Summer Stakes (Grade 1) (BC)- $250.000 Purse
WO- For Two Year Olds
One Mile on the Turf
September 20, 2020
Every year, the Summer Stakes is one of the most competitive stakes out there for two year olds, providing an automatic bid to the BC Juvenile Turf. Not only that, but it is the first significant graded race for those two year olds that want to run a little longer, so the opportunity that it provides horses and trainers is pretty big. The field will be full once again for this race, as we begin to get acquainted with names that we can expect to hear a lot more often. At least, that is what the trainers are hoping. Last year, Eggs And Bacon got the win here, and while he has not won since, he still is still running decently at the graded level. Here is a look at our hopeful twelve to get a big win early in their career.
#1- Whatchagonnado (Fractious, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- Starting on the rail, this State Police gelding has won his first two races. He has not attempted a stake of any sort yet, but it seems as though he has just been waiting for this opportunity to run longer. His work at MTH two weeks ago shows he has as much potential as anyone else here.
#2- Beach Xaar (Diablo Diablo, ridden by J Stein)- The Beachcomber gelding has won one out of his four starts, and was not able to step up in his last outing, a $75.000 ungraded stake at RET, which ran at a mile on the grass. He was only seventh there with a less than impressive 82 SRF. He’ll need to be better, and if he is here, then I think the trainer is highly confident that he will be.
#3- Evergreen (Mb Stables, ridden by A Beschizza)- This colt has spent much of his time running in Florida with the statebred condition in those very appealing FL Sire Stakes races, and he did finish second in the Fager. He’ll be racing on the grass for the first time, and you have to go back a bit to see his last public turf works. Though with this name, he seems like he should be on the green.
#4- Religion (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by J Lezcano)- Two of the three races that this Fox News gelding has been in on have been on the grass, and he’s won one of them. He was seen just a couple weeks ago, on the second of the month, in the Grade 3 With Anticipation at SAR, and got up for fifth, but never really did much else. If he’s fine with his rest, he can probably build on that here.
#5- Obedient (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Seems to be on this trail a little more then his stablemate, Evergreen, with two turf starts in his three career races. He has also one of them, but it was the race on the main track, which was his debut. He is working very well, and he has been given the chances, but the grass results are not there yet. They seem like they will be, eventually.
#6- Race To The Top (Nakamura Stables, ridden by J I Velez)- After running ninth at MTH in his second race on the dirt, Nakamura sent Race To The Track to the free track for his grass debut. He won the race, but that is a move that does not seem like Nakamura Stables, and it certainly gets your attention. Naturally, something has happened since to get the trainer confident to enter him here.
#7- Furious (Mb Stables, ridden by J Bisono)- Here is the third entry from Mb Stables as he looks to find out who his early stars are in this division. Furious makes his sixth start, and has been running well since he was gelded in June. After the snip, he finally broke his maiden, coming in his turf debut, and then ran fourth at the $85.000 Skidmore at SAR.
#8- Stealth Command (Estero Farms, ridden by M Tunon)- Speaking of the $85.000 Skidmore, that race was won by Stealth Command, and allowing him to be one of only two horses in this field that have won any sort of stake yet. That is a sprint, but his works clearly show that he is going to have no problem being able to get this distance. Estero Farms invested highly in him in June, getting him in the auction for $225.000, so there are high expectations here.
#9- Cheesy (Keikowin Racing, ridden by Ru Fuentes)- Here is the other horse in the field that can call himself a stake winner, as he managed to capture the $100.000 Soaring Free Stakes right here in August, narrowly over Extremo. It marked his second win in three starts, and he has shown a good ability to win by either coming from off the pace, or running at the front early on.
#10- West Coast Party (Stald Gullis, ridden by R Bejarano)- The west coast party is heading east as the gelding makes the seventh start of his career. That is more than any of his rivals coming in. In those starts, he is taking a liking to finishing third, ending up in the spot four times already. A geld did not help that, at least not initially, as he ran fifth in the $100.000 Proud Man, also on the East Coast, at GP. He’s been working out west, and doing that pretty well, but he has yet to race there.
#11- Coronavirus (Aer Stables, ridden by S Ryan)- Not surprisingly, the trainer that brought us the horse named Sars was the first to get in on naming a horse this. The gelding has made two starts thus far, winning half of them, including a good come from behind effort at MTH on soft ground last time out. Hopefully S Ryan will be wearing a mask.
#12- Extremo (Acber Stables, ridden by R M Hernandez)- Finally, on the outside we get this colt by Amazing Class, who is one for three in his young career. He would break his maiden in his second start, and that sent him to the $100.000 Soaring Free Stakes, where he would run second to Cheesy. The two of them ran a similar race, coming from off the pace but there will be more distance to cover here. We’ll see how he takes to that.
Prediction: 8-1-9-5
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
