KD Preview Turf Cup
ELP Race #10 1 1/4m Turf Stake
Purse $250.000 For Three Year Olds And Upward.

1 Lord City Fractious Gutierrez Mario 124 —

Claimed after a really good staying performance to win last time he had previously been close-up in the Fort Macey and the Muniz Memorial Handicap so there is clearly some late improvement going on here. I think he may be a very good claim if the new owner can find a balance with his lack of early pace. Drawn the ace the trainer has the chance of getting him a little closer than he has been recently, and he may just be the dark horse here.

2 Xmas Snow Rock Creek Franco M 124 —

This eight-year-old may be a light of former years but proved last time in a decent open allowance at WO that he isn’t done with just yet. He has only beaten a neck in the Fort Macey which was his best effort for some time so there may still be a win in his old legs and he gets every assistance from the drawn monster today.

3 Cp Sad Pain Barcelona Farms Husbands P 124 —

Another six-year-old who is finding a bit of form late in life he has won his last two including a stakes race last time out. He has done well this year starting with a good fourth in the TAM Stakes and we must not forget that any horse that has won over half his races at age six is no pushover. He has more pace than some of these having been a winner over five furlongs last year and whilst he may not have the body of work of some of these do I think he still is a big threat.

4 Day Of The Dragon Onlineracingclub.com Prat F 124 —

A busy five-year-old with 34 starts under his belt he was recently claimed and ran pretty well in his first start for the new stable. His works are very solid and I think there is some improvement here that may turn out to be significant in a field of mostly old warriors who may be on the slide. If there was one here that I would have a sneaky win and place a bet on it is him.

5 Americas Hope Nakamura Stables Alvarado F T 124 —

Even though he only has four wins to his name you would have to say that this one is probably the form choice in the race. As a four-year-old there is plenty of improvement to come and to be honest he doesn’t really need to improve his form to win. As a three-year-old he was runner up in the SAR Derby and the easy winner of the JC Derby both big turf races for the three-year-olds and this year whilst not as effective without the weight allowance he has picked up the grade three American Stakes and finished second in the grade one Shoemaker Mile. If you are one for form, then this is your winner.

6 State Cavier Smokey Stover Cohen D 124 —

A fairly prolific sort, he has won 7 from 16 and been very consistent in his other efforts although to date he has been largely kept out of the stakes level. He gets his chance today after some slick mile works, and I am expecting a big run from him.

7 Rising King Maxmillion Farm Bridgmohan S X 124 —

Here we go, there is no-one better at the old HRP hacks than Maxmillion Farm who sends year’s winning sprinter who was second in last year’s BC Turf Sprint to only his second lifetime route race. Either, as a six-year-old, the trainer is trying to find his old mojo by throwing him in here or this is a measured entry who will prove once again, as so often has been, that the trip means very little to good horses at HRP. I am inclined to go with the second, but we will only know which it is after the race.

8 Black Card Wood Duck Stables Boyce F 124 —

A lightly raced four-year-old who was going along nicely until his last start when he was last in the Arlington. He is one of those that always seems to get a raw deal from the draw monster, and he is up against it again today. On his win in the Twilight he is right in this, on his last start he is up against it, so once again it is hard to tell what we are going to get,

SUMMARY

There is a little voice in the back of my head saying Rising King will run one of those races that has everyone scratching their heads, but you have to temper those HRP hacks with a bit of common form sense, although that very often doesn’t seem to work. On form America’s Hope looks the one but there are several stories to be written with other results and it is quite an intriguing race.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded