The Suburban – Grade II
1 1/4 Mile Dirt Stake Purse $400.000 Open 4 Year Olds And Up.

1st    Combat Wombat   Maxmillion Farm   Bridgmohan S X

I think we can safely say that Combat Wombat is back, if ever he really went away. After his remarkable all the way demolition of the PIM Special field he came out today and had his running style adjusted either by the magic click of a button or the randomness of the race engine and effectively did the same thing to a very good field in the Suburban. At seven years old his recent form is every bit as good as the day he exploded onto the scene when winning The Pacific Classic in only his fourth career start and once more there is chatter among rival trainers of him being a major BC Classic hope. Can he last through to November? Well it is always nice to see the superstars of HRP at the big dance and i certainly hope so but one feels there will be some emerging three year olds down the line that will once again come to the fore in November.
For now lets enjoy one of the old warriors as he approaches the 4K winning mark and adds to that wonderful puzzle in the BC Classic a race he has already finished second in.

2nd    Sensei   Mb Stables   Jaramillo E

I must admit out of the three Mb Stables runners i felt that this one was probably third best so it was a surprise to see him flying through at the end and grabbing second. Consistency is never mentioned in the same sentence as this horse so it is hard to weigh up whether this was a return to the DMR Derby winning form or just another one of those efforts which leaves you scratching your head. His jockey managed to find just about every horse to run into the back of and never really put this horse in a position to win this race which was a strange decision by the race engine. One can only believe this horse was second best today but you are left wondering, what if? If Mb has really found the key to this one he has plenty of time to start winning big races.

3rd    Sunderland Til I Die   TwinTowersRacing   Velazquez J R

He used the ace draw perfectly to lead early on but he always looked a bit vulnerable and sure enough as the winner cruised up and the closers closed he had to fight hard to hold on for third. Fight he did though and one feels that this honest four year old has a big win in him one day.

4th    Stolen   D J C Racing Stables   Franco M

I thought the solid pace in this race would see this one unleash a thunderous late run like he did in the Brooklyn last time and though he made ground for fourth he never really got into a challenging position. Closers like this will always struggle with traffic at HRP as each horse seems to have an invisible force field around it which makes horses get stuck in fresh air but at the end of the day horses have to make their own luck and today this was fourth best.

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES