Colonel Power Stakes ($100.000 Purse)
FG- For Four Year Olds and Upward
Five and a Half Furlong on the Turf
February 19, 2022
The Colonel Power Stakes is an ungraded event at FG that first appeared on the schedule in 2005, and has been run mostly every year since. The purse has varied between $50.000 and $100.000, so it is at its high point right now. Hambletonian Stable is the most successful trainer in the race with three wins, coming in a four span between 2016 and 2019. Last year, Regret Nothing got the win for Maxmillion Farm and the now seven year old gelding is still experiencing success at the graded level to this day. This year will have eight go to the gate, and two of them are fillies and mares. We’re just going to see more of that these days it seems.
#1- Data Overload (Mb Stables, ridden by C J Hernandez)- It won’t be the first time that this five year old mare races against males, and she did so recently in the Grade 2 Woodford. She finished in the double digits that day. A few weeks ago, she went wire to wire in an allowance and will hope for the best with her five pound weight allowance.
#2- Deaf Capo (Asgar, ridden by R Gutierrez)- The five year old gelding has been bouncing back and forth between starter allowances and ungraded stakes much like this one and has been a steady performer in them. He’s been a little better when the distance was on the shorter side, so this is right up his alley. Did win a stake in 2019, but since then it has only been a few close calls at this level.
#3- Roman Rage (Gdp Inc., ridden by L Saez)- Ran in the BC Mile three months ago, and nearly won the race, placing second. Placed second in the Shoemaker Mile and the Shadwell Turf Mile in order to get there, so that may beg the question, why is he here? Despite that success running at a mile,16 of his 17 career wins are in sprints. His lone race since the BC was an open allowance at five furlongs, that he won. Ran in the Colonel Power the last two years, running tenth and third.
#4- Lunar Watch (Black N Gold Stable, ridden by E T Baird)- Here is a horse that knows how to win, with 13 victories in 27 career starts and he has been perfect ever since arriving at Black N Gold via a $12.500 claim. Those three wins all came in starter allowances, earning the gelding the chance to return to the stake level for the first time in eleven months.
#5- Street Interest (Fractious, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- A four year old gelding with three wins in nine starts, and he has hit the board in seven of those races. It’s his first race of the New Year, but did race on December 31st in the $100.000 Janus and finished third. He’s run consistently at five furlongs on the turf for the majority of his career.
#6- Gladys (Mb Stables, ridden by E Jaramillo)- Picked up in private sales from Patterson Stables for $300.000 in June, and Mb Stables put her in the KD Preview Ladies Sprint right after, where she went second of four. Now, she is the second of our two females in this race. Did not run well in the Unzip Me, her last start, which was four months ago.
#7- Dragon Storm (Bomberracing, ridden by A Beschizza)- A winner of two ungraded stakes last summer, a pair of $75.000 races. Since then, he has not had the same success, starting with placing ninth in the Grade 2 Woodford. While that was a tough assignment, the trainer certainly hoped to do more than two spots better in the $90.000 CC Canterbury in the following race. Didn’t improve afterward, and now needs to reverse this poor trend of form.
#8- Kathmandu (Angelos Stable, ridden by J C Ferrer)- Claimed from Night Rider Stables for $16.000 in June and has made seven starts for Angelos, winning four and never failing to hit the board. He ran well prior to the claim, too, just not in the types of races he is now. This includes a third place finish in the Grade 2 Woodford, so we know he can step up to run again the best. This isn’t quite the best, so he can certainly handle these.
Prediction: 8-3-1-4
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
