Post by S u N f r O s t ~ on Jun 20, 2012 19:12:45 GMT -5
You heard me right - this is just in and hot off the press! Amber Black declared the SOPS entries for the Breeders Cup today, and all of the horses will be going! Somehow, some way, Amber has declared all of her horses as eligible for their respective races and entered them in. Let's take a closer look at these entries and see what Amber has to say about it.
SOPS has an entry in every race except for the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Mile. Starting at the top of the list, we come across the Filly and Mare Sprint. Though SOPS had no well known female sprinters this year, the mare Mystical Melody has been entered. Who's this mare? I've been wondering the same thing. She's been rarely seen this year, though she is only one win off of grade one. Her accomplishments this year are few and far between. Just what was Krystal thinking when she pushed to have this mare entered? Well, ladies and gentlemen, it appears that this mare actually won the Filly and Mare Sprint last year. Though she's been quiet this year, Krystal wants to try and take it again. An ambitious plan! Will it succeed?
In the Juvenile Fillies we have another surprise entry - Fiery Touch. This filly broke her maiden in July after placing second in a maiden in May. We haven't really seen much of her, and those are her only top three placings. So why has this filly been entered against a field with the likes of Paradise Island? Well, let's look at this filly's blood. Her sire is Touch Up, who sired The Devil's Touch. The Devil won the Juvenile Fillies as well as the Kentucky Derby and other acclaimed races. Perhaps Amber wants to keep this legacy going by entering Fie in this race? Or maybe there is something we haven't seen from Fie yet? She certainly hasn't been sighted in a race recently, so we have no real means of knowing just what is going on here.
In the Filly and Mare Turf we have Sillenia, as well as that mysterious second entry - Wild Kiss. That's not much of a surprise, though, considering this filly did run the Turf Triple Crown. So we'll move on to the Ladies Classic, and here we have Fire Dancer. Though she only has three wins this season, this filly has very consistent placings in the top three and is also Battle Brook lined, with Native Flame as her sire. She placed third in the Juvenile Fillies last year and has placed third in every leg of the Triple Tiara this year. I guess it only makes sense to see her here in the Ladies Classic then. Of her chances, I'm not sure what to think. She did win the Novizio Derby in style and is apparently going for the Risorgimento Cup in early January, so SOPS must be expecting bigger things of her.
In the Juvenile Turf Sprint we have Sugar Jayde, which is sincerely not surprising. However, in the Juvenile Sprint we have Lynara's Kingdom. This filly is currently teetering at the precipice of grade four, with three wins. She was beating today's top juvenile sprinters earlier in the year but dropped in form against older horses. It may have something to do with the moodiness that she reportedly displays. Nonetheless, she is the winner of the Unicorn Horn Juvenile Dirt Sprint, and sprints appear to be her thing. I wouldn't count her out in this race. In the Marathon we have Dashing in the Firelight, SOPS's newest grade one and the success story of the stable - until this year, when her performance drastically dropped. Her most recent start was a win in the Consumato Derby, and Henna has been sighted working hard with this mare. She is most surely a contender in the Marathon, as she loves distance races and placed second here last year.
SOPS has two entries in the Juvenile Turf. Unsurprisingly, one of those is Infinite Warcry, who will be coming in incredibly well rested. The other is Canjun Moon, a grade five colt who is half to Dashing in the Firelight and who's dam is Requiem. He won the Next Top Racehorse Series but has shown little of his talent thus far, with a mere two wins. He did win the Unicorn Horn Juvenile Turf, and he has never placed lower than fourth this year with only two placings out of the top three. He has the capability to surprise here. Speaking of surprises, TDI Live This Lie is the SOPS entrant in the Dirt Mile. He hasn't won any huge races this year and is an average competitor, but he also has the ability to surprise and may catch some eyes on race day. Amber has boldly declared that they intend to go to the Classic next year. We'll need to see a big improvement in his performance for that to happen. Is this race the first stepping stone? He did come second in it last year.
The Turf Sprint features Axis Mundae, who I suppose we should have expected. The Mile is too competitive for her. She's an average turf sprinter, grade three with eight wins, nothing too significant about her record. She was third in the Juvenile Turf last year against colts but is entered in a sprint this year. Must be the breeding. In the Juvenile, Forbidden To Fly and Eternal Phantom have been entered. I find this to be very interesting - Phantie is taking her chances against Instant Success, not Paradise Island. Is this a risky move? Wouldn't she be better off in the Juvenile Fillies? It appears Krystal wants the challenge, and Henna wants to meet it. If Phantie pulls this off, I believe she'll be the first female winner of the Juvenile in Breeders Cup history.
In the Sprint we have Pegasus Wings, which really isn't even worth discussing. I could have predicted this at the beginning of the year. This stallion has won both the Sprint and the Turf Sprint. I guess SOPS decided to improve Axia's chances by sending him here. Now we move on to the Turf, where Wildly Natural and Worldbreaker have been entered. World has actually been entered with a different jockey for this race, Krystal Yhate, whose talent does lie in turf horses. I'm curious to see how World will perform with a different rider in the irons. Finally we reach the Classic, where Henna has ambitiously entered Flashy Wings. I suppose the colt deserves it, winning two legs of the Triple Crown and being grade one and all. If he wins the Classic, it could mean Best Three Year Old Colt or Colt of the Year for him. It will definitely mean being at least crowned Best Dirt Horse. Best of wishes to Henna with him!
