04/27 Woodstock Stakes
WO Race #8 6f Dirt Stake
Purse $100.000 (plus up to $15.000 for ON-breds) For Three Year Olds.
1 At Your Service Mb Stables Hernandez R M
Broke his maiden at WO at the end of last year and was highly regraded enough to have a crack at the Lewis Stakes first up this season. He just ran OK in that race well out of the money and then did similar in a decent SA allowance. The trainer gelded him then and then took easy money at TUP over this trip and gives the horse another chance to prove himself in this race. I dont think he was ever a KYD horse but the trainer tends to run anything witha pulse in those qualifying races and he just got caught in the crossfire. This race and trip are much more his level and with an ace draw and slick work out times he should give a good show.
2 Sharp And Ready Winning Link Stables Campbell J
Won his first two in good style and was then tried in the Hutcheson Stakes. Sadly he got an impossible draw and the race engine killed his chances by taking him way back to a distant last in the first quarter. He ran on really well in the end, ninth, but only beaten two lengths and i think that was a much better effort than his finishing position suggests. The perfect draw will give him a much better chance today and he would be my pick against horses who have achieved a bit more.
3 Healthy Status First Class Stable Kimura K
This would be a classic HRP winner. In his last three he has looked outpaced over longer distances but he had previously won two sprints on the turf and is working like a sprinter. I say classic because so many sprinters manage to show up and run in route races with very little dip in their form and this is a good example. So on works he can win, he can sprint we know that but it is very hard to try and equate his chances in this race other than on paper he could run well. A good draw will help.
4 Lounge Lizard Rampage Stable Bahen S R
Won well in the mud last time and he may need those conditions again to get into the finish of this race. He ran well enough in the Winkfield before that but i have a feeling this may prove too short unless the rains come.
5 World Turning Alydar Stables Husbands
Another router coming to sprinting and as i said earlier it pays to ignore the trip and just look at the grade and how the horse ran. After two good wins and an excellent third in the Remsen at the end of last year he was aimed at the TC prep races but failed to get into the first ten in all three despite some strong works. So we know he has the class from the Remsen, his works are just about the same as anything else so on that we must assume that if he runs his best form from last year he will be very close at the end.
6 Pink Condor Axeman Da Silva E R
Even though his best races have come on the turf he recently ran a sub 58 dirt work over five furlongs so on that you would have to assume that he is just as good on this surface. His works say winner the rest you have to take on trust.
7 Remembering Pops TwinTowersRacing Garcia Alan
The horses name suggests there is some emotion behind his title and it would be great to see him win. His form is good enough having run really well in the Hutcheson being only beaten a length and with Sharp And Ready behind so he has a good chance of making Pops very proud.
8 Black Command John Henry Moreno O
He has some fair overnight form but a tough draw and a jockey who doesnt get much work may make it tough. His works of course are just as good as anything else so his chances are far from zero.
10 Workers Comp Greeko Holdem Lermyte J
Another with fair overnight form and works that are in the ball park he too has a wide draw to contend with and in a race as tight as this that will probably put him a length behind in seventh or eighth.
11 Rocking The Boat Mb Stables Wilson E J
With possibly the stables first string in box one i would expect this one to atleast go forward even if he isnt set on full rocket speed. A fair enough sort he has only raced three times but has run well enough to make him a chance and it goes without saying he is working the same as everything else. If he gets the lead at a reasonable pace he could just snatch it.
SUMMARY
We have routers, we have stakes proven horses, we have turfers and we have up and comers but what they all have in common is very similar work times. The only one that is outstanding on works is the turfer Pink Condor so failing anything else to go by i will pick him to win a race that will come down to who gets the best trip and which jockey has all the AI brain cells today.
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
