Classic Crusader gets class relief in Friday feature
Classic Crusader will appreciate the class relief and cutback in distance when he runs in a $25,000 optional-claiming race at Northlands Park on Friday. The one-mile race for 3-year-olds and up drew five horses and goes as the second race. Post time for the first of seven races is 6:30 p.m. Mountain.
Trained by Tom Rycroft, Classic Crusader is coming off a fourth-place finish going 1 3/8 miles in the $82,825 Speed to Spare on Sept. 7. He was in the race for a mile but ended up losing by 14 1/4 lengths. In his previous race, he won a 1 1/16-mile, $25,000 optional-claiming race by 4 1/4 lengths on Aug. 15.
Following a similar pattern, he won a one-mile, $25,000 optional-claiming race on June 19 before finishing sixth in the $60,434 Fred Jones Handicap on July 18. The 14-time winner has good tactical speed and should get a good trip tracking Purple Heaven, who looks like the only real speed in the field.
Classic Crusader drew post 4, with Tony Maragh retaining the mount.
KEY CONTENDERS
Classic Crusader (Last 3 Beyers: 74-74-63)
◗ The 6-year-old gelding certainly knows how to win races, and he has a 7-3-1 record from 14 starts at the distance.
Purple Heaven (Last 3 Beyers: 39-21-73)
◗ The Twylla Bensmiller trainee is the lone 3-year-old in the field and will appreciate the substantial class relief after finishing last in the Grade 3 British Columbia Derby and the Grade 3 Canadian Derby.
◗ Prior to being overmatched in the only graded races for 3-year-olds in western Canada, he was the runner-up to Blue Dancer in the Count Lathum. He also finished third to Blue Dancer in the Ky Alta and Western Canada handicaps.
◗ He has the best speed in the field and could be tough to run down if he breaks sharply with leading rider Rico Walcott riding.
Deadly Truth (Last 3 Beyers: 73-62-73)
◗ Trained by Greg Tracy, he is looking for his first win since he upset the 2014 Speed to Spare.
◗ This will be the first time he has been entered for a price since he was claimed by Tracy for $35,000 in the race prior to his win in the Speed to Spare.
◗ The 5-year-old Louisiana-bred has four lifetime wins, and three came at the one-mile distance of today’s race.