For Cash stands out in Alberta Breeders' field
For Cash will again be heavily favored when he runs in the $50,000 Alberta Breeders’ Handicap at Northlands Park on Saturday. That doesn’t mean he is going to win the 1 1/16-mile race that headlines the 12-race Fall Classic card, which includes seven $50,000 stakes restricted to horses bred in Alberta.
Trained by Dale Greenwood, For Cash was the odds-on favorite to win the Breeders’ in 2014 and last year. However, he finished third in 2014 and was the runner-up to Wild Legend in 2015. For Cash actually had better form going into the last two editions of this race, but Greenwood is confident that this is his year to get over the hump.
For Cash is coming off a fifth-place finish in the $50,000 Fred Jones Handicap on July 16.
“He’s fresh,” Greenwood said. “He’s back to his old self, and I am pretty high on him right now. He’s also going to appreciate the company.”
For Cash has won five stakes, with his biggest win coming in the $200,000 Zia Park Derby in 2013. He will be ridden by Rico Walcott.
Barfly’s Survivor, who won the 2014 Breeders’ for trainer Jerry Robertson, looks like the main threat.
The day’s first stakes for Thoroughbreds is the Alberta Oaks, in which Onestaratatime will be 1-9 to win the one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies. She is trained by Greg Tracy, who watched his 1-9 favorite Fall At Last finish second in the $48,000 Birdcatcher Stakes for 2-year-old colts and geldings on Sept. 5. Tracy is expecting a better outcome in the Oaks.
“The way he ran, I thought [Fall At Last] may have bled, and when we scoped him, his lungs were full of junk,” Tracy said. “It turns out he had a lung infection. Onestaratatime is doing great, and I expect her to run her race.”
If she does run her race, the daughter of Cape Canaveral will win for fun. She won her last three starts, all in stakes, by a combined 21 1/4 lengths.
Our Dandy’s Boy, trained by Kristy Luft-Nault, looks like the one to beat in the Red Diamond Express for 3-year-olds and up going 6 1/2 furlongs. He won his first three races this year before finishing third to last year’s local Horse of the Year, Killin Me Smalls, in the $51,000 Sun Sprint Championship.
Trainer Jerri Robertson made a shrewd move by entering the 3-year-old filly Smart Fix in the Fall Classic Distaff Handicap, where she has a good chance of winning the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares. The daughter of Kissin Kris was the runner-up behind Onestaratatime in the $64,000 Sonoma in her last start Aug. 20.
Victory Day and Major Moment look like the key players in the 1 1/16-mile Beaufort Stakes for 3-year-olds. Trained by Tim Rycroft, Victory Day is going for the hat trick after winning the Grande Prairie Derby on July 31 and a one-mile, open allowance race at Northlands on Aug. 20.
Major Moment is coming off a win going 6 1/2 furlongs in a first-level allowance race for trainer Amber Meyaard last Saturday.
Rycroft probably will win the Alberta Premier’s Futurity with Norm’s Big Bucks. The son of Exhi is undefeated in two starts and most recently won the $49,000 2-year-old Sales Stakes by 7 1/2 lengths.
There are no standouts in the Sturgeon River for 2-year-old fillies, where the Rycroft-trained Tidal Mist has been installed as the 3-1 favorite. Parcam Cowgirl, trained by Dale Saunders, is one of many viable alternatives.
