 |
|
|
Getting 'Amped' Up for LeBlanc Memorial
By
Royal Flush
Jul 3, 2009,
10:32:59 AM
|
|
This year's running of the $100, 5 1/2-furlong LeBlanc Memorial drew five fillies and mares. This LA-bred affair is part of a big day at EVD; let's take a look at the field.
AMPED (Team 7 Illusions): This is a tough four-year-old, having won two in a row and five of her last six. Her style isn't complicated: Get to the lead and play "catch me if you can." In her last, she ran a wicked :22 1/5 for the first quarter over an off track yet still ran off to win a restricted stakes by three lengths. The inside post is perfect for her, and while she is one of three toting a 125-pound weight assignment, the stars appear to line up for her to find the winner's circle yet again.
JIMMY QUILLS (Dew22): This one hasn't really run a bad one yet in four lifetime outings. Two back, she was in a bit over her head in a G3 at WO, but bounced back to take down a high-level allowance at CD by three lengths at this distance. Her consistency is admirable (she's never posted an SRF Figure below 90 or above 93), and if she runs to her typical effort while receiving two pounds from the highweights, expect her to be in the mix.
RUFFIAN (Mchenry Racing): She makes her first start off a $66.01 auction purchase last month, one that was preceded by a narrow win on the grass at GG. She's shown some early zip in most of her starts, but in the two stakes she's run in, she's been beaten by an average of 10 lengths. This one could be a pace factor, but she might wilt when the real running starts.
MORGANS TREASURE (Icegator stables): Easily the most seasoned runner in the field, this filly has finished out of the money just three times in a stellar 15-race career to date, banking over $340. She's a regular in the state-bred circuit as of late, having finished second and third in two recent races at this level. She always runs hard, but she hasn't won since September, and she'll have Amped to catch when the field turns for home, who she lost to by three in her last start.
BORN COUNTRY (Sarah Stables): Tough to explain her most recent outing, a dud at PEN where she was beaten by five lengths after running very competitively in LA-bred competition for months before that. She boasts a win at this level in March, but she may be at her best running on the grass, and no works since her last race make me wonder if she'll bounce back effectively while at even weight with Amped and Morgans Treasure.
THE PICKS
1st: Amped. The stars align here; she's a proven front-runner in good form from the inside post.
2nd: Jimmy Quills. Tough pick, but that CD allowance has already produced a next-out winner and the pace may be fast enough for her to rally into.
3rd: Morgans Treasure. Tough to knock a mare as tough as her, but this is a pretty top-heavy field.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
