CC Canterbury ($150.000 Purse)
CD- For Three Year Olds and Upward
Five and a Half Furlongs on the Turf
November 16, 2024

Turf sprinters will get their CC race as well, as the CC Canterbury takes place on Saturday will a gate full of horses. It’s the 11th time that this race has been run, and to be eligible for it, horses had to have run for a claiming price of $25.000 or less since January 1, 2023. Last year the race was won by a horse I briefly owned but was made successful by Asgar. That would be Mr Wendal, a still active four-year-old gelding. Who will be the next name added to the list? Let’s look at the possibilities, now:

1- Rubis (Mental Bloch Racing, ridden by J Loveberry)- Makes his debut for the trainer after being picked up in a $20.000 claimer last month. Only one of his twelve starts have come on the grass, and we don’t have any recent public turf works to go by. But if he’s here, there’s a reason. We’ll see how it goes.

2- Mulch (Chili King Stables, ridden by A Jimenez)- Last time we saw him, it was towards the end of September, when he won an optional claimer at PRX. It was his third win in eight tries this year, and he has been a regular turf sprinter. Been competitive in a few ungraded stake attempts.

3- Sold (The Sidley Stud, ridden by G Corrales)- Claimed by the trainer for $14.000, a race that he would win at PIM. With The Sidley Stud, he has one win in three starts, but the other two results saw him place fifth. He was a non-factor last month in the $135.000 Floral Park at AQU but is capable of putting that behind him here.

4- Hawkman (Apache Warrior, ridden by J A Torres)- This gelding will be looking to win his third race in a row. It’s been two months since we last saw him, but when he won the PRX open allowance in September, it was on short rest, so he deserved the time off. Very consistent in hitting the board, including at the stake level. Narrowly missed out on a win in the $225.000 Beau Stakes here in June.

5- No Hitter (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by F Jara)- The veteran six-year-old will be making his 37th start here, and is hoping to earn his first win of 2024. He’s hit the board in four of seven races, however. His last win came in a starter allowance at a mile and a half here last October. Hasn’t done a lot of sprinting in his career.

6- Scenario (Mb Stables, ridden by R Santana Jr)- Never lived up to the expectations of his early trainer, who allowed him to get claimed for just $7.500 last November. Mb Stables needed to spend more than that to claim him when he did, and he has gotten two very different races since the purchase from him.

7- Reinvestment (Spankys Barn, ridden by Mar Garcia)- Last time out, he ran in the Grade 3 BEL Turf Sprint at AQU, but did not cash a check. Had a similar result when he attempted the Grade 1 Jaipur over the summer. His results are better when not taking on graded company, and this is a very good spot for him to run. Winless in seven starts, though, in 2024 and only hit the board once this year.

8- Proud Cup (Mb Stables, ridden by A Beschizza)- Claimed by the trainer for $16.000 in December, and has made four starts for Mb Stables. In that stretch, he has one win, which was in a similar claiming race. After that, the trainer took a shot at the $2,000.000 KD Turf Sprint, but Proud Cup made no one proud and finished dead last. While this isn’t the KD Turf Sprint, Proud Cup didn’t show much last time in a PRX starter allowance, either.

9- Sweet People (Acber Farms, ridden by T Gaffalione)- A lightly raced gelding that will make just his fifth career start here. In his prior four races, he’s been productive with two wins and a second. On debut, Sweet People was entered into a maiden claimer for $15.000 to become eligible for this race. This is a good spot to run in a stake for the first time.

10- Free Beer (Mb Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- The third entry in the field by Mb Stables has actually spent the majority of his career with Night Rider Stables. With that trainer, Free Beer won often, but after a couple of graded runs that only saw one fourth-place check, he was entered into the September auction. Mb Stables picked him up for $40.000 and was third in an optional claimer last time out.

11- Buck Ford (Spankys Barn, ridden by L Saez)- While this one has had a busy schedule in 2024, with ten starts, he has not made any trips to the winner’s circle this year. You have to go all the way back to August 2023 for his last win. Joined Spankys Barn in April and typically puts in a solid effort so perhaps it is just a matter of time until he wins again.

12- Big Turkey (Asgar, ridden by R Bejarano)- Most of this gelding’s twenty career starts have been in turf sprints, but he has only one twice in his lifetime. The last time he tasted victory, it was in March 2023, so it’s been a while. He has not been bad since then, and had a string of seconditis at one point, but he has also been in the top three just once in his last four tries.

13- King Of Prakith (Lanfranco Stable, ridden by M Pedroza Jr)- Prior to being claimed, this gelding had not done much of anything. But everything changed for the horse after Lanfranco put in his $3.500 claim in April. He took some time to get him right and took a big swing in the KD Turf Sprint. While that did not go well, he also did not seem out of place and would do better in the Grade 2 Nearctic a month later, placing second. Back-to-back triple digit SRF’s were earned as well. He looks promising here.

14- South Star (Onlineracingclub.com, ridden by C Landeros)- Our final entry in this field was claimed by the trainer for $10.500 in June, and has made three starts for his current connections. In those races, South Star has two wins, taking a claimer at SAR in July as well as winning a starter allowance at KEE last time out. He’s certainly earned his spot in this field, and this will be his stake debut.

Prediction: 13-4-9-2

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded