Simpson Stakes (Grade 3)- $500.000 Purse
KD- For Three Year Olds
Six and a half Furlongs on the Turf
September 12, 2019

We’ll have some midweek racing to pay attention to this week as the inaugural Simpson Stakes takes place at KD. The race makes a good first impression on the virtual racing world with a $500.000 purse being associated with it. Since this is the first edition of the race, I can’t go into a history overview, but it will provide a great opportunity for someone to say they won the first one. This will naturally be a race that we look back at when it comes to checking out the BC Turf Sprint in a couple of months. We’ll have a field of seven going at it on Thursday, and here’s a look at them!

#1- Storming (John Henry, ridden by E Maldonado)- Acquired by John Henry in private sales for $200.000, this colt has been inconsistent this season. At times, he has had some big races, none better then when he won the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing at SAR at the beginning of August. In the race after, he went flat again, which is something that is common throughout his career. Hopefully in time he will become more consistency. He can win, but I shy away from this type of horse. Third race in five weeks, too.

#2- Crack Dab (Gdp Inc, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Lately, the gelding had been increasing his distance, and that culminated by winning at a mile a few weeks ago in an optional claimer at SAR. This will be his first official graded stake, but he did run in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint last season. Seems like his time has come to jump back to that level, but I just wonder if this race will be long enough for him.

#3- Pink Condor (Axeman, ridden by Alan Garcia)- Other then this last race, which we can throw out due to coming on yielding turf, Pink Condor has been very consistent. Two starts ago, he registered a 101 SRF in his second place finish to The Grandmaster in the Grade 1 Highlander Stakes. You will recall that The Grandmaster just raced here on Saturday in the $1,000.000 KD Turf Sprint. He did beat out Gleaming Spirit, who won the KD Turf Sprint. Pink Condor didn’t want to take on the older horses this time, and by being in this field he looks very strong. He’ll be the one to beat.

#4- Kaizoku (Mb Stables, ridden by A Beschizza)- It’s been a little while since I have had the race with the filly taking on the boys, but Mb Stables provides that for us here with one of his two entries. She comes off a win in the $100.000 Smart N Fancy at the Spa on soft turf. She’ll have a three pound weight allowance, something that Mb Stables likes to try to take advantage of. I’m not sure if that is going to be enough for her, though.

#5- Defunct Things (Mb Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- The trainer will also have a male in this field as the Coin Flip gelding looks for his first graded win. Before that, though, he might just like to see a dry track as three of his last four races have come on off tracks. His biggest win thus far is the $50.000 Albany at GG, but he has earned this chance to take on this crowd. He’s working very well coming into this race.

#6- Man Childe (Our Athletes, ridden by B J Hernandez Jr)- The Commanding colt has won four of 12 for his career, with the fourth coming in his last race. At ELP, he defeated a four other rivals to win the ELP Derby, a $100.000 ungraded stake. This came after a stretch of graded races that saw him fail to hit the board, so the trainer is hoping that it will a confidence boost. There’s a lot more to it, though, as this is his turf debut and based on his graded dirt starts, I would have preferred to see another race on the grass before this. That said, he can get a piece of this.

#7- Venture Bay (Gdp Inc, ridden by J Lezcano)- A horse that knows how to be there at the end, being a part of the exacta in seven of his eight career starts. Three were wins. That’s an impressive number, but there’s a second part to that, and that is that they were mostly in claimers until recently. The silver lining on that is that he successfully jumped into allowances, winning his last two, including a turf sprint at SAR. He’s earned the chance, but I make note that he has been carrying much less weight in his last few starts then he carries here.

Prediction: 3-4-6-7

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES