Forester Turf Classic (Grade 1)- $1,000.000 Purse
CD- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
May 6, 2023

As everyone waits in anticipation of the KYD, there will be plenty of excitement in store in the race that immediately precedes it. That would be the 20th running of the Forester Turf Classic, which gives older turf horses a chance to run for a large purse. Plenty of great horses have previously won this race, such as Charming Behrens, Spanish Showboat, and Banshee Star. However, none of them won the race twice in back-to-back years. (Grady did win twice, but in 2007 and 2009). Immoral would change all that, as he won the Forester in both 2021 and 2022. Will there be a threepeat this year? Unfortunately, not, as he is not entered. The gelding has not won since last year’s race and has seen a decline in form. He remains active, but based on his last race, it’s doubtful that he will get back to this level. His trainer, Mb Stables, has won the race each of the last three years, and four times total. In 2020, the late Pure Gifts got the win, and he also won with Spanish Showboat in 2015. This year, we have a field of nine going to post. Let’s take a look at them!

#1- Pxg (Mb Stables, ridden by L Dettori)- If Mb Stables is going to get a fourth straight win, it will have to come from Pxg. The seven-year-old gelding is certainly capable of doing so, as he has made over $2,000.000 for his career. Last year, he was the winner in both the KD Turf Sprint (Grade 2) and Shadwell Turf Mile (Grade 1) but has not visited the winners circle since those races. His last four races have been very hit and miss, but if he can run like he did three weeks ago in the Makers Mark Mile, where he was third, then he will be a contender here as well.

#2- Penal Hockey Party (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Maxmillion is certainly going for this race, as he has three horses in the race, and it should come as no surprise that he looks so strong on the grass. Penal Hockey Party has always been a successful horse, but he is coming off two excellent performances in his last two starts by finishing second in each of the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile and a very near miss in the Grade 1 Makers Mark Mile. The latter earned him a 103 SRF, and he will not be seeing the winner of that race (Mickey) in this one.

#3- Devil Made Me Doit (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- Started this year looking very good, as he finished third in the Pegasus World Cup Turf while getting a 103 SRF. After that, however, Devil Made Doit put in an awful performance in the Grade 2 Diarmida, finishing dead last in an effort that was very unlike him, though there is precedent for him to have these one-off bad races (the Man O War last May). Maxmillion clearly did not like what he saw and would next run him in a dirt sprint. After that did not go well, it’s back to his gelding’s bread and butter type of race.

#4- Bronze Bomber (Threshold, ridden by J Lezcano)- Once a brilliant claim for just $15.000, Bronze Bomber has especially flourished since last September. He won the not very highly regarded $30.000 Puss N Boots Cup at FE, and that sent him on to much bigger and better. After running third in the start that followed, the Grade 3 Knickerbocker at AQU, he showed that he was for real. That run of form has continued, and he comes to the Forester of a second-place effort in the Grade 2 Whittingham. This is his toughest challenge to date, but he has more definitely earned the chance.

#5- B N Broadway (Choppy Inc, ridden by E Maldonado)- This horse also comes out of the Grade 2 Whittingham, but he would just miss out on collecting a check with a fifth place run. He’s done some great things in his past, like win the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile in 2020, and is having a career resurgence right now thanks to four wins in eight starts after Choppy picked him up. Perhaps he can get back to the BC for the first time in three years.

#6- Affirmed Authority (Asgar, ridden by M Franco)- In his last eight races, Affirmed Authority has consistently been a part of the exacta, running off a string of five straight seconds which has since turned into his current three race winning streak. Most, but not all of them were in overnights, but he did win the $150.000 CC Emerald as well as the Grade 3 Appleton. This is the biggest race that he has ever been a part of, but he has earned the chance, and it’s best to run him when he’s hot.

#7- Hawaiian Lord (Our Athletes, ridden by T Gaffalione)- This five-year-old has primarily run in overnights, and many are with the FL-bred condition. He’s been good in that type of race, consistently being able to earn a check for his trainer. He has also tried races like this, including the 2022 running of the Forester Turf Classic, and as of now, he has been unable to take the next step and run well at this level. He didn’t beat anyone in the Forester last year, so at least we can say that he won’t do any worse this time around.

#8- Proud Bo (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by A Cedillo)- In 20 starts, Proud Bo has picked up three wins to make his trainer proud, but more often than not, he has come up short. He’s an inconsistent horse, showing the ability to go on some good runs as he did in a three race stretch from November to March, but then in his last start, he ran in the Makers Mark Mile, and was a disappointing sixth. He’s a better horse than that, and he comes here off a strong work at SA, so I would not be surprised to see him do well but he’s just not the type of horse I can pick in a field like this.

#9- Last Way To The Beac (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by L Saez)- The final entry here from Maxmillion, and an earner of over $2,000.000 for his career. Last Way To The Beac also seems to always run well when I write up one of his races. That’s been a while, I think, and perhaps not coincidentally, his form has been off since winning the AP Million. There have times since then where he demonstrated that he is still capable, with a good runner up two back in the Grade 3 San Marcos. But then, he came up very empty in the Whittingham. Time for him to step up, he’s a better horse than that.

Prediction: 2-6-1-5

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES