The Glen Falls – Grade II

1 1/2 Mile InTurf Graded Stake
Purse $250.00
Fillies And Mares Four-Year-Olds-And-Upward. At SAR

The Glen Falls looks to be the property of November Storm just on class. The level of racing and her performance therein is just beyond most of the lasses in this field. She’s the defending champion of the race and her owner, Mb Stables, is looking for a three-peat having won the 2024 edition with Tapioca Pudding. All in all Mb Stables has won this race four times already. I think main competition will come from Explorer, which is a very good marathon mare and Antares, which at age seven has never raced this far but seems capable. Everyone else in the race is stretching after showing some indication of marathon ability. Here’s the field:

Horse                                  Owner                               Odds  SRF

November Storm                Mb Stables                         *4-5        97

Explorer                             Avenue Z                             3-1        95

Antares                                Alydar Stables                     4-1        97

Face The Storm                  Martyparty                           5-1        96

Firefish                               Noblepark                            8-1        96

Stunning Princess              First Flight Stable              15-1        94

Lightning Blackout             Maxmillion Farm                20-1        90

1  November Storm               Mb Stables               97

November Storm is the marathon class of this field. Her most recent race was a well-beaten fourth in The Grade I NY at SAR, but she had a ton of excuses for that. First off, it was a Grade I with the cream of the crop. Secondly, at 1 3/16 mile it was too short. Thirdly, she was flying in the short run and closed three lengths down the stretch. That was a very positive race, and it followed a whole series of well executed marathon runs including a win in the 1 1/2 Grade III Bewitch at KEE and a win in The 1 3/8 mile Grade III Very One at GP. It’s hard to imagine any other horse in this race being able to match strides with her.

2  Lightning Blackout                      Maxmillion Farm                   90   

Lightning Blackout has yet to prove herself for Max, and she had her baptism of fire last out in the Grade III RGD. With a savvy trainer like this, I’m pretty sure this was the target race all along and here she proves she’s a marathon horse, or maybe I’m reading too much into it and she’s just a problem horse that he’s trying to work the kinks out of.

3   Stunning Princess                       First Flight Stable                  94

Stunning Princess has only been in a couple of stakes races, probably too soon. Now, as a more seasoned filly, she will likely hold her own better, especially since she has become a savvy deep closer as that most recent race shows. Give her her shot at 1 1/2 mile and she just become a graded stakes horse.

4   Explorer                   Avenue Z                         95

Explorer has been performing very well in marathons since being acquired in the  Smokey Stover Dispersal for $1.00 winning four graded stakes races and placing in a few others. Most recently, she placed second in the Grade III RGD at DEL, won The Grade III Orchid at GP and won The Grade III Clement at GP, all at marathon distances and both wins were at 1 1/2 mile. I would think that, if there is a horse that can challenge November Storm, Explorer is the one.

5   Antares                Alydar Stables               97

Antares is seven years old with 43 races and has never raced beyond 1 1/4 mile, and that only once, but she was a fast finishing deep closer and only missed by a neck in third. This is another horse that was acquired in the Smokey Stover Dispersal for $1.00 and has experienced a turnaround at the hands of her new trainer. For Smokey Stover, she was almost exclusively a turf sprinter, and a damn good one, winning five stakes races and placing in many more. After being purchased from Onlineracingclub.com for $100.00, Alydar Stables set about turning her into a turf router, and in a short time she placed in The I mile Grade I Just A Game at SAR, and thus far she has won three graded stakes for them and placed in five. Now she comes into this race with a win in The Grade III Gallorette Stakes at 1 1/16 mile followed by a win in The $275.00 Anchorage Stakes at 1 1/8 mile, and in both of those victories, she looked like she would be happy to continue on.

6   Face The Storm          Martyparty          96

Face The Storm has limited stakes experience, but picked up a check in all three races, and her marathon experience is also limited with only two races at 1 3/8 mile, but again she did well winning a claimer and finishing second in the Grade III RGD at DEL last year. She now arrives here in particularly sharp form having three of her last four and second in the other and looking as though she might appreciate a marathon distance.

7   Firefish                   Noblepark                       96

Firefish broke her maiden in the $150.00 ELP Turf Stakes in her second race. She raced three more times for Team 7 Illusions winning two more, including the Grade II Mrs Revere at CD before they decided to sell her for $180.00. Things looked pretty good at first as she placed third in the Grade I American Oaks at SA, but then things slowed down and she no longer looked like a $180.00 horse. Now, this most recent race, forget its value, gives some hope: the distance of the race and the way she won it. It was 1 1/4 mile as was the Mrs Revere and both indicated a desire to go longer. This could be a marathon butterfly out of the chrysalis ready to spread her wings.

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES