Finnegans Wake is a talent five-year old by the Great Britain stallion Powerscourt. Finnegans Wake's latest win came at 1 1/4th mile over Admiral Kitten and War Dancer. That was his first win since an allowance race at Churchill Downs. If Finnegans Wake canf ollow in his sire's footsteps, we have our winner. Finnegans Wake came 4th in the Arlington Million last year. Powerscourt was disqualified to 4th in the 2004 'Million and then won the 2005 Million, beating Kitten's Joy. Both sire and son have had a good amount of starts resulting in a few wins. Powerscourt came 3rd to Better Talk Now and Kitten's Joy in the Breeders' Cup Turf (1 1/2 mile). The grandsire of Finnegans Wake is Sadler's Wells. He was unraced. On the female side of Finnegans is the Dale Romans trained Boat's Ghost. She broke her maiden, raced five more times and retired with one win to her name. She is out of Rocktheboat who won two races out of twenty starts. Finnegans Wake. He should be a pretty stiff contender here.
Hardest Core hasn't test the graded stakes water yet and I don't believe that this will be the race for him to try out his talents. His sire is Hard Spun. Hard Spun was an amazing racer. He won all of his races as a two-year old before winning the LeComte Stakes (1 mile) and coming 4th in the Southwest Stakes (1 mile). He also won the Lane's End Stakes (1 1/8 mile), King's Bishop (7 furlongs) and the Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes (1 1/8 mile). His other accomplishments include a 2nd in the Kentucky Derby (1 1/4 mile), 3rd in the Preakness (1 3/16 mile), 4th in the Belmont Stakes (1 1/2 mile), 1st in the Haskell Invitational (1 1/8 mile) and a 2nd in the Breeders' Cup Classic (1 1/4 mile), beating Derby winner Street Sense but losing to Preakness winner Curlin. Hard Spun is a very talented stallion who could win at distances between six to nine furlongs. He is sired by the three-for-three sire, Danzig. Hardest Core is out Lillybuster a 1996 mare who went for three years earning the stats of 12: 2-2-1. Her maiden came at 5 1/2 furlongs and her allowance was at 1 1/16 mile. Lillybuster is sired by Housebuster, a rather accomplished sprinter/miler. As a racehorse his wins include the Derby Trial, Withers Stakes, King's Bishop, Carter Handicap and the Vosburgh Stakes. He had career stats of 22: 15-3-1. I Hardest Core has the pedigree for this race but its a major class leap.
Smoking Sun has yet to start in America therefore I have to go off his pedigree. He is by Smart Strike. He only came out the money once, the Woodward Stakes (1 1/8 mile) in which he lost to Cigar. His graded stakes wins were the Salvator Mile and the Philip H. Iselin Handicap (1 1/16 mile). He is by Mr. Prospector, a multiple graded stakes placed sire. Smoking Suns's dam is not I'd be willing to gamble on even with the odds of 9/2.
The 7/5 Magician will break from post three. He won last year's Breeders' Cup Turf. He is by the Ireland-bred and -based Galileo who has a Timeform rating of 134. He won at distances between eight and twelve furlongs but he came 6th in the Breeders' Cup Classic to the two-time winner Tiznow. Absolutelyfabulous, dam of Magician, was unraced. I think Magician has a decent chance.
Up With The Birds seems to be a hot topic right now. He came 2nd in the Queen's Plate and won the Jamaica Handicap and the Nijinsky Stakes. He is sired by Stormy Atlantic. He won two allowances, the Harve de Grace Stakes and the Damitrius Stakes. He is by the graded stakes winner Storm Cat. Storm Cat won the Young America Stakes and came 2nd Breeders' Cup Juvenile, losing by a hair to Tasso. Up With The Birds dam won her maiden, raced in an allowance and retired. She is by Seeking The Gold, 2nd in the Gotham, Wood Memorial, Haskell, Travers, Breeders' Cup Classic and the Met Mile. I am willing to take a chance on Up With The Birds.
Real Solution is back to defend his title. His latest win was the Knob Creek Manhattan (1 1/4 mile). He is by Kitten's Joy. The stallion won the Virginia Derby, Secretariat Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Handicap. He came 2nd in the Breeders' Cup Turf and the Arlington Million. Kitten's Joy is by sired by El Prado who won four out of nine races. Real Solution's dam won a maiden claiming. His damsire is Pulpit. His wins include the Fountain of Youth and the Toyota Blue Grass. I believe Real Solution maybe ready to just completely dominate this field.
Side Glance did come 3rd in last year's Million but I don't believe he is a true competitor. I will be tossing Side Glance into the trash.
Contenders:
-Real Solution
-Magician
-Finnegans Wake
-Up With The Birds
Pretenders:
-Side Glance
-Smoking Sun
-Hardest Core
So today I had a awesome experience where I got to talk to one of the members of Donegal Racing via Instagram. Everyone on the Donegal Racing team is amazing and they all believe this is Finnegans Wakes' big break. These people could not be anymore connected to their horses. They all truly believe in their horses and give their all for the sport. Good luck to them this weekend!
Until next time,
Madison
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