The Vosburgh – Grade III
7 furlongs Dirt Stake Purse $250.000 Three-Year-Old And Upward. At AQU

The Vosburgh… the beginnings… 2003… the legendary Omni owned by the guy that dragged me over here Fuji Stable. Omni won this race the only time it was 6 1/2 furlongs. The next year it went to 6 furlongs and stayed there until 2022 when it was changed to today’s 7 furlongs. In 2005 Jerry Garcia Racing won for the first of three times with the legend, Alpha Ultimo. He was nine years old when he won the race for the last time. This year Mb Stables is looking for win number four with favourite Edward The Good which comes in as beaten favourite from the grade one Forego last month. Here’s the field:

Horse                                  Owner                               Odds  SRF

Edward The Good               Mb Stables                        *3-1      102

Electric                               Angelos Stable                   4-1      101

Heeza Dime                          Team 7 Illusions                 7-2      100

Individuation                      Mb Stables                         6-1        97

Handle The Storm              Nakamura Stables              5-1        96

Eight West Party                TwinTowersRacing             6-1        96

My Tomorrows                   Maxmillion Farm                 8-1        99

To The Mattresses              Threshold                            8-1        99

Salah                                  Royalty Stables                 10-1        96        

Public Information             D J C Racing Stables        12-1        97

Waterville                           Luz International               20-1        97

Nebula Warrior                   Broken Spoke Stables      20 1        91

1  Individuation                       Mb Stables               97

Individuation is an incredible champion, only six years old and 35 races and astoundingly almost $8,500.000 in earnings. He has run routes almost exclusively all his life. Only twice in his life has he raced 7 furlongs. Guess what? He won them both. One of them was the grade one Malibu Stakes at SA, but that was back in 2022 shortly after he won the BC Classic! Now, he’s a bit off his boil, twelve races in a row without a win yet placing in grade ones along the way. How the hell do I handicap this? Maybe we should go back to the old days when same owners were coupled.

2  Handle The Storm                       Nakamura Stables                96

Handle The Storm is another one which goes a’routin’ most all his life, turf and dirt, and he has never raced 7 furlongs… nothing to go by. Great. He has done a lot of mile racing, though, and he’s pretty good at it. Here’s the important thing in my opinion, at age five years old, he’s brand new to graded stakes racing. He’s had two graded stakes races and won one, the grade three Dominion Day Stakes at WO, at 1 1/8 miles. That makes him kind of a question mark here, but I think he’s a strong chance as he’s just developing.

3   Nebula Warrior                    Broken Spoke Stables                91

Nebula Warrior is a lightly raced three-year-old making his first venture into stakes racing. It’s a giant step up for a well-trained horse which has been mostly sprinting. Considering his breeding, I can only wish him the best.

4   Eight West Party                       TwinTowersRacing              96

Another that is exclusive to longer routes, Eight West Party also has the distinction of really not caring particularly for 7 furlongs. Through a lifetime of 52 races, I just don’t see any interest in this distance, and that doesn’t bode well for his chances here. He is, however, in good form considering three consecutive grade one runs and two third place finishes at 1 1/8 miles.

5   My Tomorrows                Maxmillion Farm           99

Lightly raced for a four-year-old, My Tomorrows has won 10 of 16 and been off the board only once. Also, he’s very new to stakes racing, His first stakes was the $200.000 Marathon at CD three races back in which he placed. After that race he was sold by Wood Duck Stables for $100.000, and his new trainer placed him third in the $200.000 Commentator Handicap and got a win in the $150.000 Shipman Stakes, both at SAR, notably the latter was at 7 furlongs.

6   To The Mattresses                   Threshold            99

After half a lifetime as a router, To The Mattresses switched to sprinting, first on turf, then on dirt, which is where we find him as he comes to this race, working his way up a half furlong at a time. His last three races to this one have been grade three, and he finished respectable thirds in two of them. Unfortunately, the disrespectable loss came most recently and does not reflect well on his entry into this race.

7   Electric                   Angelos Stable              101

Electric looks electric for this race. He likes 7 furlongs. Most all his races for the past year have been between 6 1/2 furlongs and a mile, so he’s very comfortable with the distance. He won the grade three Toboggan at AQU in February at 7 furlongs and won the grade three Bold Venture Stakes at WO at 6 1/2 furlongs last out, so I see him primed and ready for this race.

8   Heeza Dime                            Asgar            100

Heeza Dime is another sprinter which fits perfectly in this race. He comes here off a strong third in the 7-furlong grade two OBrien Stakes at DMR and is in brilliant form. Asgar picked him up at auction from Fractious for $14.000 and three races later won the grade three Fleet Sprint Handicap at OP. Since then, he has placed in the grade three Kellys Landing at CD and the grade one Crosby Stakes at DMR. His current hot form puts him in the top three.

9   Waterville                Luz International              97

Waterville has been remarkably consistent as an allowance horse for his three years of racing. Since joining Luz International, he has been in the money all nine sprinting starts. Seven furlongs are just fine with him. The big question that will be answered in this race is how is he at 7 furlongs with graded company?

10   Edward The Good                   Mb Stables               102

I thought Edward The Good would win the grade one Forego at SAR and wrote my preview that way. He ran second as the favourite. Well, here we are at grade three, and I’m doing the same thing. Will I get bit again? I don’t think so. He came within a quarter-length of winning that grade one race. He won the grade one CD at 7 furlongs. He won the grade three Commonwealth at 7 furlongs He’s the 7-furlong virtuoso in this race. I’m picking him again.

11   Salah                        Royalty Stables             96

A lightly raced three-year-old, Salah will be facing older for the first time and racing less than a mile and a sixteenth for only the first time since his debut. He is so used to routes and recently long routes that I’m afraid he’s going to be surprised that the race is over just as he is starting to get going. His mixed surface works should have him fit for this.

12   Public Information                D J C Racing Stables          97 Public Information’s form has been tailing off since his win in the grade three Bold Venture Stakes at WO in August 2024. A little light here and there in longer, but his last four have definitely been off. His performance in the Forego was a low point. Hopefully he can rebound today.      

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES