The WV Cavada Breeders Classic
10/16/2010 CT Race #14 7f Dirt Stake Purse $250.000 For Fillies And Mares Three Years Old And Upward Foaled In WV
CT offers a full card of stakes racing this weekend and one of the highlights is the third running of the WV Cavada Breeders Classic. The race was first won by Whitewater Stables filly Madeira, who set the stakes record time of 1:23.62 back in 2007. The race did not go off in 2008. The 2009 winner was Cataclysmic, then owned by Cashed Out Stables. The multiple graded stakes-winning mare was sold to Maverick Racing in the June 2010 auction for $180.000.
Cataclysmic returns this weekend to defend her title, but she is now five years old and was off the board in her last three races, including a $19.700 allowance race at FL. She was always a top competitor, but it could be she is just about due for a trip to the shed and a chance to meet some suitors.
Who then might be the betting favorite and stand in the circle being photographed afterward? There is just a four-horse field and the obvious candidates look to be Cracked Actor and Cheap Flirt. Their names sound like a description of the Hollywood street scene, but one is a still sharp seasoned five-year-old campaigner and the other is an up and coming four-year-old filly. The field may be small but the drama could be larger than life for this one. Time to get a closer look at the field:
1 Cataclysmic Maverick Racing Jockey 7199 123 This five year old autogen mare was developed by Cash Out Stables in WV and auctioned on 6/24/2010 for $180.000 to Maverick Racing. The 2009 defending champion is a multiple graded stakes-winning mare with the field high record of 20-9-4-2 and $937.400 in career earnings. However, age may be catching up to her. She raced seven times this year but won only her first, the Malleah Handicap on 1/23. She placed in her next three races then was sold at auction. She was off the board in all three starts under her new silks including her last, a low-grade allowance at FL. She is a great champion, but her works and winning ways look to have gone south and a date with the shed appears imminent.
2 Cracked Actor Dynark Stables Jockey 7196 123 This five year old mare is a daughter of Miracle Of Bagdad and was breed by Rheingold Stables in WV. She was claimed from Rheingold Stables for $35.000 by Maximas in March of 2009. She was later auctioned on 3/20/2009 to Dynark Stables for $100.000. Like #1 Cataclysmic, she is a veteran campaigner with the second best field high record of 31-12-8-3 and $699.080 in career earnings. She won or placed in her last nine races with eight of those being stakes on the dirt from six furlongs to a mile. She is a tough competitor from a veteran barn and looks ready to rumble here.
3 Ruby Ruby Ruby Chateau Gill Jockey 8822 123 This four year old daughter of Black Ruby was bred in WV by the owner. She broke her maiden last year and quickly racked up a string of five wins including her stakes debut in the WV DOT Breeders Classic last fall. However, her last win came in February of this year. Since then she was third in three of four races, including stakes were she was defeated by #2 Cracked Actor and #4 Cheap Flirt. Having lost prior to half of the field is not a good sign. Neither her record nor her works match the rest and she looks in for a rough time against them.
4 Cheap Flirt Australia Wide Jockey 7377 123 This four year old autogen filly was developed by Black tusk Racing in WV and was auctioned on 9/19/2009 to her current connections for $200.000. She was defeated by both #1 Cataclysmic and #2 Cracked Actor last year while making her stakes debut in the 2009 The WV Jefferson SBC Breeders Classic here at CT. She matured with a vengeance since then and ships in off a string of three wins including the Hawkins Stakes last August where she defeated #3 Ruby Ruby Ruby. Her speed figures are rising, as are her works. All indicate a young filly that is sharpening nicely and in the hands of one of the top barns here, she is sure to be in the mix at the wire.
PICKS:
4. Cheap Flirt
2. Cracked Actor
