No shortage of class in Thursday grass sprint
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
The names jump off the page for a weekday allowance race at Fair Grounds: Unbridled’s Note, Sum of the Parts, Gantry.
All three have started in Breeders’ Cup races. Gantry finished 11th in the 2012 BC Sprint. Sum of the Parts was sixth in the 2011 BC Juvenile Sprint, fourth in the 2012 BC Sprint, and 12th in the 2013 Sprint. Unbridled’s Note finished second in the 2012 BC Turf Sprint and fourth in the same race in 2013.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Unbridled’s Note. Trainer Steve Asmussen is 60-5-10-13 with a $0.56 ROI over the past five years going dirt to turf in sprints at Fair Grounds. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
:: Learn more about Formulator | Buy Formulator PPs
:: Follow the @DRFFormulator Twitter feed and get free Formulator facts
Yet it’s hard to feel certain that any of them will run a top race in the featured sixth on Thursday, an open allowance carded for about 5 1/2 furlongs on turf.
Unbridled’s Note never has raced less than six furlongs and has traveled that trip only once. Sum of the Parts’s longtime connections just ran him for a $40,000 claiming tag, and the gelding is making his first start for new trainer Karl Broberg. Gantry, nearing his 8th birthday, hasn’t turned in a top effort in the better part of a year. One wonders how much is left in the tank.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Gantry. Trainer Ron Faucheux is 33-11-2-2 with a $3.44 ROI over the past five years going dirt to turf in sprints. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
The trio is among seven entrants in the Thursday feature. Fair Grounds has lost turf races to rain only once in the 11 days at this meet, and dry weather again this week should keep this race on grass. It has a scheduled post time of 3:50 p.m. Central.
KEY CONTENDERS
Unbridled’s Note (Last 3 Beyers: 90-81-89)
◗ Away from the races from February until September, he could only finish eighth in his comeback race, the Eddie D Stakes on Santa Anita’s downhill turf-sprint course. “It was disappointing,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “It was just a bad race for him.”
◗ The plan had been to run Unbridled’s Note in his third BC Turf Sprint, but he failed to land a spot in an overfilled race. Instead, he ran a fine third with a wide trip in the Oct. 31 Damascus, a seven-furlong dirt race.
◗ Concerning Unbridled’s Notes’s chances Thursday, Asmussen has mixed messages. He loves the way the horse is training during his first spell at Fair Grounds but worries about the short trip. “We’re backing up to a race that’s probably too short for him,” he said.
Sum of the Parts (Last 3 Beyers: 102-79-85)
◗ He earned a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure on Nov. 29 and was claimed for $40,000. It was his first start in a claiming race.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Sum of the Parts. Horses claimed away from Tom Amoss are 22-2-3-3 with a $0.42 ROI in turf sprints in the first start following the claim. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
◗ According to DRF Formulator, new trainer Broberg has a good record moving newly claimed horses from claiming to allowance competition 8 to 30 days after their last start, going 13-6-8 for a $1.94 return on investment from 51 such starters.
◗ Sum of the Parts, a speed horse, has a mixed record on the Fair Grounds grass, but this year’s firmer, faster-playing course should suit him better than last year’s poorly draining surface.