The Jaipur – Grade I [BC]
SAR Race #6 5 1/2f Turf Graded Stake
Purse $500.000 For Three Year Olds And Upward.

1 Riley Royalty Stables Lopez P 124 —

This decent five-year-old may not be known for his sprinting, but he proved last time out that he has plenty of speed and with the distance of a race being low on the reasons a horse can’t win here at HRP he may be a decent outside chance from the inside draw. Only beaten a couple of lengths in the BC mile and a close third in the WO Mile we know he has the class.

2 Free Beer Night Rider Stables Geroux F 124 —

A prolific winner in lower grade he ran a huge race in the TS Turf Sprint last time when flying home for a close third. With five wins in the wet it can be safely said that his win chances go up with every drop of rain and if the track does come up soft or worse than he may well be a winning chance.

3 Drinkin Creepin Mb Stables Velazquez J R 124 —

You would have to say that this one should and probably will start the favorite as he has so much going for him. The jockey is 4 from 5 on him, the owner needs no introduction, and he is unbeaten this year including two of the most competitive turf sprint Stakes so far. It is very hard to go past him on form and he is the obvious choice from a great draw.

4 Struck Down Fractious Beschizza A 118 —

Won his maiden over a sprint trip but has spent the last four starts over ground and has done pretty well winning the Black Gold Stakes and running with credit in the Transylvania and the American Turf. I have said it a million times the trip means very little at HRP with routers being able to sprint and vice versa so I am not too worried about his form lines going into this. He is very happy on a wet track which may turn out to be significant although even that doesn’t have the same weight as it dies in real life. The stable is on fire so must be a good chance.

5 Black Draco Mo Mentum Farm Gallardo A A 118 —

You have to get a bit creative to give this one a hope, but he is a progressive sprinter with the three-year-old weight allowance and that is a good place to start. Effective on any ground and showing early speed there is no reason he can’t be in this at the end even without the sort of form that the big hitters have in this.

6 Reinvestment Spankys Barn Ortiz I Jr 124 —

A decent enough type at lower level he will have to step up to be part of this race. Having said that, there is very little between an allowance and a graded stake these days and he has improved since knocking around claimers and at the magic age of five miracles really can happen. I like his work times and I feel there is something to come from him if not today.

7 First Fleet High Voltage Centeno D E 124 —

Fourth in the TS Sprint behind the likely favorite for this race he is a solid sprinting type although naturally has form over all sorts of different trips. Likely to go for the stalk from this draw he may be a bit of a surprise package especially if the ground stays dry, but he does have to find some improvement and at age six that may not be forthcoming.

8 Whoa Bo Maxmillion Farm Bridgmohan S X 124 —

He was very good in the Elusive Quality last time clocking a remarkable sub 1.08 for the six furlongs at AQU. With the turf king on his side, it looks like he will be very competitive here although this draw may make it hard for him to get the same trip he did in his last start.

9 Pxg Mb Stables Franco M 124 —

Another advert for the rather silly situation with the difference between a sprinter and a router he has worked some of the fastest sprint time in this field and yet has certainly been better known as a mile plus horse recently. A close and closing fifth in the BC Mile and beaten a nose in the WO Mile before that, this is a horse who has all the class, and if you go back to 2022, he won the KD Turf Sprint so on his day is a top-class sprinter. At eight he may have lost a little sparkle, but that is not what his works say. If you want better odds for an Mb runner you could do worse than this.

10 Union Avenue D J C Racing Stables Pennington F 124 —

Although he has a lot of recent form over longer trips both his wins have come in sprints including a claiming win last time. The draw monster may have dulled any small chance he had of winning, but you have to be in it to win it and sometimes in horse racing that is all you need.

11 Apache Tomcat Ajm Stables Kimura K 124 —

With 14 wins to his name, he has had to wait till now as a seven-year-old to really find his best form. A fine third in the Shakertown was followed by a dashing second in the TS Turf Sprint last time being held by just a quarter length by the likely race favorite. He certainly has no help from the draw monster here in his quest to get revenge on Drinkin Creepin and if the draws were reversed, I would certainly be more hopeful. Clearly a chance but the race engine will have to be kind if he has a chance of the win.

12 Bluesman Spankys Barn Gaffalione T 124 —

Make no bones, this is a very good sprinter who gets a nightmare draw but still has a chance of winning. It will be tough to use the wide gate speed and make the front in such a race without burning through some fuel so this is no easy task, but if he can slip into a stalk and not be hung out too wide then he could upset the big stables in this.

SUMMARY

I would’ve liked Bluesman for this race, but the draw is going to make it very tough for him, he still could win but it is hard to know what the AI will do with him so it may pay to have a backup plan. The obvious choice is Drinkin Creepin although with shorts odds likely, I may be more tempted with a silly each way bet on his stable companion. One thing is for sure there will be fireworks, probably a dead heat in there somewhere and just a few lengths across them all at the end. (unless it rains and then there will probably be 20 lengths over them).

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES