Price is nice on Sand and Sea in the Peony
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It’s mid-August, and in the birthplace of modern Thoroughbred racing, England, 3-year-olds still get a hefty weight break from older horses in stakes races – seven pounds in the Group 1 International on Wednesday. In Indiana, where sanctioned Thoroughbred racing began in 1995, the talented 3-year-old Chicory Blaze moves from a pair of age-restricted Indiana-bred stakes scores into the $100,000 Bucchero, a turf route in which he meets older rivals. Chicory Blaze carries 123 pounds, while all but one of his chief foes, 4-year-olds and older, tote 124.
Part of the reason for this is Horseshoe Indianapolis turned most of their stakes into handicaps – not handicaps that weight horses on true merit and account for differences in age and maturity, but rather on recent accomplishment. The name change skirts a ban on the anti-bleeding medication Lasix that governs stakes races at many American tracks.
Hoosier Daddy Now carries top weight of 126 pounds on the strength of two recent local turf allowance victories – the first against Indiana-breds, the more recent in an open first-level allowance. A 4-year-old, Hoosier Daddy Now a year ago raced on the same pattern Chicory Blaze does now, exiting starts in the Snack and the Governor’s, both restricted to 3-year-olds. Hoosier Daddy Now finished fifth in the Bucchero. Chicory Blaze is a better horse.
Trained by Rob Dobbs, Chicory Blaze won the Governor’s, a dirt race, by more than two lengths, going away at the end, while Hoosier Daddy Now finished 11th in the 2024 edition. Hoosier Daddy Now captured the Snack, a turf race, with a 69 Beyer, while Chicory Blaze earned a career-best 76 Beyer in the Snack, his lone grass start. And while Chicory Blaze won the Snack by a mere head, the second-place finisher had nearly 10 lengths on the third horse in a 12-runner field.
Funtastic Vow made his first 13 starts in dirt sprints before trying turf routes in his last two outings. A runaway speed horse, Funtastic Vow trounced Indiana-breds making his grass debut in May, but last out went so fast in the early stages that he caved in the homestretch, finishing fifth in an open first-level allowance. He could wire this field if jockey Samuel Bermudez can more efficiently ratio his mount’s pace.
The $100,000 Peony Handicap, the Bucchero’s sister race, has a bonkers morning line on Sand and Sea, listed as co-fourth choice at 6-1. Sand and Sea, an eight-time winner from 31 starts, has made three Horseshoe Indianapolis appearances to capitalize on her Indiana-bred status. Just one of those came on turf, in the 2024 Peony, which she won by 1 3/4 lengths as the 3-5 favorite, soundly defeating four horses she meets again Wednesday.
Sand and Sea returns to Indiana after finishing sixth in a pure prep race, a high-end Colonial Downs allowance that was her first start in 10 weeks, and figures closer to 6-5 than 6-1 for jockey Jaime Torres, trainer Riley Mott, and owner James Karp.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.