turf Classic on the KYD undercard. Gutierrez has been his most common jockey of late as well. Plenty of reason to like him, but will it be another close call instead?

#8- Hefner (Mb Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- Each of the Mb Stables horses in the field are three, and this will give them a three pound weight allowance. Hefner has just one win this year, coming in the Grade 2 King Edward BC Stakes north of the border, but the most impressive result was his second by a nose effort in the $1,000.000 SAR Derby. I’m not certain that the trainer will run with the same tactic here, since this is a longer race, but definitely Mb can figure something out that will be the best.

#9- B N Broadway (Nolespan Racing, ridden by J J Castellano)- Two weeks ago, it was a $14.000 claimer at SAR. Now, with his new owner, B N Broadway is going right into a $1,000.000 graded stake. And that’s not even my biggest concern with him. His works are great, making it pretty amazing that he was even running in claimers to begin with. I do believe B N Broadway is a stake horse, and have seen his jump before. My concern is that short turnaround. Many here are more rested, and for that reason and not the former cheap claimer reason, I will look elsewhere.

#10- Maniaco del Controll (Threshold, ridden by A Beschizza)- This would certainly be a big win for Threshold, and for that to happen he is going to have to perform the way he did back in May at the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap. Perhaps wearing the same saddlecloth number with remind the gelding of his strong race. He’s been off over two months, but is working well coming in, especially at the beginning of the August at DMR.

#11- The Fog (Rampage Stable, ridden by J L Ortiz)- So far in nine starts. The Fog has managed just his maiden win, and will make his graded debut here. Prior to this, he has two ungraded runs, highlighted by his last outing, where he was second in the KD Preview Turf Cup. Not sure why they call that a preview, as The Fog is the only one to make it here from that race. I like that he seems to be improving with each start, and think that getting a check of any sort here would be a very good stepping stone.

#12- Penitentiary (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by L Contreras)- The five year old will make the 26th start of his career, and if he could pull it off, it would be the biggest win of his life. He has been successful mostly in ungraded stakes, or smaller graded stakes. His attempts to take on the best the game has to offer are not the greatest lines in his past performances, most notably where he ran 8th on soft turf in the Forester. He’ll get more ground here, but I am not sure that will make much of a difference.

#13- Lunar Blaze (John Henry, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Won a couple of big races at the start of the year, most notable the Pegasus World Cup Turf (Grade 1), but since then, it has been back to missing out by a length. Lunar Blaze has had a great career, but if half of those close calls could have been wins, he’d be seen as one of the greats. This will be the third time in four races that he starts from the outside, as well. Plenty of reason to like him, just wish he was in a better starting spot.

Prediction: 7-8-13-3

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES