The United Nations (Grade 1)- $300.000 Purse
MTH- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and Three Eighths on the Turf
July 3, 2016

Reigning BC Mile Champion Sir Tom returns to action on Sunday for the 25th time for the 11th running of The United Nations, a Grade 1 race for older turf horses that like to go a little longer then most.  For Sir Tom, the eleven furlongs is more then he usually races, though he has raced longer in his past.  Whether or not he can get that distance against the caliber of opposition he faces here, including a BC Turf runner up, will be what to watch for in the race.   Disappointingly, the race sees a purse drop from $500.000 to $300.000 for the first time, and that’s a far cry from the $750.000 that we once saw back in the days when Dogma and Charming Behrens were winning the race.  We should be glad to still see the likes of Sir Tom and Desolation Island in here despite that decrease.  They are two of our nine entries, and get the two inside post positions.  Will that be enough to hold off the highly talented spoiler starting in the outermost post? We shall see, great race in store here! Let’s meet the field!

#1- Desolation Island (Mb Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- You’ll see a pretty glaring pattern when you first look at Desolation Island’s past performances.  In his last 10 races, he has rotated wins and non-wins, in other words, he wins every other race.   So perhaps it is good for this race that he was little disappointing last month in the Shoemaker Mile, and he is due for a win here.  When I reviewed that race, I recall seeing a horse that was flat and really had no excuses for his performance.  This is a longer race, but he has had success at both a mile and a mile and a half, so there will be no excuses here, either.

#2- Sir Tom (Brave, ridden by J R Velazquez)- About six weeks ago, the reigning BC Mile champion went to PIM and defeated Dixie legend Seven Years in that Grade 2 event.   That victory was impressive in many regards, and Sir Tom has simply picked up right where he left off in the BC Mile.  Today, however, the trainer tries a different course with Sir Tom, and stretches him out to eleven furlongs.  He went longer, once, in his career and it was a flat performance that was over a year ago.  Brave wants to see if he has improved in his ability to go a little longer, because naturally the BC Turf is an option that you want to consider, too.  It is July now, dare I say we’re in BC prep mode now?  Time sure flies!  Whether or not you select Sir Tom would be fully based on one’s opinion about him getting the distance.  He has a good challenger here in Desolation Island to measure himself up against, given that one ran second in the BC Turf last year, and not meant to short change the other very capable horses in the field.

#3- Deputy Dynamite (Blushing Meadows, ridden by R Bejarano)- To a smaller extent then Desolation Island, you can also say that Deputy Dynamite has been rotating wins and non-wins lately and is due to be victorious here.  The Kopitar gelding has not raced on the turf all that often, with just two of his 16 career starts on the grass.  While that may make him seem inexperienced, you will quickly notice how he won the Grade 1 GP Turf Handicap in February and erase any doubts.  Seven Years was one of those that he beat that day on soft turf, while carrying five fewer pounds then him.   He tends to be a closer, so be looking for him in the stretch.

#4- Grande Sournoise (Drabfantasy, ridden by D Moran)- This is the only three year old in the field, and as such he will be carrying five less pounds then everyone else.  It is no secret that in recent months, this weight allowance has been a significant advantage in our virtual world.  When you add in that fact that Grand Sournoise is still a rather lightly raced and talented racehorse with great bloodlines (Sneaky Little Pirate), it will be easy to be swayed into picking him to win this race.   He’s only won once in his four starts, but is coming off a great run where he was third in the Grade 2 Whittingham Stakes at a similar distance and only having a three pound weight advantage.  There’s much to like with him.

#5- Vegas Viper (John Henry, ridden by L Saez)- Purchased in late May for $100.000 from Maxmillion Farm, the Danzing Lover gelding will be making his second start in three weeks.  His last time out was a pure head scratcher, as he was a complete non-factor in the $300.000 BEL Gold Cup.  For him to be back out there so quickly, we have to think that the trainer knows exactly why that may have happened, and wants to get his horse back on the right track as fast as possible.  He has a couple nice wins on his resume, but seems to be an inconsistent horse, overall.

#6- Charley Sweetback (Delta Farms, ridden by J R Leparoux)– The Chainsaw Charley horse is a veteran of 22 career races, but did not make his turf debut until this year, and since then he has never left the grass.  He has one finish in each of the top four positions in four races, with the win coming in the Grade 3 American Stakes at SA in May.  He’s never gone this long, and the closest to it was a nine furlong open allowance on the main track at beautiful SAR, and he was a non factor.  I’d like him more at a shorter distance, as I am a bit unsure about him at 1 3/8.

#7- Klepto (Wolfs Den, ridden by J J Castellano)- The six year old gelding is a veteran of 32 career races, and over that course of time he has done some very good things.  However, you have to go back to 2014 to find them.  Over the last couple years, Klepto has been running for claiming tags around $10.000 or so, and he was finally picked up from Night Rider Stables by Wolfs Den for $7.000 in March.  In five races with his new trainer, he has won one of five, that being an $8.000 claimer at TUP.  Something, somewhere, prompted Wolfs Den to hope for a career resurgence from 2014, and Klepto was entered into the Grade 3 Jaipur, a six furlong race, at BEL three weeks ago.  In that, he was 8th of 8.   Something is telling Wolfs Den to try again.  That work on the 28th is impressive, and something he never did in 2014.   We’ll see what he does here!

#8- Royal Sevens (Sizing Europe Lodge, ridden by C S Nakatani)- The Seven Sevens gelding comes into the race on great form, winning his last two, each being stakes.  Most recently, he beat them all in the Grade 2 Whittingham Stakes, topping Grande Sournoise and the pretty good Breiterate in the process.  Prior to that, he won the $75.000 TAM Turf Classic, and has overall won four of his last five races.  On the turf, he has won five out of his seven races, and while some of those early ones aren’t going to impress you, the improvement he is showing is apparent and still occurring.  This will be his first crack at BC caliber runners, and if his odds climb because bettors are looking too much at the two inside horses, take a shot with him.

#9- Steel Kelp (Serenity Stables, ridden K J Desormeaux)- This will be the 49th career start for this seven year old iron horse, and he is not slowing down one bit.  Actually, he may just be getting started, as crazy as that may seem to say.  Until being claimed by Serenity Stables for $30.000 exactly one year ago to this race date, Steel Kelp ran mainly in optional claimers.  That wasn’t enough for Serenity Stables, who put him right into the Grade 2 DMR Handicap, and he would finish second in an amazing display of closing kick power.  In March, he finally became able to call himself a graded stake champion when he won the Grade 2 San Luis Rey at SA, at a mile and a half, with Desolation Island one of the ones he beat.  Last month, he was second in the Man O War, losing only to Chrystal Pip, and there’s no shame in that.  Unlike Sir Tom, who we’re wondering if he’ll get the distance, or Desolation Island, where we wonder what happened in his last start, there’s no questioning Steel Kelp.  I’m giving him the nod here.

Prediction: 9-1-2-4

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES