Forester Turf Classic – Grade I
CD Race #11 1 1/8m Turf Graded Stake
Purse $1,000.000 For Four Year Olds And Upward.
Whilst the stars of the three year old division battle it out in the Oaks and the Derby the old stars of the turf battle it out here to take the 1K prize.
This race has a bit of a checkered history as far as the winners go though and last years winner Pure Gifts is a good example of that. After the Forrester he never won another race and only survived another 8 months before being put down. The previous years winner Winter Solstice has been more successful since his win but still hasn’t managed another grade one success since whilst the 2018 winner Banshee Star who won the last running of this race when it was called the Woodford Turf Classic couldn’t even manage a stakes win of any kind after his victory.
An intriguing recent history that may be some compensation if your horse doesn’t win the race however, i think this years race may be the best field assembled for the contest for some time so history may be about to change.
Here is how they line up:
1 Lets Do It Big Boy RNP Stables McCarthy T
This is a superstar son of Cherokee Sunset who has been fourth twice in this race as well as sixth beaten a length on another occasion. Add to those efforts a third in the BC Turf and the amazing fact that in his last 38 races he has raced in stakes races for 37 of them and you have one of the most consistent older horses in the game. He has looked as good as ever this year as a seven year old wining the Muniz Memorial Handicap with top weight and a wide draw before closing hard in the Makers Mark Mile to be a close sixth.
He gets the ace draw and in in form jockey but sometimes horses can get buried and find traffic in these big fields so he will have to bring his A game today.
2 Hollywood Command Scarletandgraystable Saez G
Now this one has all the makings of a HRP special as he takes on some of the best turfer’s in the game after being claimed for just $7.50 3 races ago. Since the claim the trainer seems to have done basically nothing with him and yet he has won an allowance before very nearly winning the Appleton last time from a terrible draw.
Maybe Scarletandgraystable just has better carrots at their place or just maybe they have found something in the instructions to cause this huge improvement to be unlocked.
The works are saying it is no fluke so coming from the sought after two box this four year old is waiting to write his own story.
3 Immoral Mb Stables Jaramillo E
A four year old gelding by No Doubt About It out of Noble Moment and the winner of $3145.26. A winner of three grade ones he took the Makers Mark Mile last time by a neck and has the beating of a few of these on that form. His recent 1.09 work was super slick so he looks to start favorite and will probably win.
4 Dead Madness John Henry Bridgmohan S X
This five year old out earns the probable favorite Immoral by 2K and was the BC Turf winner in 2019 so really is one of the greats of the game. The winner of four grade ones including the Arlington Million twice he was beaten just a nose in this race last year when drawn 11 so one year on and drawn four he must be a serious chance.
In his two runs this year he hasn’t looked himself but his works are still sharp and i don’t think he has gone downhill i just think he may have developed a bit of a character.
5 Catch A Buzz Threshold Court J K
This looks to be one of those late developers as it wasn’t until last year that we saw him out of claimers and into stakes races. He ran some decent races over both surfaces in 2020 but couldn’t win at graded level but looks to have improved again on his works and may be the dark horse in the race. Unbeaten on an off track in four races he may welcome some moisture.
6 Champion In Action Night Rider Stables Saez L
This six year old has run four times on the turf but has only managed a one win allowance victory so this may be a bit of a throw at the stumps by the owner. The winner of the 2019 Gold Cup at grade one there is clearly ability there but as his recent efforts have been a little uninspiring i wonder whether this is a desperate move rather than a planned one. He has the class and the ability but there are plenty of unanswered questions to find answers to before we can back him.
7 Sunlander Estero Farms Bejarano R
Consistency is a problem across the game but this one seems to suffer from it more than most . How this one went from a half length second in the Pegasus World Turf Cup to a flailing seventh in the Pan American i will never know but that seems to be the story of his career. Fifth in this race last year he won the Pacific Classic as well last year before a terrible draw saw him run creditably but down the field in the BC.
It may be unfair to call him inconsistent when you look at his draws because with so much of the running style of these digital horses determined by their barrier position he certainly seems to get the extremes one way or the other. On his best form he would go close but we wont have any idea how he is feeling until the final furlong.
8 Silent Commander Serenity Stables Beschizza A
This is another of those possible HRP specials because after a two year 15 race career run solely on dirt he comes to his first ever turf race after his first ever public turf work saw him run a 1.34 flat.
It seems an unlikely story that drawn 8 he will beat some of the best turfer’s around but it is a story that has been told many times before so i have a sneaking suspicion that i may just be reporting another miracle!
I can only imagine this geldings trainers face when they saw that work, it must have been a very pleasant surprise indeed.
Taking the whole turf situation out of the equation this is a decent horse who won the Peter Pan last year and contested the BEL so the class issue is already taken care of.
9 Bubba Kush Threshold Bravo J
The oldest horse in the race i know for a fact this horse is entered here as a possible last hurrah for a long and honest career. His trainer says that it is unlikely that he will ever get the chance to run in a race like this on such a big stage again and he wanted to give the old fella a send off that matched his great enthusiasm for racing. It would be wonderful to see him gunning it down the stretch to give a few a scare but in all likelihood the draw will kill of his chances.
10 So Lonely Diablo Diablo Van Dyke D
Another good old fashioned battler he has run some good races in his career but it is a stretch to see him beating the likes of Immoral from a wide draw like this. He was second in the Manhattan last year so he has some ability but plenty will have to go his way to see him in the first four here.
11 Multiple Shadows Our Athletes Gaffalione T
Falls very much into the same boat as So Lonely in that he has shown some form that could make him a contender but with a wide draw it is hard to see him worrying the best of these. The winner of the Wise Dan and second in the Sword Dancer last year he is a solid stakes horse but will need lots of T’s to be crossed and I’s to be dotted in order to prevail here.
12 Anoush Command Fractious Gutierrez Mario
The winner of the Kilroe Mile and second in the Makers Mark to Immoral last time this colt has really hit his straps since being sent to the turf. It is possible the wide gate will work for his new running style here as there still seems to be an element to the wide gate speed push left but it is a big ask for him to make all against this caliber of horses over nine furlongs. Having said that i think that’s the way he can win, getting to the lead quickly sitting on an average pace and then kicking off the bend but so much of that scenario is out of his hands.
13 Cherokee Surprise TwinTowersRacing Davis D
I groaned when i saw a TwinTowers horse in the outside gate sitting on an eight length eleventh in his last start. Why? Well this is just the sort of runner that the stable likes to put in a race like this and inevitably they perform far better than i ever give them credit for. So here we go again, he can’t win with one hoof in the car park and the other three relying on a single piece of form can he? Well that single piece of form was in the FG Stakes where he recorded a 99 speed rating and he isn’t working that far off them to say he has no chance but a win would really be another TTR miracle.
SUMMARY
This is a nice looking race but looks at the mercy of Immoral. It is his to lose so i think we can only really talk about the place-getters, of course if he gets stuck in the gates again, who knows!
So second and third, well I think Lets Do It Big Boy will run his usual honest race as will the great Dead Madness, outside those there is Catch A Buzz, Hollywood Command and Silent Commander who all look to have a chance and of course if Sunlander puts his best foot forward he could get some money. But Anoush Command must be in for second i what will be a great tactical battle and the old champ Dead Madness may get third.
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
