Blue Grass Glory
By: Alex Sausville, Off-the-Turf Podcast
For
racing fans in Lexington, Kentucky the countdown began on October 26th, 2019,
the last day of the fall meet. From then it has been a lot longer than usual
for racing to find its way back to beautiful Keeneland. However when the 13
runners exit the starting gate on their 1 1/8 Mile journey on Saturday, we may
feel that sense of normal once again, if only for a fleeting moment.
The
Blue Grass Stakes itself has continued to shine in recent years, producing very
talented runners going forward since it was downgraded from Grade 1 status in
2016. Most recently the likes of top older horse Vekoma, winner of the Carter
and Met Mile has helped show the importance of the Blue Grass on the racing
calendar. A race that many were unsure if it would run this year has now
assembled a competitive field of 13 runners who will look to lock themselves in
the starting gate for a similar but different first Saturday of the month.
My Analysis:
This
year’s Blue Grass field features a wide variety of horses coming from all different
condition levels. Several runners in this field will be making the step up in
class out of Optional Claiming, others coming off of graded stakes placings in
recent derby preps. In addition to the slew of colts looking for derby points
will be Swiss Skydiver, the lone
filly in the field who looks to ride three straight graded stakes victories
into a victory over the boys. Several runners such as Mr. Big News and Enforceable
are past stakes winners who will be coming back off the layoff in this contest.
This race features a lot of horses with experience on the derby trail, however
the one that caught my eye has only tried stakes company on the turf.
Off
of two impressive victories at Churchill, Art
Collector will be making a significant jump up in class to take on a grade
2 level field. He has been visually impressive in Optional Claiming company and
after starting his career on the turf has really taken a liking to the dirt.
With each race so far, trainer Thomas Drury Jr. has been moving him up in distance
each start since he received the horse. Despite this being his first time going
the 1 1/8 Mile distance, he has continued to excel moving from 6 furlongs to 1
1/16 miles and being a son of Bernardini out of a mare whose is grade 1 stakes-placed going 1 1/4 Miles should help this horse get the distance.
Even
with taking on the boys in this start, Swiss Skydiver will most likely go off
as the favorite in this race and based on recent form it will be justified. The
backers of Swiss Skydiver will be watching closely on the Friday card as
Speech, who finished 2nd to her in the Santa Anita Oaks will be the heavy
favorite in the Beaumont giving a potential early indicator of the strength of
that win out in Southern California. Visually her recent performances put her
in a great spot here and she will be looking to continue to add to the great
early success of sire Daredevil’s early crops.
A
horse who continues to perform at the top level, Finnick The Fierce is one that needs to be considered underneath in
any spot. He has not been able to find his way to the winner’s circle in a
while but finished 3rd in the Arkansas Derby and 3rd last time out at Churchill
behind my top selection in Art Collector. One last horse to look at that could
end up being a strong chance if he’s able to get to the lead is Shivaree on the inside. This son of
Awesome of Course has shown speed in recent starts and despite not being able
to sustain to win these races going shorter could be the one who controls
things pending who decides to go with him. He should have the ability to get
himself out to the front and I would expect there to be some early pace on the
front end in this field once they hit the first turn.
My Plays:
$30
Win - 3 Art Collector = $30
$10
Exacta Box - 3,7 = $20
$4
Trifecta - 3,7/2,3,7/1,2,3,7,8 = $48
Total
= $98
Final Thoughts:
Despite
his move up in class, I am expecting to see a very strong performance by Art
Collector. I believe he will handle the distance well and prove that he belongs
versus graded stakes company. Swiss Skydiver will run her race and although I
am not confident she would be able to get the front to herself like in the
Santa Anita Oaks, she should be able to get a good trip and put her best hoof
forward.
It
has been an enjoyable week for all racing fans to see Keeneland back in action
and Saturday will be the exceptional climax for a race meet that few expected
to see racing just a few months ago. Although there will not be fans in
attendance, many people who would be in the stands will be enjoying the high-class racing product from the comfort of their living room. The show goes on
for the sport of horse racing, and we are thankful that it does.
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