Keenland Park, Lexington KY-

All eyes on Patronize and Grand Concourse after they finished a strong 3rd and 4th in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes on September 13th at Woodbine.

Patronize (DJC Racing Stables) just missed by a neck after running in a close-up mid-pack position and surging late. She gets an extra 1/16th to work with today and should be the one to beat.

Grand Concourse (Twin Towers Racing) sat right behind the top pick and also surged late in a solid effort but just couldn’t muster enough to quite make the impact needed for victory. Also gets some extra distance today to work with and could improve with a touch more pace.

Speaking of pace, Perpetual Motion (Mo Mentum Farms) comes out of the same race where she attempted to go gate to wire. She was making about as big a jump up in class as possible, going from an $8.000 straight maiden race at Belterra Park where she destroyed her competition by 8 open lengths, to a grade 1 at Woodbine. She gave a pretty good sight that day and might hang on better today if she can catch a breather down the backside.

Of the rest, Mini Mulite (Mb Stables) tried to close in the aforementioned Natalma after sitting towards the back. Slightly strange trip for a horse that showed good speed sprinting in her previous two starts. Change in tactics a distinct possibility. A Bold Sin (La Canada Racehorses) ran well enough in the Johnson to be considered, while Balance That Budget (Rock Creek) gets a surface switch and distance that would appear to be a benefit looking at her conformation.

-Trackman

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES