Whimsical Stakes (Grade 3)- $125.000 Purse
WO- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
April 20, 2019

The Whimsical Stakes is a smaller Grade 3 held north of the border that will run for the 13th time. It ends up drawing a field of six, but in the days leading to the cutoff time for the race, there was some question as to whether or not the race would fill at all. While there are not any standouts in this field, most of the runners here come into the race on good form, so we should have an exciting race. Let’s meet the field!

#1- Crimson Sazerac (Lc Racing Inc, ridden by J M Campbell)- The trainer looks for their first career graded win, and maybe its time. The problem is, Crimson Sazerac likes finishing second and third more then she likes winning. That’s a catch-22, because she is very consistent overall, but only has one win in eleven career starts. Nine of the eleven have seen her run in the money. Maybe she is due. Depends on how you want to look at it, but this is not an overpowering field, so this may be the right time.

#2- Vanilla Capitano (Greeko Holdem, ridden by J Lermyte)- There will be two in the field wearing the Greeko Holdem silks as someone has to make up for the lack of Mb Stables entries in my three races this weekend (seriously, three races, and not one Mb horse in any of them?). Vanilla Capitano has hit the board in 11 of 17 career starts, and has won five of them. I like that, but until her last race, a $55.000 stake, she had not faced this type of field.

#3- Four Soxs (Greeko Holden, ridden by E J Wilson)- Similar to her stablemate in regards to her career statistics. She has four wins in 18 starts, and has been in the top three ten times. She’s been racing well of late, winning her last two, and three of four in both open allowances and one $75.000 stakes. Those were small fields too, but this is as well.

#4- Ker Splash (Invicta Group Llc, ridden by E R Da Silva)- Winner of two of his last four, which were allowances at the esteemed PM and RIL circuits. He’s tried better company, though, and has been competitive in them, with a couple of third place showings in NY-bred stakes. That’s been a little while, but I don’t think she has really fallen off that much.

#5- Ghost Havoc (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by P Husbands)- This would be the favorite in the field if we were going at least a mile, but the big question that surrounds her is whether or not she will know when the finish line comes, because she is not used to six furlongs. She’s hit the board, in 13 of 18 career starts, and was even within a length of victory in the Grade 1 Zenyatta last year. Still one to like.

#6- Thalassa (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by R M Hernandez)- The only horse in the field that has regularly been competing against graded competition over the last six months. She has not won any of them, though, and has managed just two victories in her fifteen career starts. Like others in here, which is a bit of a theme for this race, she is better at finishing in the top three then winning outright, hitting the board 11 of them.

Prediction: 1-5-6-4 (A bit of a whimsical prediction)

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES