Topara will try to show improvement in statebred stakes
Topara failed at odds of 1-2 in his Indiana Grand debut, but he could be a more appealing proposition at several times that price in the six-furlong, $85,000 Sagamore Sired Stakes for Indiana-sired 3-year-olds on Wednesday at Indiana Grand.
Based at Churchill Downs with trainer Dale Romans, Topara was coming off a March 28 maiden special weight win at Gulfstream Park when bettors – seizing on what looked like a major class drop – made Topara the odds-on favorite in a first-level Indiana-bred allowance race.
But Topara failed to kick into full gear that day. The rail was dead during many cards early in the Indiana Grand meet, and Topara’s rally for third came along the inside, but May 8 was definitely not a dead-rail day. Still, Topara, based not only on his maiden win but his two previous starts, is capable of better, and with a solid step forward – this time at more playable odds – he can rebound Wednesday.
In fact, the general dead-rail early-meet trend has given way to Indiana Grand’s high-summer profile, where the track plays fast and speed holds. That could benefit the rail-drawn Daddy Justice, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, who might not be fast enough to make the lead but can establish close-up early position while saving ground and was a course and distance stakes winner last season.
Lucky Newton, Son of a Nut, and Supreme Justice also are worth considering.
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Spooled lukewarm favorite
Spooled was among the better Indiana-bred 2-year-olds last season, but her top race in 2014 came at two turns, and so far at 3, she does not appear to have significantly progressed from her 2-year-old season. That could make her a vulnerable if tepid favorite in the $85,000 Swiftly Sired Fillies, the female-restricted sister race to the Sagamore.
Spooled races for a higher purse than she did in her last start but still drops in class, having faced both older horses and open competition in a first-level optional claimer before returning to this age- and statebred-restricted race. Even if she moves forward, though, Spooled might find the six-furlong trip sharper than she’d prefer.
Nevertoomanykisses was beaten more than 50 lengths when she last faced Spooled as a 2-year-old, but unlike that rival, she has improved at 3, winning both of her starts this spring. The improved standing of front-running horses over the racing surface improved Nevertoomanykisses’s chances; she raced right up on a decent sprint pace in a last-start win over older foes.
Hay Little Bit also has a chance, but both she and, to a greater degree, Cabby Joshtin would prefer a race at five or 5 1/2 furlongs.