Read Stakes (Grade 2)- $250.000 Purse
DMR- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
July 28, 2024
Sunday’s card at DMR will be highlighted by the 21st running of the Grade 2 Read Stakes, which is a nine-furlong race on the grass. When we first saw the race in 2003, it debuted for a $400.000 purse, but it has unfortunately only gone down since then. It was first at $250.000 in 2016 and has been there every year since with the exception of 2020, when it was only $200.000. Last year’s winner was one of the greats, as Last Way To The Beac picked up the victory for Maxmillion Farm. The three-time BC participant is still active and was in action last week in the Grade 2 Connaught Cup Stakes at WO. Nine horses will take part in the race, so let’s meet the field:
1- Wicked Good (Lanfranco Stable, ridden by V Espinoza)- Last month, Wicked Good lived up to his name with a come from behind effort to be second in the Crystal Water Stakes, a $100.000 race for CA-Breds at SA. He’s done well since winning a claiming race late last year, and the trainer will send him out there for his graded debut. V Espinoza has been a regular rider for him, so that will help.
2- Details Matter (Alydar Stables, ridden by L J Luzzi)- Started the year off right, by winning the Grade 3 TAM Stakes with a wire-to-wire effort and earning a 101 SRF. Following that, he was involved in a tight photo for the win in the Muniz Memorial Handicap but was third in the race. In each, he excelled from outside posts. More recently, he has been second in his last two, including the TX Turf at LS. Running well right now and there is no reason to think that can’t continue.
3- Atomic Eclipse (Spankys Barn, ridden by U Rispoli)- Ran in the Read Stakes last year, but could only muster a fifth-place finish. He got hot right after that, and carried that into the BC Mile, where he came from off the pace to get the win in a photo finish with Penal Hockey Party. He must not have come out of that race well, though, as he was on the shelf for five months before running in the Grade 2 Whittingham Stakes, where he struggled. Dropped further into a CD open allowance last month, where he was third.
4- Eagle Mountain (Invicta Group Llc, ridden by J Alvarado)- Used to be a stablemate of Atomic Eclipse, but was sold last month by Spankys Barn for just $20.000. Made his debut with Invicta Group Llc earlier this month in the $125.000 Hudson Valley, for NY-Breds, at AQU, and was second. This gelding has plenty of graded experience but has not won any of them. He’s also jumped around between stables often and seems to have been sold rather cheaply. Definitely a good buy for Invicta!
5- Cp Sad Pain (Barcelona Farms, ridden by D Van Dyke)- This veteran seven-year-old gelding has made 25 starts, and won nearly half of them. He’s been best in LA-Bred races and is a two-time winner of the LA Legends Turf. We have not seen much of him lately, however, as he has only made one start since November. That came last month in the Grade 3 MTH Stakes, and he finished near the back. Perhaps he just needed the race, though, with that type of layoff.
6- King Z (Mb Stables, ridden by J C Ferrer)- Another horse that has passed through a lot of stables over his lifetime, with Mb Stables acquiring him for a $16.000 claiming tag in November. His aspirations for the horse were much greater than what we had seen previously, and King Z soon found his way into the Grade 3 McKnight Stakes at the start of the year and won. Since then, he hasn’t won, but has hit the board more often than not. Seems like a good option in here.
7- Buffalo G (Nakamura Stables, ridden by A A Gallardo)- Looking to win his fourth consecutive race, and comes here after winning the $250.000 Texas Turf by a length. Winning is something that he has done a lot over his 44-race career, doing so sixteen times, and he is showing no signs of slowing down. He’s been a BC runner once, in 2022, when he ran in the BC Mile, and while he is doing well this year, it’s going to take graded wins like he could get right here, that would send him there again.
8- Love Of The Derby (Mb Stables, ridden by E Maldonado)- Finished third in the BC Mile last fall, and has continued to run well into 2024. Only once since the BC has he finished out of the top three, and he was still fourth in that race, which was a sprint. However, Love Of The Derby may have finished third last time out in the Wise Dan, but he was nowhere near the winner, beaten by a solid four lengths. Prior to that, he won the SF Mile and was second in the Shoemaker Mile.
9- Jerry West (La Canada Racehorses, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- Last time out, Jerry West got the win in the $125.000 Hudson Valley in a photo over Eagle Mountain. It was the fifth victory of his 25-race career, and he had won an optional claimer at PRX right before that. This will not be his graded debut, as he did run in the Kittens Joy in 2023, but has run in quite a few ungraded races. Possibly a bit inconsistent, but even when he is off, he’s still running fifth in races.
Prediction: 7-6-4-8
— NS
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES
