Hobbs Fall Classic ($125.000 Purse)
ZIA- For Two Year Olds Foaled In NM
One Mile and Seventy Yards on the Dirt
December 12, 2022
This Monday will not be a completely slow day in the virtual world of horse racing, as the eighth running on the Hobbs Falls Classic will take place at ZIA. It is a race for two year olds foaled in NM, and it sends them a little over a mile on the dirt. If you’ve never heard of the race until now, that’s fine, as it was previously known as the Prather Stakes. It’s attracted quite a bit of interest, as ten horses are entered into the race. The field was smaller last year, a race that was won by Hand Cannon, for Jive Inc. His career has been interesting since then, going through a couple of stables and mostly running in overnights. Except for a chance at the PA Derby, where he actually ran third. Here’s a look at those looking to be the next addition to the winner’s list.
#1- Rattle The Angel (T Boy Racing, ridden by E Valdez-Jiminez)- This one has not made a penny on the track quite yet, thanks to running his first three races at MNR. He got a couple wins there, but has not done well since moving up. His last race at TUP does not create confidence. This is his first time running long, but with no public mile works, it’s impossible to predict how he might fare stretching out. Does not have a routers conformation, for what it’s worth.
#2- Lambeau (Bigchief Stables, ridden by K S Tohill)- Bred far away from the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, this colt has had plenty of opportunities at the stake level, and even in a couple Grade 1’s. The efforts in those races are not exciting enough to me for me to think that all it will take for him is to drop down into a NM-bred race. Maybe, if this field was smaller, but it’s not.
#3- Luna Beech (Asgar, ridden by M A Perez)- It took seven tries for this one to break his maiden, and it was not as if he was simply having near misses. When he eventually did win, he did so with authority with an eight length romp at ALB against NM breeds. That set his career moving, and two starts later, he won $100.000 Lafitte out at DED. SRF’s and work times don’t jump out at you, though.
#4- Mean Az Kelsie (Hawaiian Shirt Guy, ridden by L R Rodriguez)- At least Luna Beech did eventually win one. Mean Az Kelsie is still looking for his first win. It’s not his first time in a NM-bred stake, either, as he was third NM Thoroughbred Futurity in September. That field was smaller, and that would have had to have been the same here for me to think he could have a shot here. Could see him getting part of the purse, though.
#5- Robby Lotto (Mb Stables, ridden by K Purcell)- He’s been in six races thus far, and all of them have come against NM-breds, and that have come with results. He’s hit the board in five of those races, and two of them are wins. That includes that aforementioned NM Thoroughbred Futurity in September. Following that, he was second in late October at the NM Classic Juvenile (to his other neighbor in the starting gate). Robby Lotto has never gone long, but I think he’ll be fine.
#6- Ladies Want Me (T Boy Racing, ridden by A J Juarez Jr)- Yet again, horses that finished 1-2 in the same stake the race prior are in the starting gate next to one another. Ladies Want Me was the winner of the NM Classic Juvenile, which for him was just his fourth start. Before that, he had just broken his maiden, so this is clearly a growing horse. There’s only two public works on this one, so it is impossible to tell how he will do stretching out for the first time. He seems like he’d be okay.
#7- Zipper (Mb Stables, ridden by E P Gomez)- Here’s another horse by Mb Stables who previously registered a win in one of these NM-bred stakes. For Zipper, it came in the $125.000 Rio Grande Senior Futurity, a result that gave the trainer enough confidence to run him in the Grade 1 DMR Futurity in his following start. That did not go as well, so it is back down to this level. He’s never gone more than seven furlongs.
#8- Hazard Zone (Luz International, ridden by L A Fuentes)- Last month, Hazard Zone appeared here for a $20.000 maiden claimer, and scored the win and was claimed. Under his new trainer, he getting a big jump in class to this level and will also go long for the first time. He’s yet another horse in this field with no public mile works, making it hard to predict how it might go for him.
#9- Indescribable (Ace Racing Stable, ridden by F Monroy)- Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but here is another horse in the field that has no experience running long, nor do we have any public works of a mile on him. The trainers in this field sure didn’t want to make writing this preview easy! Indescribable comes here off a disappointing seventh in the NM Classic Juvenile, so you can understand why something new would be tried.
#10- War Of Backroads (Fractious, ridden by F Amrapan)- At last, we get back to a horse that experience running long! War Of Backroads not only has been in such races, he has nearly won one of them, running second in a photo at the Grade 3 Street Sense. In that, he showed plenty of stretch desire in the late moments, something that I don’t think some of these sprinters becoming routers would be able to handle.
Prediction: 10-3-5-4
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
