Ali – Grade III
1 3/16 Mile Dirt Stake Purse $300.000 Open 4 Year Olds And Up.
1st Smoking Makes You Il Night Rider Stables Castellano J J
Well, for once at least we have two pieces of form that actually make sense. At the beginning of March this horse met Crack Dab on level weights and beat him by a quarter length in the SA Handicap. Today in their very next race again on level weights this horse once again beat Crack Dab, this time by a head. It looked like Smoking Makes You II was allowed to run his natural race where Crack Dab was turned into a front runner and made to run just a little too hard early on but as usual regardless of instructions and running styles the result was pretty much the same.
It should be noted and is a good HRP lesson for any new stable out there that this one under the same owner was running in claimers in 2021 after running some good races as a younger horse but being unable to win at any level above optional claimers. The first time he looked like he could actually win a black type race was when third on the turf in the BEL Gold Cup in 2022 but even then, it took him another 6 months to crack a ten-race losing streak. Then suddenly as an eight-year-old he hit his programmed improvement curve which was to propel him from an optional claimer at HOU to a grade one winner and dual graded stakes winner just 3 months later.
Credit must be given to his owner who has persevered with this one, prodding and probing the improvement curve but never giving up that one day he would rise above the level he had been stuck at for 5 previous years. So now we have a horse that can be considered a BC Classic chance, of course we know the fall from that improvement curve can be just as sudden and dramatic as the rise so the owner will be hoping the old fella can hold his form to November.
2nd Crack Dab Gdp Inc Eramia R E
Much the same that I have said about the winner can be said about this seven-year-old although there are definitely differences as Crack Dab has been up and down his improvement curve over the years. There is nothing more frustrating than a wavy improvement curve as it gives the impression of inconsistency, which I guess is what it is meant to do, but he has looked great and then not so great a I in his career. At the moment though he is on an up which has seen him gain two seconds in good races after two poor races in his previous two starts. Today either the AI or the trainer decided to turn him back into a front runner and I must admit it did look as though it would come off just as it did when he won his last race in June last year when taking the Blame with similar tactics. He pushed just a little too hard in mid race though and could not last home going down by a head in a good effort.
3rd Tall Heckler Mo Mentum Farm Murrill M
The rest of the field were a long way back with this one running past the rest but forgetting there was a first two to catch. The way horses make ground on this new engine is much slower and more intermittent than it used to be giving on pace horse a much better chance and whilst this was a much improved effort he was never going to get involved in the main race, With an eight-year-old beating a seven-year-old and two six-year-olds it certainly sends a message to all those who think their three-year-olds are cooked after ten races.
4th Set In Space Nakamura Stables Alvarado F T
Well, if the AI made it hard for the third horse to win then it made it impossible for this one to win as memories of the old spinney legs start engine came to mind as he fell so far behind, he was never going to get involved on the shiny new on speed engine. It seemed the AI decided the best time for him to mount a challenge was with a furlong to run and ten lengths to make up which of course is silly and would have got the rider a big kick up the butt by the trainer in real life. Whether it was the race engine deciding or the trainer deciding it was clear that this one never had a chance to win and actually did very well to grab fourth in the end.
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
