ITM Players' Newsletter - California Crown Preview
Parx Recap & Weekend Eye Catchers!
Players’ Podcast - Cal Crown Wagering Preview + Thorpedo Anna/Seize the Grey
PTF kicks off the new show with a visit from Peter Rotondo Jr. as they preview the wagering menu for this weekend’s California Crown and talk about the $6,000 Cal Crown contest as well as some of the fun food options that will part of the festivities.
Next up, Nick Tammaro is here to look back at stakes racing from last weekend and to examine Thorpedo Anna’s win — should we believe Ken McPeek’s narrative or might she be headed in the wrong direction? The guys also talk Seize the Grey — did he prove something this past weekend or was he once again fortunate? Other topics include a discussion of City of Troy’s chances in the Classic and the Parx turf course.
Last but not least, Joel Funk and Tom Taaffe of Morning Line Club are here to summarize their revolutionary approach to horse ownership and announce that Entry Fees to MLC are on sale now.
For a longer discussion about MLC, check out this show.
Players’ Podcast - Assiniboia Downs Closing Night with Mandatory Payout Pick 5 (9/24)
PTF and Mike Pribozie bring you coverage of the Pick 5 on Closing Night at Assiniboia Downs. The Pick 5 has a mandatory payout with a carryover of over $200,000 (pending Monday’s results). ASD also has a $1 Pick 4 with a $50,000 Guaranteed Pool. Look for big pools for these Wagers on Tuesday Night, September 24, 2024. Free Contest Jockey contest with Cash Prizes go to Contestjockey.com to sign up today!
The Breeders’ Cup will be here before you know it! Join ITM Plus for exclusive podcasts and write-ups from your favorite ITM contributors in the lead up to the first weekend in November.
Weekend Eye Catchers - September 19-22, 2024
By Will Humphrey
Once again, we were treated to some stellar racing and standout performances over the past few days, with plenty of eye-catching performances coming in both victory and defeat. Here are a few horses who I’ll be putting in the tracker and keeping a close eye on going forward.
Thursday, Churchill Downs, Race 5: ADMIRAL DENNIS (3rd)
Although he was turned over as the 5/2 favorite on Thursday, I thought that ADMIRAL DENNIS made a nice impression in what was his career debut at Churchill Downs, where he was a touch unlucky not to have found the winner’s circle.
Going out for Brad Cox, the $425,000 son of CONSTITUTION broke tardily from gate four but recovered well and effortlessly moved his way up through the field to stalk the pace under Florent Geroux. A leading group of six had broken away rounding the home bend, with AD sandwiched tightly in between, and for all the world it looked as if Geroux was simply going to find daylight, open up, and draw off to score, as his mount was straining at the reins rounding into the lane. However, the daylight never appeared. Geroux had to check AD at the 3/16 pole, with track announcer, Travis Stone, describing the pair as being “stymied and stuck and brushed once again”, which saw them lose momentum as they had to sharply maneuver from the rail to the three path. AD stayed on well to the wire and galloped out strongly but couldn’t pick up quickly enough to catch the front pair and had to settle for a two-length defeat in third.
I don’t like saying that a horse would have definitely won with a better trip, but having traveled so powerfully throughout, you have to think that AD would have gone very close. Nevertheless, there were plenty of things to like about this debut effort from Cox’s trainee, who hails from a long line of stakes winners and is actually related to 2022 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) winner, HAPPY SAVER. There’s a touch more stamina than speed in the pedigree and to my eye, AD shaped as if he will be suited by further than Thursday’s six-furlong trip, so it will be interesting to see whether that’s the route Cox takes with him next.
For now, though, the visual impression that he made was solid and with this run under his belt, hopefully with a cleaner trip next time, ADMIRAL DENNIS will have no problem graduating out of the maiden ranks. He looks a nice prospect and could turn out to be alright.
Friday, Churchill Downs, Race 7: MUHIMMA (1st)
With the Road to the Kentucky Oaks already underway, it could be worth taking note of the name: MUHIMMA, who was extremely impressive on debut and looks destined for big things.
Another sent out by Brad Cox, the Three Chimneys Farm bred/Shadwell Farms owned daughter of MUNNINGS was bet like a certainty, ridden like a certainty, and won like a certainty should; comfortably stalking honest 22.36, 45.11 fractions, she loomed upsides under a hammer lock and then sprinted away under only mild handling from Geroux, to score by just under eight lengths. She stopped the clock in 1:15.55 for the six-and-one-half furlongs, earning an 82 Beyer before galloping out well.
Valid questions can be raised about the quality of horse MUHIMMA left in her wake on Friday, and it is easy overhype horses who win by large margins. However, the ease with which she put distance between herself and the longtime leader when asked was impressive, while the athletic, energetic strides that she maintained all the way to the wire were not only beautiful to watch, but also suggested that she won with any amount in hand. An effortless debut win in 1:15.55 - yeah, that’s a nice horse.
She can clearly run a little, but how’s she bred, I hear you ask. Well, she cost $700,000; her dam, PRINCESS CAROLINA, won the 2019 Dueling Grounds Oaks and finished third in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1); her granddam, PURE CLAN, won two G1’s routing on the turf, plus hit the board in both the 2008 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and 2009 Breeder’s Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1); and PURE CLAN’s half brother, GREATER GOOD, was a three time GSW around two turns who chased home GIACOMO in the 2005 Kentucky Derby (G1). It’s a beautiful pedigree that is laden with stamina, so for MUHIMMA to have shown so much speed sprinting on debut could be an indication of just how good she is.
Maybe I’m getting carried away after just one start, but this performance really did leave me wanting to see more of MUHIMMA, and I’ll be following her next steps with a keen interest.
Saturday, BAQ, Race 9: FANCY QUALITY (3rd)
Without showing any particular signs of being a future star, I thought that there was plenty to like about the debut effort from FANCY QUALITY, who closed strongly to hit the board in the ninth at BAQ on Saturday.
Sent to the gate at odds of 10/1, Kenny McPeek’s trainee lacked early speed for the six-furlong contest but still traveled well towards the rear, racing around four lengths off the pace in seventh. Having regathered herself after being bumped by a rival at the half mile pole, Kendrick Carmouche allowed her to gradually work her way up through the gears, before he angled her out into the centre of the course and set her down for the stretch drive. Her turn of foot wasn’t immediate, and she looked to be a little green when Carmouche asked her to lengthen, but when she then received a reminder from the crop at the 1/8th pole, she readily picked up and finished with a flurry, eventually crossing the wire less than a length back in third.
This was an encouraging first start for the three-year-old daughter of WOOTTON BASETT, who did her best work late and looked as if she was learning on the job nicely. It’s always encouraging to see first time starters passing horses in the stretch as it allows them to enjoy their first race day experience (which is essential), and it’s also encouraging when a first time starter can perform well for a trainer who doesn’t typically have their debutants ready to fire first out (McPeek hits at only 6% win FTS on turf).
FQ doesn’t particularly stride like a typical two turn horse would, but the way that she shaped in the race would suggest that more ground is what she is after and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the path McPeek takes with her. Considering that she is by WOOTTON BASETT, a granddaughter of UAE Oaks winner DANUTA, and comes from the same family as 2023 Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) winner, ATONE, she is certainly bred to get two turns.
Regardless of the distance that she tackles next out, McPeek’s debutants tend to get better with each and every start, and following this promising debut effort, it would be a surprise if FANCY QUALITY remained a maiden for too much longer.
Saturday, Churchill Downs, Race 10: LIFE TALK (2nd)
I have to admit, leading into Saturdays Seneca Overnight Stakes, I had started to think that LIFE TALK was little more than a precocious two year-old - winning the Demoiselle Stakes (G2), finishing third in the Frizette Stakes (G1), and fourth in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) last year, before her form tailed off badly in 2024. However, following a fast-finishing runner up effort to former ITM eye-catcher, MISS JUSTIFY, I’m now excited to see what LT has left in store.
As she had gone unseen for 168-days after a heavy defeat when using first time blinkers in the Gazelle Stakes last time, (where something presumably went amiss in the race), this was in someways the first time that we had truly been able to see the $335,000 Todd Pletcher trained/Mike Repole owned daughter of GUN RUNNER, using the headgear, and it seem to have a positive effect. She traveled powerfully in mid division, tracking the 6/5 winner through a moderate pace, quickened up well in the stretch, and put in a game rally to be beaten only half a length at the wire. MISS JUSTIFY, who was exiting a better than looks fourth in the Alabama Stakes (G1), managed to get the first jump on LT and had shot three lengths clear at the furlong pole, however, LT’s finishing effort was admirable, especially as the track had been playing kindly to forward speed all week. She then put in an eye-catching gallop out after the wire as well, streaking far ahead of the field.
Could she have won if the leaders had gone faster in front? I don’t know. But regardless, this was a step back in the right direction, and you would hope that, with this first run back from the layoff now under her belt, LT will be able to step forward again next time. We know that on her best day she is tremendously talented, and as she has now shown that the fire still burns inside of her, you would hope that she will be able to find the winner’s circle before too long. I’ll be keeping her onside going forward.
Sunday, BAQ, Race 9: FEATHER BOA (3rd)
With American PP’s providing insufficient information about South African form, G2 winner/multiple G1 placed performer, FEATHER BOA, was possibly the most difficult horse to assess going into Sunday’s card at BAQ, as she made her stateside debut for the Todd Pletcher barn. The only vague guideline to her chance in this race was that she shipped over from SA with two other, similar profiled horses, who had already made their American debuts, (BEACH BOMB, finished second in the Violet Stakes at Monmouth (85 Beyer); ISIVUNGUVUNGU, won the Da Hoss Stakes at Colonial (94 Beyer)), which gave hope that, against allowance company, FEATHER BOA was going to be competitive. The only caveat was that almost all of her form in SA came over seven furlongs or further, and without any particularly fast works since she shipped over, the entry in this six-furlong allowance suggested that Pletcher was using the race as a tightener, before he stretches her back out in trip. Well, following her eye-catching third place finish, one has to think that, should Pletcher go routing with her from now on, FB could really be quite a nice filly.
She didn’t do anything wrong in the race, but just simply lacked the speed to lay close enough over this distance. As the gate to wire winner, EVER SO SWEET, sped through an opening quarter of 22.37, FB was sitting over five lengths off the lead in last, and was still spotting the entire field as they straightened for the drive. However, when Irad then showed her daylight to the outside of horses and asked her to finish, she impressively rallied to be beaten less than a length at the wire and then galloped out well. It looked as if she wanted to go further on paper, and that was exactly how she shaped.
As a proven GS performer in her native South Africa - form which has been validated by her two travel mates - FB clearly possess ability, and having performed with such promise in her American debut, over an inadequate trip, and off a 280-day layoff, you have to think that she could go a long way on this side of the pond when returning to her preferred distances. Assuming that she is only going to improve for this run, it will be interesting to see where Pletcher sends her next, because wherever she shows up, she’d have to be respected.
I hope that you had an enjoyable and successful past week at the windows, and good luck this week!