The Alabama – Grade I
SAR Race #5 1 1/4m Dirt Graded Stake
Purse $600.000 For Fillies Three Years Old.

There is a comparison here that really sums up just how these top races are going these days at HRP. Let’s look at the rivalry between Soliloquy Sunset and Creepy Runner Party. They are both BC champions, one on the dirt, one on the turf. But they first met in a race in the Marthas Wish back in January. That day SS was second 1 1/2 lengths in front of CRP. Next, they met in the KY Oaks where once again SS came out on top two lengths in front of CRP when fourth and seventh. Then came the Acorn where CRP came out on top a length in front of SS when winning. Before this race they met again in the CCA Oaks where just a half-length separated them in the race as SS once again came out on top by a half-length. Today in their fifth meeting this year SS made it four to one with a win four lengths clear of CRP.

There are similar comparisons to be made with Tactical Spin who stands at 2-1 down to these two so on balance Soliloquy Sunset was always on top but despite that the odds monkeys had CRP at 4/5 favorite, TS at 4/1 and SS the 6/1 shot.

With the draws and pace seemingly not making much difference we are left with that nagging feeling that these three will meet again and whilst SS will remain the obvious choice with the advantage we have seen over the year there is always the chance that for some reason, only known inside the digital brains of these great fillies, that the result will change anywhere within about a four length range. Each trainer will be hoping that their day comes in the BC but of course they will have to take on Credit Crime in that race which will further cloud the mix. But let’s not forget that that seemingly unbeatable filly has also been beaten by Soliloquy Sunset when she was third in the BC Fillies race last year. HRP remains as brilliantly unpredictable as always!

Here’s how the Alabama finished this year:

1st Soliloquy Sunset Nakamura Stables Bejarano R

Well, what a great filly this is and after this display who would say she won’t take her second BC race in November. Stamina at HRP is a funny thing to comprehend but over the years it has become apparent that very often it doesn’t look exactly the same as real life. This filly has been on-speed in many races this year but since the DMR Debutante as a two-year-old has always seemingly weakened at the end of her races. So today over the longest trip she has ever tackled it may have been expected that she would find the ten furlongs too far, but this is where the representation of stamina can seem a bit different here at HRP. Her biggest wins in the past have been from off the pace but she stuck with her running style today or at least the pace of the race allowed her to get to the lead and there was always the thought that we would see her taken on down the stretch as her stamina gave out. But and here is the key I think stamina is represented here by finishing pace. A horse that runs on at the end is not looking necessarily for a longer trip in the same way a horse that weakens from the front isn’t maybe looking for a shorter one, in fact in a lot of cases they may be looking for further or shorter as was the case with Soliloquy Sunset today.
She didn’t get an easy lead which suggests to me she was on HL and the average early pace allowed her to be on speed and as she nudged ahead at the halfway point it looked like the revitalized veteran R Bejarano had taken notes from her usual rider AA Gallardo and was ready for the late closers. But those late closers never came as she reveled in the pace where the closers couldn’t close and ran on like a Grand National Horse to win by a length.
The BC Distaff will be a cracker this year and if this filly gets a comfortable run on-speed maybe she could beat the great Credit Crime again!

2nd Anoushka On Tap Winning Link Stables Corrales G

Another old wives’ tale has been put to bed by this filly as we were once told that a horse won’t develop if it is raced below, it’s capable grade. Well, this one was claimed from the free track in February so I think we can officially say that is another line of BS from the game makers as she added a grade one second to her two stakes victories since that day. Another interesting point to make here is that her worst result out of the five races she has run for Winning Link Stables wasn’t in any of the stakes races but in an optional claimer proving that once again winning money in stakes races can be easier that winning money in overnights.
Stalking the average pace, she kept on pretty well to be second and whilst it is tough to see how she could beat the winner if they meet again, she has been a brilliant claim by the stable and surely has many more good wins in her locker.

3rd Tactical Spin Alydar Stables Wilson E J

The KY Oaks runner up just hasn’t had things go her way since but once again showed she is only a race condition away from being at the top of the tree. Her natural pace seems to set her back in races and she needs a really fast early pace to show the turn of foot she showed in the early part of the year, or of course an off track where the AI can struggle to find the right pace for the conditions, It will only take a crazy early pace to see her coming out on top again but at the moment at least it seems the early pace isn’t where it was in the first part of the year for some reason and she is struggling to find the winner’s circle.

4th Us Against The World Mb Stables Carmouche K

The outside speed push saw her go up to the front, but she had given it up at halfway and ended up fading into fourth. She ran faster for longer in her last start when she made all so, I am not sure why she quit so fast today but the same thing happened in the Acorn, so there may be something in that. She is a grade two winner so it can’t be anything to do with a class gene, but she has proved a little frustrating over her 15 races.

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES