Casa Creed Stakes presents new configuration for many runners
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Sunday’s $175,000 Casa Creed Stakes is a challenging handicapping puzzle due to the tweener distance of seven furlongs. There aren’t many winners at the distance in the Widener turf course event, and one should probably prefer the milers over the sprinters stretching out in the large field.
The Chad Brown-trained Intellect has two wins and a pair of seconds from four seven-furlong starts. All those races were in France. The 5-year-old has been a model of consistency on this side of the pond and is coming off a neck loss here in the one-mile Artie Schiller Stakes.
Silius and Gas Me Up both competed in a tough edition of the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile in September that was dominated by Notable Speech and Deterministic.
Off a Group 3 score in France, Silius faded from third to a trailing sixth in the $1 million Woodbine Mile. The Irish-bred has been saddled with post 14 under John Velazquez.
“He’s a cool horse and a pretty forward-training horse,” trainer Graham Motion said. “He was very sharp at Woodbine going the mile, and that’s why we feel cutting back to the seven-eighths might help him. I think he needs to settle. Johnny knows him now, and I think that will be a big help.”
Gas Me Up, a two-time Grade 2 winner at Woodbine, has never competed over seven furlongs but was victorious going about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside course at Santa Anita in the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez last winter. After ending up third in the Woodbine Mile, he was a belated fifth as the favorite against Grade 2 company Oct. 3 in the six-furlong Nearctic.
“He’s had a lot of success at a mile, but he’s won sprinting on the downhill course at Santa Anita – it was a pretty impressive race that day,” trainer Kevin Attard said. “His last race, I was a little disappointed. He was maybe carried a little bit wide, but we might have brought him back a little quick off the Woodbine Mile.”
Piper’s Factor rounds out the two-horse Canadian invasion. Trained by Katerina Vassilieva, Piper’s Factor set a fast pace under Velazquez before losing by a nose to Gas Me Up in the Grade 2 King Edward in August and then finished fourth after running against an inside/speed bias most recently in the Grade 3 Vigil on Tapeta.
“We looked at this race because it’s an ideal distance and surface for him,” Vassilieva said. “We were also hoping for some class relief. Lately, he’s been running well against some tough company in graded stakes.”
There are numerous other contenders, including the Bill Mott-trained duo of Capital Hill and Spiced Up; Fond Farewell, Alogon, Chasing Liberty, and Rose Ruler.
Fond Farewell beat two next-out winners when landing a seven-furlong conditioned allowance/optional claimer in front-running style off a layoff here Sept. 19.
Alogon, a five-time stakes winner, defeated the future Nearctic winner Victory Achieved two back when taking the Laurel Dash. He checked in fourth just behind Chasing Liberty last out in the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint.
Rose Ruler extended to seven furlongs Sept. 9 in a conditioned allowance/optional claimer over the undulating course at Kentucky Downs and prevailed from a forward position.
Notebook Stakes
House of War drops out of the Grade 2 Pilgrim to meet New York-breds in Sunday’s $175,000 Notebook Stakes going a mile on the grass for 2-year-olds.
Trained by Jorge Abreu, House of War rallied from sixth in both of his outings going long on turf, beating maidens in his debut at Saratoga and then finishing a troubled fifth here in the Pilgrim. He figures to save ground early after breaking from the rail in the nine-horse Notebook field under Manny Franco.
Captain George should be a factor with Velazquez riding for trainer Amelia Green. He graduated second time out here Sept. 19 in a one-mile maiden special, after a flat third going 1 1/16 miles at Saratoga.
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