The Essex Handicap – Grade III
1 1/8 Mile Dirt Stake Purse $500.000 Open 4 Year Olds And Up.

1st Ocala Secret Grimley Carmouche K

I have written up a lot of these types of handicap races in my years at the SRF and very often you get a bottom weight run a race like this where they look like a superstar. Not knocking this five-year-old at all who had worked a good time prior to this race and though he had only won 3 from 19 before today he has raced in good company. With so many of the field looking to close late he ran the perfect race keeping the leader honest and then kicking on pretty early and setting up a lead whilst the others were still asleep. With just one speed horse the pace was just average meaning he had plenty left down the stretch to easily hold the closers at bay. On this win you would have to say he is one of those five-year-olds that finds some late improvement, but handicaps can have form lines all of their own, and I would have to see him on levels before I declare him a BC threat.

2nd Investment Center TwinTowersRacing Eramia R E

This race was slow early and fast late which wouldn’t have suited this closing type, but it did allow him to stay a bit closer than normal and that was key to his good effort here. Giving four pounds to the winner doesn’t sound much but handicap weights have a strange effect here at HRP and sometimes it can look like five times that much, so this was a very good effort from the Clark winner.

3rd Iced Mocha Arindel Juarez N

Third in a $15.000 claimer, then a well beaten sixth in an ungraded stake did not marry up to a recent 1.36 and 1 work so I wasn’t as surprised as the odds monkeys to see this one run well off bottom weight. Stalking the lead, he kept on pretty well to take third, but the winner was far too good today.

4th= Test The Waters Mb Stables Bacon T W

I was a little surprised when this one gave up the lead so easily off a pretty slow first six furlongs, but he never really fired after losing the lead and just kept on for fourth.

4th= Speter Sheffler Stables Reyes A A

The pace was horrible for the first half of this race which gave the deep closers no chance at all and in the end this one was the best of them.

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES