Aristides BC ($225.000 Purse)
CD- For Four Year Olds and Upward
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
June 3, 2023

The Aristides BC is one of the races taking place at CD on Saturday, and will give us a field of six older horses going six furlongs on the main track. It has not always excluded three year olds, though, as from 2003 through 2018, those horses were allowed to participate. The race did not run in 2019, but two things about it were different in 2020: being restricted to four year olds and up and the loss of the Grade 3 designation. Purses have ranged between $100.000 and $200.000, making the 2023 amount of $225.000 being a new record for the race. In 2022, Mb Stables won the race with his gelding General Obvious, but the horse has not won another race since. He’s still active and currently in the hands of Fractious, and we haven’t seen the last of him, I would imagine. Who will be the next winner? Here’s a look at the six hoping it is them!

#1- America First (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by A Beschizza)- It’s interesting to see a horse in a stake at six furlongs at this stage in their career that has not run less than seven furlongs ever in their career: not even in their debut race! But that is where we are with America First, and based on his recent performances, it is not a surprise to see this type of change. Ever since running in the WV Derby last year, he has been running at or near the back in every start. His last start was his first turf try and that did not go well. There’s been a lot of back and forth with adds, too. Hard to pick him, but if the trainer finally hits on the right answer to get this horse going on, he could surprise.

#2- Sauna (Fractious, ridden by J Loveberry)- Picked up by the trainer in the December 2022 auction for $26.330, and has won two of his four starts since then. Both of those were claiming races at SA, where he ran for tags of $50.000 and $75.000, but he did take on stake company in his last start, something that he did do a few times before the auction, too. Last month, he only ran fourth here at the St. Matthews, but it was a competitive enough of an effort for him to run here in very similar conditions.

#3- Crimson Sun (Riggins Racing, ridden by T Gaffalione)- This six year old gelding by Lightyear is a horse that has had a lot of success in the past, making just shy of $700.000 over his lifetime. He’s past through multiple trainers over the last twelve months, so that could lead one to believe that he is slowing down but the opposite actually seems to be true. In his last four starts, all with Riggins, he has not won, but has been second twice in Grade 3’s with triple digit SRF’s. Did have a win in April 2022 in the Grade 3 Fleet Sprint Handicap which seemed to get the ball rolling on trainers selling him rather than keeping him. Crimson Sun will need to be better than he was in the Westchester last month, though.

#4- Demon (Wood Duck Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- After a strong three year old season, that saw a pair of graded stake victories and a chance to run in the BC Sprint, Demon has only hit the track one time this year. Yes, he did run on New Years Eve for full disclosure, but that lone start was at the beginning of April and it was quite good. At AQU in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap, Demon ran second and earned a 100 SRF, only the second time he hit the triple digits with his speed figure. This is a very good horse, and if there is any question about him, it may simply be why are we not seeing him race more often? Hopefully that can start to change after this race.

#5- Audioslave (Alydar Stables, ridden by L Saez)- This will be the 57th career start for the eight year old gelding, but he is looking for his first win since May of last year. He’s plenty accomplished, making over $1,400.000 in his lifetime with eleven wins, but when will the twelfth be coming? He hasn’t been bad of late, but even when Audioslave wasn’t winning before, he was consistently in the thick of it. However, he’s had a couple extended cold spells previously as well. Regardless, he could use a strong finish here even if not a win.

#6- Tiz Trippi (Rock Creek, ridden by G Corrales)- A winner of eight out of 27 races for his career. It’s been a little more than a year now since Rock Creek spent $190.000 to pick him up in private sales, and it’s probably close as to whether or not he has been profitable or not for his new trainer, but a win here could help that quite a bit. He’s won twice with four second place efforts in which he was within a length of the winner at the end. Unfortunately, he also has races like his last one, where he was a no show in the Fleet Sprint Handicap. Expect better here.

Prediction: 4-2-3-6

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded