8 FG Mineshaft Stakes (GIII)
$200.000 4yo&Up 1 1/16m Dirt 123lbs +penalties
One of my favorite horses and one of my favorite races and this years Mineshaft Stakes (GIII) looks to have quite a bit of talent in it. I took Johannes as my top pick today. His class rings clear and his last three races have been super good against some very nice horses. Speaking of class, I’ll put Delaware Warrior in the second spot, fresh off of his win vs. stakes company and a near miss at WO against graded horses. Same with the third pick, Five Little Pigs who really only shows one bad race of late and that was on BC Day and we know how that can play out. Looks like a great race.
Here’s the Field –
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Brief And Wonderous |
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John Henry |
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Gaffalione T |
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123 |
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10/1 |
The last three have been pretty bad, and all were against graded horses, so he’s going to have to bounce back or it’s going to be a long day. His last win was in July when he won a Cal-bred stakes at DMR by a length, and did it in fine fashion. More of that or more off the board.
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Five Little Pigs |
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Nolespan Racing |
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Saez L |
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123 |
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8/1 |
BC Day was forgettable but other than that, he’s been right in the thick of just about every race. Second last out vs. OptAlw types and that was over this surface. I would expect him to make another good showing in this one.
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Johannes |
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Eastern Equine |
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Geroux F |
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123 |
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5/2 |
He’s been sharp of late showing a win, a second and a third in his last three starts. Won the Ack Ack (GIII) at CD then hit the board in both the Kennedy Road (GII) and Mr Prospector. There’s no reason to get off of his bandwagon at this point… he looks solid.
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Reach For A Latte |
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Fractious |
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Desormeaux K J |
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123 |
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5/1 |
Sold for $200.000 and closed a late gap to be sixth in the San Antonio (GII) at SA in his last start. He won two of seven starts in ’19 so you know he can run a little bit, but he has to show more than that last out effort, and I think he will.
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A Storm Has Arrived |
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Maxmillion Farm |
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Bridgmohan S X |
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123 |
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7/1 |
Dropped down to Alw company after a long string of graded races and it didn’t turn the tide. He won three races in ’19 including the California Stakes (GII) and the PIM Special (GIII) but it may be time for him to either put up or head off to the minor leagues.
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Delaware Warrior |
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Nakamura Stables |
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Beschizza A |
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123 |
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3/1 |
Nice win in the Caribbean Cup where he showed good speed and a nice closing kick. If he can repeat that race, then he should be in the middle of this one. That was at a mile and a quarter, so that may be the dynamic that needs to be worked with.
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Pulpit |
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D J C Racing Stables |
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Bejarano R |
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123 |
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7/2 |
Got the job done vs. NY-bred horses in the Say Florida Sandy at AQU where he ran a big race to get the win. He had three wins in ’19 and those came early in the year, so maybe he likes to get his money in the bank early.
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Russian Dictator |
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Gdp Inc |
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Velazquez J R |
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123 |
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4/1 |
Took down a nice Alw race at HOU in his most recent and that was his first win since taking the Rushaway at TP back in Mar of ’19. He did have a pair of head-back seconds prior to his last out win, wo he seems to be running big right now.
COZMAN Picks 3 / 6 / 2 Willie’s Green Card 6 / 5 / 4 Scotty 8 / 3 / 1
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES
