River City Handicap (Grade 3)- $300.000 Purse
CD- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
November 9, 2024

It’s BC hangover weekend, and even though the races that will run this weekend are not as exciting as last week, we still have good stakes to talk about. One of them will be Saturday’s running of the Grade 3 River City Handicap from CD, which will send a field of seven a total of nine furlongs around the turf course. This will be the 20th time that the race has been run, and the purse is double what it was at inception. Last year’s River City Handicap was won by Giannis and Riggins Racing, and that gelding carried that momentum into this year, a season that saw him ultimately qualify for the BC Mile last week. He didn’t beat anyone, but who cares, he was there! This year, weights will range between 117 and 122 pounds carried, though most carry either 117 or 118. Let’s meet our field:

1- Devils Delight (Big Jd Racing, ridden by M Franco)- It’s been a successful year for Devils Delight, winning three times out of nine races and hitting the board in seven of them. Many of those are in overnights, but his success there allowed him to get promoted to the stakes level and he has continued to respond. Last time out, he was third against a very good field in the Grade 3 Knickerbocker at AQU while earning a 100 SRF. Perhaps he can finish off this successful year with a graded win.

2- Cover Charge (Riggins Racing, ridden by F Geroux)- The trainer looks for back-to-back wins in this race, and Cover Charge will get the task of trying to accomplish that. Now, I may be one of the worst trainers in the game but when I see horse get demoted like this, I have to wonder what the reasoning was, and it concerns me. After running third in the Wicker Stakes at DMR in July, he was dropped into an optional claimer at FE which I can understand, but then an allowance at BTP. It’s been two months, and the works are great, but what made Riggins decide to drop him? Big red flag for me.

3- Tower Isle (Winning Link Stables, ridden by G Corrales)- After Tower Isle got his debut race out of the way, he would get red hot, winning three in a row during the summer months. This included demoralizing a bunch of free track horses with a 14-length onslaught, and two months later, he would get a massive victory in the $500.000 Tapit Stakes. All was well and he was off to SA to take a shot at getting into the BC at the Grade 2 City Of Hope Mile. That was a struggle, and he was soundly defeated. This, however, is not the City of Hope Mile and he should be able to rebound with a much more productive performance.

4- War Tactics (Cjj Racing, ridden by T Gaffalione)- Cjj Racing will be hoping for their first stake win here in the River City Handicap, and it will come with a horse they rescued from the free track. In September, the trainer only needs a buck to pick him up in private sales and has since raced him three times. Those results don’t impress, but he wasn’t last time out, two weeks ago. Now, this will be his fourth start in six weeks (and fifth in two months), and when it comes to picking a horse in these races, it doesn’t matter how good they are doing, that much racing close together gets me looking elsewhere.

5- Violent Crime (Diablo Diablo, ridden by M E Smith)- If the weights were even, Violent Crime would be a no brainer pick to at least have in the top three. But he does have to carry 4-5 more pounds than most of his rivals here, and that could change things. His last two races have been wins, taking the Grade 3 MTH Stakes in June and the Grade 3 Knickerbocker in October. In between, he was idle, and that off time may have kept him from running in the BC Turf, because he was an also eligible in that race. Should find a spot in the top three at the end.

6- Proud Devil (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by Mar Garcia)- The race within the race will be which of these two happy devils will beat the other. Broke his maiden in July in what was his sixth career start, and after that he was sent to MNR. That’s an odd one, because in all my experiences at the free track, which is more than a care to mention, Team 7 Illusions is not a trainer I usually see there. Won his race there, and like most MNR $50.000 claiming winners, a Grade 3 was next. He looked good in the $500.000 JC Derby, setting the pace before settling for third. Should build on that well here.

7- Showable Set (Angelos Stable, ridden by A R Rodriguez)- What a year it has been for Showable Set, as the veteran gelding has won five times with two seconds over his seven starts on the year. Those were mostly in optional claimers or starter allowances before he finally got his chance to run in a stake last time out. It wasn’t his stake debut in the Grade 3 Sycamore, but it had been a while. He had no issue in rising the challenge, winning that as well, with a 101 SRF. That’s a victory that will mean he carries 120 pounds here, but he should be fine with that.

Prediction: 1-5-7-6

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES