Say Florida Sandy
7 Furlongs Dirt Stake Purse $100.000 Open 4 Year Olds And Up Foaled In NY.

1st Duke King Mental Bloch Racing McCarthy T

I want to spend a bit of time with this winner because there is no doubt it is an interesting story. In 2016 as a two year old this seven year old was sold for $250 after a close fifth in the Breeders Futurity. As a three year old under his new owner he was a little disappointing but still managed a high level allowance win and a one length sixth in the Peter Pan. He was then bought for $80 and only had eight races in the next 3 seasons not winning again and eventually ending up in claimers. There were changes to adds in that time but little else changed on the face of it apart from that sparse race record because he still showed up in works as a useful sort.

So here we are now almost 4 years since his last win with another new owner who found him for $8 and he turns up in a competitive stakes race and wires the field for an unlikely win. Now we could attribute his new found success to a change in adds, we could say this is the first time he has raced twice within a month for a long time, you could even assume the old trainer was doing something terribly wrong however if you take a quick look back not all of that seems to add up. In 2019 he worked the same time as he did recently over six furlongs and in the same year recorded a 1.36 and 1 dirt mile work, in 2019 he didn’t record a win but only raced three times suggesting that it wasn’t the adds, or the trainer but frequency of races that was his biggest problem.

So what can we learn from this win? Well one thing is for sure the new trainer certainly spotted a horse with fast works and a light campaign which is often a thing well worth looking out for. That fact is made all the more creditable because that same trainer only started last year and has only raced 15 times. A star trainer in the making to look out for for sure but whilst this was a great win and an incredible piece of researched success we must also temper the win with the fact that only two lengths covered the field at the end.

I will be looking forward to this horses next run, how crazy would it be if he ended up on the big stage in November!

2nd Akkadian Night Rider Stables Lezcano J

This one looked like he would pick up the winner at one point but just didn’t get there in time, In hindsight with just an average early pace he would have better off closer to the leader from a draw that could’ve helped him do that but instead he fell back a little and just couldn’t make up the ground at the end.

3rd Cliffs Of Dover Spankys Barn Franco M

This one stalked the leader the whole way and whilst once again he showed his gameness he just didn’t quicken like a stakes winner has to. The wide gate was almost certainly to blame for that fact as in his last race a fast pace saw him drop right back and fly home whereas the slower pace today put him too near the speed. Maybe the new race engine will help this four year old make the leap into this grade.

4th Unfold Fractious Davis D

The class horse in the race the pace was just too slow for this one and whilst he stayed on, the horses in front weren’t stopping like they would’ve with a faster pace. There are wins to be had with him if things go his way.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded