Corningstone, King Ice take on elders in Indiana-bred stakes
?q=100)
A pair of 3-year-olds, the filly Corningstone and the colt King Ice, have a good chance to defeat their elders in a pair of $100,000 Indiana-bred turf-route stakes Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
Corningstone is part of an overflow field in the Peony, which is carded at 1 1/16 miles and has a sex restriction, while King Ice is part of an overflow field in the Bucchero, also at 1 1/16 miles but open to all Indiana-breds aged 3 or older.
Both races came up hot for statebred-restricted affairs – but not as hot as the central Indiana high temperatures are forecast to be mid-week. With a forecast high of 96 degrees Fahrenheit at the track, Horseshoe Indianapolis has moved first post Wednesday to 10 a.m. Eastern. The Peony goes as race 8, post time 1:30 p.m., with the Bucchero immediately following at 2 p.m. Thursday is supposed to be even hotter, and the track has postponed that day’s racing until Monday.
The two races are run as handicaps to avoid a ban on Lasix use in Indiana stakes, and the weights are not at all fair. Three-year-olds are supposed to get weight from older horses this time of year, but at 124 pounds, King Ice and Corningstone are giving weight to several accomplished rivals carrying 121 pounds.
In the Bucchero, for instance, Strong Tide, the 9-5 morning-line favorite, gets three pounds from King Ice. Strong Tide is a 6-year-old with more than $700,000 in lifetime earnings. He has made five of his last seven starts in graded stakes competition and in May finished a competitive third in the Grade 1 Man o’ War. Strong Tide’s most recent race came in the Arlington Million.
King Ice, on the other hand, is winless in two turf contests, which were the first two races of his career, and has won his four starts in Indiana-restricted competition. It’s nonsensical that the younger horse with the far lighter résumé gives weight to the more accomplished older rival, and the weights diminish King Ice’s appeal. Still, the colt, trained by George Leonard, has been improving with every start this season after winning a dirt-route stakes last fall at age 2. He not only was visually impressive winning the Governor’s Stakes on Aug. 2 by 3 1/4 lengths, geared down, he closed strongly into a moderate pace, running negative splits. That’s how a turf horse runs, and King Ice, out of a mare who ran well on grass, can’t be judged on his two turf tries last summer.
Strong Tide will appreciate the class relief he gets but won’t much like cutting back from races between 1 1/4 miles and 1 1/2 miles, his sweet spot. Jeopardy Theory is worth a longshot look, while Cash Logistics, unraced since March, was a solid third in the 2021 Bucchero, his most recent start in an Indiana-restricted turf race.
Bumble of Love won the 2022 Peony and Timeless Rose was third in the race after making what might have been a premature move to the lead, but Corningstone can handle those older horses. Trained by Kenny McPeek, Corningstone has been thumping Indiana-bred 3-year-olds in dirt races but is bred like a turf horse and made two grass starts, performing decently, in Saratoga open maiden route races last summer.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.