Best Pal Stakes (Grade 3)- $200.000 Purse
DMR- For Two Year Olds
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
August 14, 2022

As the summer moves along, the stakes for two year old horses continue to get better and better. At DMR on Sunday, we will have one of those stakes, as the 19th running of the Best Pal Stakes takes place. This race sees a classification downgrade for 2022, as it was formerly a Grade 2 but will now be a Grade 3 for the first time. That is not something that is going to stop people from entering horses in it, and the purse remains the same. Therefore, we see a full starting gate for this race. Several horses that have won this race have gone on to have very good careers, but none of them have been better than 2006 winner, Fusion. In 2021, a horse named Liberia crossed the wire first for Waldo, half a length ahead of Grouse Mountain. It would be Liberia’s claim to fame, as the still active horse has never earned penny. Grouse Mountain meanwhile would go on to win the BC Juvenile. Is that Juvenile winner in this race? Let’s meet those who are going to give their best shot, but starting first here, in the Best Pal.

#1- Forceamalu (Arindel, ridden by E Maldonado)- Two for two in his young career, winning on debut in a maiden at CD, and then following it up by winning the $100.000 FT Futurity at SA. His name might make you think of Sharkamaulu, and he is a full brother to that one. He only has one fewer win than his brother, so while the Shark runs well but struggles to win, the Force can find the winner’s circle.

#2- Viking Fleet Affair (Rock Creek, ridden by R A Vazquez)- The BC-bred has won once in his two starts, coming in a $20.000 allowance at LAD in early June. Therefore, he’s not going to excite onlookers as much as others in this field will, but he is working just as well as any of them. This is will be a good measuring stick to see how much talent he has.

#3- Loko Moko (South Shore Stables, ridden Mario Gutierrez)- Wearing number three is a horse that has already had three owners, but has won three times in three races. South Shore Stables picked him up for $100.000 in private sales in late June, then brought the TX-bred to run in the TTA Sales Futurity- Colts, which he also won while going wire to wire. Likely looks to do the same again, but regardless, let’s hope he sticks around in this barn for a while.

#4- Marching Orders (Mb Stables, ridden by Ru Gonzalez)- One of two that Mb Stables will have in the race, and it is always interesting to see his two year old crop get started. When he’s been out there, Marching Orders has been productive, with two wins in three starts, with the last one coming in the $50.000 Hoover at BTP. Now, the colt is given his toughest orders to date.

#5- Bien Bien (Fractious, ridden by E A Roman)- Anoush Command has moved on to the sire ranks, and figures to produce plenty of quality. Bien Bien hopes to be one of his first great ones, though there are a few showing promise. He’s managed one win in his first three starts, that coming at WO in late June. Prior to that, he cashed a couple checks at high level tracks, but likely needed those races to get in a groove.

#6- Obfuscator (Jerry Garcia Racing, ridden by F Geroux)- Jerry is back! Great to see, and now he’s looking to get his next great batch of horses. Obfuscator looks to be part of that to start, with two strong performances in $120.000 maidens at CD. It might not be a bad thing to get a second place check in one of those to start, and with a little more distance, he got the job done in start number two. Strong works, and I find him quite appealing in here.

#7- War Regime (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by J Bravo)- An experienced one already, he has one win in four starts, but the other three starts saw him fail to hit the board. Last ran in the $175.000 Bashford Manor at CD but struggled, and never made an impact in the race. The trainer has had a month to fine tune this one since, and for him to be a threat, he will have had to have hit on something. That may be in the adds (no blinkers and bute added).

#8- Munich (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by M E Smith)- In late June, Mo Mentum Far picked this one up in private sales for $50.000 and would immediately see that pay off when he won a $123.200 maiden just eleven days later at WO. He’s one of the few in this field that has worked under 1:11 for six furlongs and may be the type that wants to keep adding distance. Just hope the legs hold up!

#9- Nygard (Kopites, ridden by U Rispoli)- No one in this field has raced more than Nygard, as he will be making his sixth start here. It will be his second since the trainer purchased the horse for $150.000. After the sale, Kopites changed up his adds and sent him to SAR for the Grade 3 Sanford, where he closed very well to get up for fourth, and finishing a half length behind the winner. The effort earned a 95 SRF, which is the highest such number in this field.

#10- Tempered (Mb Stables, ridden by V Espinoza)- In his second career start, Tempered became one of those horses to win one of those appealing $123.320 maidens at WO. A month later, Mb Stables brought the horse to the lone star state, where he would run for much less money (have to take what you can get, of course), and he would win that as well. In here, he looks just as good as most of these, but he doesn’t necessarily stand out.

#11- Magical Sunset (La Canada Racehorses, ridden by A Ayuso)- After struggling on debut like many others, Magical Sunset went to Saratoga and broke his maiden for a $100.000 purse while at ridiculous odds. Now, he travels across the country and as long as he can handle starting from this post, figures to be on of the top choices as his works are a little better than most others. Don’t look for him to be a major longshot again.

#12- Shoo Fly (Lazy Eye, ridden by J Pyfer)- Shoo Fly will hope to not be bothered by his outside post. Thus far in two races, he has raced twice and gone home with a win once, coming down at LA against statebreds. In that, he came from well off the pace, so you hope that he will be able to implement that style effectively again unless the trainer has other ideas. One of the few who’s putting together sub-1:11 work times, so certainly a promising runner here.

Prediction: 6-1-9-11

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES