Big Daddy ($125.000 Purse)
TP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
March 9, 2024

There is more money on the line in the Big Daddy than there is in the $100.000 Grade 3 Challenger Stakes that has two BC winners in it but at least this field looks more like what one would expect to see in this type of race. Naturally, you cannot compare the two races since one is a sprint and one is route, but I still find that fact amusing. Here, we will see a field of nine going six furlongs in what is actually the official debut of the race. Let’s hope it becomes a big daddy of excitement! Let’s meet the field!

1- 5 Oclock Somewhere (Night Rider Stables, ridden by J Talamo)- Claimed by the trainer for $16.000 a year ago and has made five starts since then, all of which are also in claimers. Only one of them is a win, and that was at CT for his last start. Something has obviously happened with this one to trigger the boost in placement, and perhaps that has to do with tactics. We shall see. Talamo is 0-for-39 this year as of press time.

2- Harry Met Meghan (Gdp Inc., ridden by G Saez)- A veteran of the racetrack, as the eight-year-old gelding has made 45 starts, and won nine of them. We’ve seen him in stakes, both graded and ungraded, from time to time, but that has not been the rule for him. His best days are in the past, as in 2023, he only won $11.680. He’s doubled that already in 2024 and may be happy to go back to sprinting.

3- Yashar (Tinkey, ridden by L Machado)- It will be the stake debut for this five-year-old as the trainer hopes that he can continue on the form that he has shown recently. He has won his last two races, one being on the grass at TUP, and moving to the dirt at CT for his last start and going wire to wire en route to the win. That earned him a 96 SRF, and this is a great follow up spot from that.

4- Long Capo (Asgar, ridden by F De La Cruz)- Unless the trainer decides to change things up, this horse will make sure everyone is ready to run out of the starting gate. He’s set some quick fractions in the past, including a 21 4/5 at FL last October. And he has been able to hold that speed, as in his last four races, he has two wins and two times where he was second in a photo. Turned in a 99 SRF in his last race: the $100.000 Say Florida Sandy, for NY-Breds at seven furlongs.

5- Treat Me First (Crocker Ggs, ridden by T Conner)- A lightly raced four-year-old with only seven starts to his name right now. He broke his maiden in June and has only run three times since. All of them are ungraded stakes, and he was the runner up in the $400.000 Prince Of Wales Stakes last September. This will be his first sprint since June, and his works are excellent both at six furlongs and a mile. The horse just needs to start translating that to the track, because if he does, he could do some great things.

6- Hide N Command (Threshold, ridden by A Jimenez)- It’s been about a year since the trainer picked this one up in the auction for $20.210, and based on his SRF’s he has been extremely consistent over the six races he’s had in Threshold silks. Last month, he ran in a stake for only the second time and looked solid by running fourth in the $125.000 Forego Stakes. No reason to think that he cannot have a similar performance here, but will that be enough?

7- Union Mills (Sccj Stables, ridden by G Corrales)- Ran against Hide N Command last month in the Forego, and they ran about the same race, each being fourth and fifth at each call. At the wire, Hide N Command made his claim to fourth. Union Mills is usually a horse that’s looking to get on the lead early and may give Long Capo a good challenge at the front early on. This has been a consistent performer when sprinting on the main track even with failing to hit the board in the last two.

8- Starship Haggis (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by D Cannon)- Recently, this has been a horse that has been running long, and he went ten furlongs in his last start where he was third in an optional claimer at SA. Since last summer, he’s only gone less than a mile once, but that was a win back in October at ALB. Seems to be a horse that is good under any condition but is having a little harder time establishing himself as being great at one. Likes to run well out of the gate, but it may be testy on the front end here.

9- Top Of The Crop (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by C J Hernandez)- This is our third horse in the race that comes out of the Forego Stakes, and he was nearly the top of the crop in it, but had to settle for second in a tight photo. He has plenty of experience running at the graded level, but he hasn’t gotten the results that one is after in them, so the run in the Forego could give the trainer a jolt of confidence. Worked very well here earlier in the week and is another horse that will be running quickly out of the gate.

Prediction: 4-9-5-6

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded