Texas Turf ($250.000 Purse)
LS- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
June 29, 2024
It may not be a large field for Saturday’s running of the Texas Turf at LS, as only five horses are entered, but these horses that did make the trip to LS are well accomplished and should give us a great race. This is the fourth time that the Texas Turf has been run here, debuting in 2004, but then being all but forgotten for eighteen years. It resurfaced in 2022 with a $300.000 purse, and was won last year, for the same amount, by State General for Mb Stables. That one hasn’t won a stake since, but is still active and in that barn, you can never rule things out. Here’s a look at the five heading to post this year:
1- Brooklyn (Winning Link Stables, ridden by J L Alvarez)- Despite only winning three times in sixteen starts, Brooklyn is approaching $500.000 in career earnings. A big part of that came from the VA Derby that he won last September. However, he has been unable to build on that with only one in the money finish since then. That came in an open allowance, and his other stake attempts have seen some subpar results. The best part for him here is that this is a small field, and he will need to find the VA Derby version of himself.
2- Ptyrannical (Mb Stables, ridden by D Van Dyke)- After a long and successful career with Arindel that saw six graded wins, Ptyrannical found himself needing a new trainer when Arindel liquidated his stable in the recent auction. Mb Stables picked him up for just $44.000, which is a price that suggests that a lot of the game does not believe that the gelding will get back to his old form. After two duds, you can see why that concern would be present, but Mb Stables has taken on the challenge of getting this one back to the winner’s circle in a stake. His last such win was the Grade 2 Bowling Green at SAR at the end of July last year.
3- Details Matter (Alydar Stables, ridden by L J Luzzi)- At the start of the month, Details Matter ran against three others in the Grade 3 Arlington and was second best even though he did not concern the winner, Absolutely Grande. It’s part of a good start to 2024 for him, as he has hit the board three times in four races with his one win being the Grade 3 TAM Stakes at that racetrack in February. This race should be right in his wheelhouse, and I see no reason why he can’t win. He’s my second choice here, though.
4- Zensation (Threshold, ridden by F Pennington)- Finished off his two-year-old season well, winning the $500.000 KD Juvenile, which got him into the BC Juvenile Turf. There, he came from behind as he likes to do, but was one spot shy of cashing a check. He has not been able to step forward as three-year-old, and his performance in the Pennine Ridge left a lot to be desired last month. Zensation is a better horse than that, and we haven’t heard the last of him. But the trainer doesn’t want to me to jinx him, surely.
5- Buffalo G (Nakamura Stables, ridden by S Elliott)- This one has had a spectacular career, winning over $1,000.000 during his 43-race career. That period sees fifteen wins, and they are still coming even now as a seven-year-old. Buffalo G enters the Texas Turf on a two-race winning streak, which is highlighted by the $150.000 Dangers Hour at AQU in April. Prior to that, you’ll see some good race lines in top races, such as running fifth in the Pegasus World Cup Turf, and this is certainly not that. He did run third in the Texas Turf last year, and I feel he will do two spots better this time around.
Prediction: 5-3-4-2
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