This is an anonymous reporter for the Gallop, signing off.
SOPS has an entry in every race except for the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Mile. Starting at the top of the list, we come across the Filly and Mare Sprint. Though SOPS had no well known female sprinters this year, the mare Mystical Melody has been entered. Who's this mare? I've been wondering the same thing. She's been rarely seen this year, though she is only one win off of grade one. Her accomplishments this year are few and far between. Just what was Krystal thinking when she pushed to have this mare entered? Well, ladies and gentlemen, it appears that this mare actually won the Filly and Mare Sprint last year. Though she's been quiet this year, Krystal wants to try and take it again. An ambitious plan! Will it succeed?
In the Juvenile Fillies we have another surprise entry - Fiery Touch. This filly broke her maiden in July after placing second in a maiden in May. We haven't really seen much of her, and those are her only top three placings. So why has this filly been entered against a field with the likes of Paradise Island? Well, let's look at this filly's blood. Her sire is Touch Up, who sired The Devil's Touch. The Devil won the Juvenile Fillies as well as the Kentucky Derby and other acclaimed races. Perhaps Amber wants to keep this legacy going by entering Fie in this race? Or maybe there is something we haven't seen from Fie yet? She certainly hasn't been sighted in a race recently, so we have no real means of knowing just what is going on here.
In the Filly and Mare Turf we have Sillenia, as well as that mysterious second entry - Wild Kiss. That's not much of a surprise, though, considering this filly did run the Turf Triple Crown. So we'll move on to the Ladies Classic, and here we have Fire Dancer. Though she only has three wins this season, this filly has very consistent placings in the top three and is also Battle Brook lined, with Native Flame as her sire. She placed third in the Juvenile Fillies last year and has placed third in every leg of the Triple Tiara this year. I guess it only makes sense to see her here in the Ladies Classic then. Of her chances, I'm not sure what to think. She did win the Novizio Derby in style and is apparently going for the Risorgimento Cup in early January, so SOPS must be expecting bigger things of her.
In the Juvenile Turf Sprint we have Sugar Jayde, which is sincerely not surprising. However, in the Juvenile Sprint we have Lynara's Kingdom. This filly is currently teetering at the precipice of grade four, with three wins. She was beating today's top juvenile sprinters earlier in the year but dropped in form against older horses. It may have something to do with the moodiness that she reportedly displays. Nonetheless, she is the winner of the Unicorn Horn Juvenile Dirt Sprint, and sprints appear to be her thing. I wouldn't count her out in this race. In the Marathon we have Dashing in the Firelight, SOPS's newest grade one and the success story of the stable - until this year, when her performance drastically dropped. Her most recent start was a win in the Consumato Derby, and Henna has been sighted working hard with this mare. She is most surely a contender in the Marathon, as she loves distance races and placed second here last year.
SOPS has two entries in the Juvenile Turf. Unsurprisingly, one of those is Infinite Warcry, who will be coming in incredibly well rested. The other is Canjun Moon, a grade five colt who is half to Dashing in the Firelight and who's dam is Requiem. He won the Next Top Racehorse Series but has shown little of his talent thus far, with a mere two wins. He did win the Unicorn Horn Juvenile Turf, and he has never placed lower than fourth this year with only two placings out of the top three. He has the capability to surprise here. Speaking of surprises, TDI Live This Lie is the SOPS entrant in the Dirt Mile. He hasn't won any huge races this year and is an average competitor, but he also has the ability to surprise and may catch some eyes on race day. Amber has boldly declared that they intend to go to the Classic next year. We'll need to see a big improvement in his performance for that to happen. Is this race the first stepping stone? He did come second in it last year.
The Turf Sprint features Axis Mundae, who I suppose we should have expected. The Mile is too competitive for her. She's an average turf sprinter, grade three with eight wins, nothing too significant about her record. She was third in the Juvenile Turf last year against colts but is entered in a sprint this year. Must be the breeding. In the Juvenile, Forbidden To Fly and Eternal Phantom have been entered. I find this to be very interesting - Phantie is taking her chances against Instant Success, not Paradise Island. Is this a risky move? Wouldn't she be better off in the Juvenile Fillies? It appears Krystal wants the challenge, and Henna wants to meet it. If Phantie pulls this off, I believe she'll be the first female winner of the Juvenile in Breeders Cup history.
In the Sprint we have Pegasus Wings, which really isn't even worth discussing. I could have predicted this at the beginning of the year. This stallion has won both the Sprint and the Turf Sprint. I guess SOPS decided to improve Axia's chances by sending him here. Now we move on to the Turf, where Wildly Natural and Worldbreaker have been entered. World has actually been entered with a different jockey for this race, Krystal Yhate, whose talent does lie in turf horses. I'm curious to see how World will perform with a different rider in the irons. Finally we reach the Classic, where Henna has ambitiously entered Flashy Wings. I suppose the colt deserves it, winning two legs of the Triple Crown and being grade one and all. If he wins the Classic, it could mean Best Three Year Old Colt or Colt of the Year for him. It will definitely mean being at least crowned Best Dirt Horse. Best of wishes to Henna with him!
This is an anonymous reporter for the Gallop, signing off.
