Campanile ($100.000 Purse)
GG- For Fillies Three Year Old Foaled in CA
One Mile on the Turf
May 1, 2016

This Sunday we will have the sixth running of the Campanile Stakes, a restricted race for female CA-breds that will run for a mile on the turf.  Like its counterpart for the males, the Campanile initially debuted as an unrestricted race.  That was in 2008, and after that year this race took three years off before it returned to the schedule in 2012.  It has been run every year since.  Last year’s winner, Hydro, is also the most prolific past winner of the race when run as a race for CA-breds, and it isn’t even close.    When she won the race, no one really knew how good she would become.  After the win, she would go on to finish second in the Acorn and IA Oaks before winning the Grade 2 IND Oaks.   It was a season that eventually led her to the BC Distaff, and her 2016 is also beginning well.  Is there a Hydro in this field?    Time will tell, but she can be an inspiration for the seven runners going to the gate today.  Also it is worth noting that jockey R A Baze has owned the race, winning three of the previous five editions, including the last two.    His mount today might be one of the longshots, but do not rule him out.  Here is our field for the race.

#1- Secret Raggs (Riggins Racing, ridden by D Ch Lopez)-   It will be the turf debut for this Secretariat Way filly.   Up until this point, she has won just one of her five previous starts, and has yet to post an SRF of 90 or more.  The trainer is hoping that her fortunes will improve on the turf, and likely there are private works available to give confidence for the move.  For those of us who can only see the public works, you have to go back ten months to see the last one on turf.  What that does show us is some potential to run on grass but there are some secrets likely with Secret Raggs. This is a horse that really hasn’t done much on the track to get excited about, though in a race that lacks a standout, if she is ready to make this transition to turf, she can surprise people here.

#2- Gran Finale (Night Mare Racing, ridden by J J Hernandez)-  The trainer will look to “sweep” both statebred mile turf races at GG this Sunday with Broomstick Nebraska foals.  That’s interesting when you consider that she does not own the stallion and bought both services on the open market.  Gran Finale will be surprised not see an off track on race day, as she always seemed to be caught up in rain, but there is none expected here on Sunday (ok, there’s a 10% chance, and that may only be that way because the weatherman saw Gran Finale on the list of entries).   Her last start saw her run a strong third in the Grade 3 Providencia, to the likes of Dragonville and Last Train To Tulsa.  Most likely she will look to come from off the pace, and there may be speed duels elsewhere in this field that could have things set up well for her.

#3- Hang Fire (Paradise Stable, ridden by A Cedillo)-  After an impressive win in her fifth try to win an N1X race, coming at TUP at a similar distance, Hang Fire will face a tough crowd in this race.   That win came in her second turf start, after a narrow miss in her debut on the grass.  This is a competitive horse that has always been able to be in the mix, but the question will really be whether or not this is too much too soon, especially for a filly that struggled to win at TUP.   Her works are steady, but I would have liked to see an improving trend in them to have more confidence in her.  I also have some concern that she might be too interested in getting in a speed duel potentially with Low Flush and Acer Line, and feel better about those two in such a situation.

#4- Track Star (Chili King Stables, ridden by D Van Dyke)-  This filly by Abra Kadabra has the most successful past of any in this field, having won four of eleven career starts for a little over $200.000 in earnings.   As a two year old, she showed a lot of promise, and found herself in the same starting gate as the likes of Wicked Heat in the Grade 1 Starlet last December.    A fifth place run there cooled off some of those lofty expectations, and she has since put together a respectable start to this season, winning two of three.  The victories came in optional claimers, and the trainer wants to see stake wins, no doubt.  In her last effort, she was second in the $75.000 Sanibel Island.    I’d have liked to see a win there, but I do think this race may set up perfectly for her.

#5- Low Flush (Pocket Aces Racing, ridden by R A Baze)–  In order to win his third consecutive Campanile, R A Baze will be riding Low Flush.  One has to think that Baze had a choice to make over which filly he wanted to ride here, so his choice of Low Flush is interesting.  On past history alone, Low Flush would seem to be one of the longer shots in the field only if because of a lack of experience.  She has only raced twice, but looked very, very sharp in taking a maiden against CA-breds at SA.  The earned SRF figure there of 88 seems a little low to me, especially when Nebraska Ag essentially ran the same exact time the very next day with a similar track variant and earned a 91.  Nonetheless, Low Flush looks like a star in the making, and this race can be considered her proverbial stepping stone to bigger and better things even if she does not necessarily win here.

#6- Nebraska Ag (Tiratzo, ridden by F T Alvarado)-  You have to love a filly who has hit the board in all of her career starts, for which there has been eight of them.   Three of those races ended up with her in the winners circle, and two of those were going this very distance on the turf.   This will be the second time she is wearing the silks of Tiratzo, who made a nice claim back in early February, picking her up for $40.000.  The trainer was rewarded with a runner up finish in their first race together (to a horse that ran in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf).   Not only are her results consistent, but so too, are her SRF figures.  She is working well, and seems to be a pretty safe bet based on all this, but do note that she has never raced against this time of competition before.  Nebraska Ag is ready to do that here, and I look for it to come down to her and Track Star.

#7- Acer Line (Asgar, ridden by Ru Gonzalez)– So far this filly has won just once, coming in a $10.000 claimer, a race at HOU that saw Asgar pick her up from D J C Racing Stables.   The new trainer was excited about what they had picked up, and immediately placed her in the $125.000 Busher, and that did not according to plan.  After that attempt, Acer Line was sent back to the grass, and put together a strong effort in a second place finish at PRX, earning a 93 SRF.   In that race, she went out right to the lead and tried to hang on until the end, marking a bit of a tactical change for her.  Given that performance, we are likely to see her want to be with the leaders again here.  I want to see her follow up that PRX run here with another big one, and then maybe next time I can pick her with more confidence.

Prediction: 6-4-2-7

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded