The Seeking The Ante ($200.000 Purse)
SAR- For Fillies Two Year Old Foaled in New York
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Dirt
August 26, 2016

Both the Lynbrook, run at BEL in mid-July, and The Seeking The Ante are in their third years of existence here in our virtual world, and they have far more in common then just that.  The first two winners of the Lynbrook, Dead Ant Dead Ant and Downtheredcarpet followed up that victory in the Seeking The Ante five weeks later.  The winner of the Lynbrook last month was Snappy Return is where she belongs this weekend, and looks to make it three in a row for Lynbrook winners in the Seeking The Ante.  To do it, she’ll meet a couple that she beat in the very race, and another very Snappy filly, who’s undefeated.   Seven go to the gate for what should be an interesting race, and here’s the field!

#1- Snappy Ruler (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by R J Albarado)- Snappy Return might take offense to another filly in this field calling herself a Snappy Ruler, but this Risen Ruler filly can certainly back up her snap as well.   She is undefeated in her career, starting modestly with an April win at LS, before moving on to an allowance win at FL, and an optional claiming victory here at the Spa in late July.  Snappy Ruler really hasn’t faced yet what she will see today, but she doesn’t know how to end a race with anything other then visit to the winner’s circle, and you have to like that.

#2- Retrospective (Canadian Racing, ridden by I Oritz Jr)-   Last month, this Winter Warrior filly looked real strong topping NY-breds to break her maiden.  She jumped out to the quick lead, and put distance on the field in that BEL race.   Her SRF that day was an impressive 86.  This is a logical spot for her to see how she can advance her career, and we should expect to see her be very competitive, if not victorious.  Based on that start, the field better be ready to snap to it out of the gate.

#3- Laffin Lady Z (Jkk Racing Stables, ridden by J J Castellano)- The Seeking The Ante will be the fourth race in the career of this Nice Laff filly.  She’s only one of them, and that was against NY-breds at FL in pretty snappy fashion.  Since that start, it appears as though she has knocked about a second off of her five furlong work times, making her seem to be capable of improvement off of that.  Laffin Lady Z could get lost in the shuffle of others here and see her odds climb, and if so, she’s an interesting longshot play.

#4- Toe Out (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by C P DeCarlo)- Despite a photo that was snapped of three horses together at the Lynbrook, there was a three way dead heat for third in that race.  Two of them, including Toe Out, were part of that field.    In looking back at that race, I recall being very impressed with her stretch desire to get a piece of that third place check.   Now, if she brings that back, having an extra furlong in the long stretch at SAR can be very beneficial and lead to her victory.

#5- Cobra Kai (Aer Stables, ridden R Santana Jr)- This filly looks to snap her sire’s winless streak when it comes to having a stake winning foal, and we know that it’s only a matter of time before King Cobra has his first.  Early last month, and with the same rider aboard, she broker her maiden at CD, and has followed that up with some good looking works.  Cobra Kai really looks like she is developing into a nice distance horse, so even if she doesn’t win today, chances are she’s gonna get a big one down the road.

#6- Finish The Fight (Sccj Stables, ridden by J Rosario)- Purchased in private sales for a snappy value of $70.000 on July 10th, Finish The Fight was thrust into the Lynbrook a week later and ran pretty well, being part of a three way dead heat for third.   She fizzled in the stretch there, but with more time for the trainer to get to know his filly, Finish The Fight should be able to do, well, exactly what her name implies, a lot better.

#7- Snappy Return (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- History looks good for Snappy Return, since both previous Lynbrook winners went on to win this race as well.  Make no mistake, though, this isn’t the only reason that Snappy Return figures to be the favorite here.  Quite simply, she is doing everything right early in her career.  She has only been on the track twice, and both races have ended up in victory.  The extra distance should suit her well, since she had a good run from off the pace to get the Lynbrook.  As long as she doesn’t get too far back, and I am not worried that she will, the long SAR stretch will be right in her wheelhouse.  She can’t have any kind of setback, because as good as she has been, the others here are not that far behind.

Prediction: 7-1-4-5

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded