Rushaway Stakes
1 1/16 Mile Dirt Stake Purse $250.000 Three-Year-Olds. At TP

Although a high-priced stakes, Rushaway Stakes has never been much of a predictor of future greatness. Mb Stables’ Good Memories won the race in 2024 and went on to win the BEL and is still out there winning Graded stakes. Other than that, not much. This year’s edition draws a pretty small field of fairly lightly raced lads headed by Maxmillion Farm’s already Derby nominated Reciprocal Rubber with a tight field right behind him. Here’s the field:

Horse                                  Owner                               Odds  SRF

El Heat                                The Sidley Stud                  3-1        95

Reciprocal Rubber             Maxmillion Farm                *5-2        94

Out Of Brandy                     The Sidley Stud                 7-2        92

Have No Fear                      Mb Stables                         4-1        97

Master Of One                    Winning Link Stables          6-1        96

Burning Resolve                Mb Stables                          8-1        99

1  Reciprocal Rubber                          Maxmillion Farm                  94

Easily the richest horse in this race, Reciprocal Rubber has already raced in five Graded races and won two, including the Grade I Champagne and the Grade II KY Jockey Club both races earning him entry him entry into the Derby, so with that position doubly secured he can concentrate on the money offered by races such as this.

2  El Heat                  The Sidley Stud                      95

Lightly raced El Heat comes here off three consecutive wins, his only loss being his sprint debut at BTP. The wins have all been nice come from behind victories, and he boasts an excellent 1:37 1/5 mile work to prep for this race.

3   Have No Fear                        Mb Stables                90

After winning at first asking, Have No Fear spent a number of races just missing with his too late closes, even tried switching tactics in the Grade III With Anticipation at SAR, until finally finding a soft spot in the $100.000 Lafitte at DED and scoring a quarter-length win. He followed that with a beaten favourite third in a SA overnight. He could be a threat here if he could get his timing right.

4   Out Of Brandy                            The Sidley Stud             92

After five races, Out Of Brandy is still testing adds and made a major change, the result being a third-place finish in a GP overnighter only a head back last out. This after a disappointing sixth in the Grade III Grey Stakes. Prior to that he had won three of four starts, including the $50.000 Ascot Graduation at HST. Now, with the new adds, he may be a renewed challenger.

5   Burning Resolve            Mb Stables                      89

Burning Resolve tried a couple of turf maiden sprints with no success, switched to a mile dirt maiden and scored a half-length victory. Since then, he produced an impressive 1:36 4/5 mile work to show he’s a serious threat.

6   Master Of One            Winning Link Stables                   

Master Of One has spent his career on the free side, and it took him three tries to break his maiden, but when he did, it was spectacular. He won a full MNR maiden by a whopping five lengths upping his speed rating from 80 to 92. He followed that up with a victory in the Miracle Wood Stakes at LRL. It’s unlikely that a horse will step up from the free side to win a pricey stakes race on the pay side, but this is a different sort of horse with a chance to pull it off.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded