ET Mint Julep Handicap – Grade III
1 1/16 Mile Turf Stake Purse $125.000 Filly & Mare 4 Year Olds And Up.
1st Xtra Hot John Henry Velazquez J R
There are several things we know about HRP that make this result more expected that the $26 odds. The fact that a filly who had never won a route and had raced primarily in sprints is not really a factor in HRP races so taking that fact out what we had here was a classy filly drawn perfectly and running from the bottom of the handicap. Those three things over ride many of the things we would ordinarily expect in a race like this so i guess the question now is whether this Stakes winning six race winner is actually going to make her mark over longer trips. I suppose given the perfect set of circumstances then there is no reason why not and it will be interesting to see how she fares in her next race.
Today she was restrained to get the trip and came through readily to win by a fairly easy length. Treating this race with caution as we all know that a wide draw or a few pounds more and things may have been different but i think the trainer did a great job today in using the gaming part of HRP to produce a nice winner and who knows she may just go on from here.
2nd Smart Watch EasyMoney Stables Geroux F
This was a really nice effort from a filly that had to contend with the outside speed push making her set a pretty fast pace and running wide for much of the race. A different set of circumstances may have seen this filly win and i really feel she is owed another chance rather than going back to the low tracks where she has been all year.
3rd Holualoa Smokey Stover Bejarano R
Taken way back from her wide draw she finished very well to be third and at the risk of repeating myself may have found the win with a different set of circumstances (i.e, the draw and the top weight). There is more to come from her.
4th Too Much Wisdom Mb Stables Court J K
Finished well enough to be fourth but never really got into it and i thought she was just a little disappointing.
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
