Ideal situation for Storm Surge
NEW YORK - The weeding-out process for the Breeders' Cup on Oct. 29 continues Saturday, with potentially important races being run at Turfway Park and Belmont Park.
Saturday is Kentucky Cup Day at Turfway, with the Kentucky Cup Classic heading five stakes events on the card. Meanwhile, there are three stakes at Belmont, with the Futurity and the Matron sharing top billing.
Kentucky Cup Sprint
Storm Surge was not disgraced in his two recent stakes attempts at Saratoga, and is a solid play in this easier spot.
Storm Surge's first start this past Saratoga meet came in the Amsterdam, and contrary to his best running style, which is stalking from close range, he disputed a strong pace after a less-than-clean break from the gate. His fourth, beaten a little more than two lengths, was a creditable performance considering the tactics employed, and that he was coming off a three-month layoff.
In his most recent outing, Storm Surge went up against Lost in the Fog in the King's Bishop. Unlike the second- and third-place finishers, who really only clunked up for their minor awards, Storm Surge actually made a real move in the race, rallying into contention on the far turn before running out of gas in the stretch.
I am worried the betting public, the vast majority of which are deeply in love with Lost in the Fog, will note Lost in the Fog's name in Storm Surge's most recent company line and cause depressed odds on my pick. I'm hoping the fact that Storm Surge was beaten a little more than 11 lengths in the King's Bishop will mitigate that possibility. With other speed in the race, Storm Surge can sit a nice pocket trip just off the early lead.
Kentucky Cup Juvenile
Like Storm Surge, Cab made two starts this summer at Saratoga. He ran very well in both of them, and looks like a single to me in multi-race exotic wagers.
Cab was beaten only a half-length finishing second in his career debut. He lost to Grand Survival, who was a favored first-timer from trainer Patrick Biancone, but he finished ahead of Superfly. Superfly came back to be an excellent second to Discreet Cat when that one ran fast enough to earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 106, which is the highest this year by a 2-year-old. Then, Cab followed with a dominant maiden victory.
The win came in the second division of a split maiden race on Sept. 2, which was a tricky day for Saratoga speed-figure makers because the relative speed of the track changed during the afternoon. The first division of that split maiden race was won by the very promising Dr. Pleasure in 1:16.67 for the 6 1/2 furlongs, good for a Beyer of 85. When Cab won four races later, he went in 1:18.01. The track was much slower for that race, however, and the Beyer folks took that into account when they assigned Cab an 83. But it is quite possible that Cab did even better than that.
Pucker Up
Singhalese is certainly the dominant figure in this race. The winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks last time out, she goes for her third straight victory. But as formidable as she figures to be, bettors might think just a little differently about her with the knowledge that Three Degrees probably would have beaten Singhalese in the Del Mar Oaks had she had a clean trip.
With that in mind, I'm going to try and upset Singhalese with Grat. Grat needed her last start, against older allowance opponents at Del Mar, and she has worked well since, and her move back in with straight 3-year-olds is a class drop that should not be underestimated.
Saturday
Arlington Park: Pucker Up
Fillies, 3-years-old, 1 1/8 miles, turf
Approximate post: Eastern-5:23 p.m., Central-4:23 p.m., Mountain-3:23 p.m., Pacific-2:23 p.m.; Arlington Heights, Il., forecast: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees
| PP | HORSE | LAST 3 BEYERS | ODDS |
| 1 | Royal Copenhagen | 868885 | 5-1 |
| 2 | Extravagant Gal | 776879 | 50-1 |
| 3 | Special Grayce | 778372 | 30-1 |
| 4 | Isla Cozzene | 868494 | 3-1 |
| 5 | Siberian Amur | 807085 | 20-1 |
| 6 | Sunny Disposition | 908583 | 8-1 |
| 7 | Singhalese | 979196 | 6-5 |
| 8 | Gallant Secret | 897673 | 20-1 |
| 9 | Grat | 838486 | 15-1 |
| 10 | Quiero Ganar | 887254 | 15-1 |
| 11 | You Dancing Devil | 738683 | 20-1 |
Odds by Marcus Hersh
Turfway Park: Kentucky Cup Juvenile
2-year-olds, 1 1/16 miles
Approximate post: E-6:12 p.m., C-5:12 p.m., M-4:12 p.m., P-3:12 p.m.; Florence, Ky., forecast: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees
| PP | HORSE | LAST 3 BEYERS | ODDS |
| 1 | Stream Cat | 6850- | 6-1 |
| 2 | Catcominatcha | 786832 | 8-1 |
| 3 | He's a Dixie Boy | 666966 | 15-1 |
| 4 | Deputy G | 737776 | 9-5 |
| 5 | Short Circuit | 395848 | 15-1 |
| 6 | Rungius | 696558 | 15-1 |
| 7 | Cab | 8377- | 8-5 |
| 8 | Raywick | 586564 | 30-1 |
| 9 | Devilofarush | 727220 | 20-1 |
Odds by Byron King
Turfway Park: Kentucky Cup Sprint
3-year-olds, 6 furlongs
Approximate post: E-7:45 p.m., C-6:45 p.m., M-5:45 p.m., P-4:45 p.m.; Florence, Ky., forecast: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees
| PP | HORSE | LAST 3 BEYERS | ODDS |
| 1 | Go for Aly | 687351 | 30-1 |
| 2 | Storm Surge | 809486 | 3-1 |
| 3 | Lunarpal | 767984 | 9-2 |
| 4 | Humor At Last | 916876 | 8-1 |
| 5 | Going Wild | 818646 | 5-1 |
| 6 | Vicarage | 8610590 | 5-2 |
| 7 | Estate Collection | 9882- | 7-2 |
Odds by Byron King