Thirsty for Champagne?
- Casey Laughter
- Oct 7, 2016
- 3 min read
Photo Credit: Adam Coglianese/NYRA
The Champagne Stakes (GI) has been suffering a drought of talented and significant horses as of late. The last horse to win the Champagne and successfully stretch out around two turns was Shanghai Bobby in 2012. While the 2016 edition of the race has drawn some promising horses, none are standouts and all will be looking to use this race to separate themselves from the pack.
Practical Joke (Into Mischief – Halo Humor, by Distorted Humor) This Chad Brown trainee comes into the Champagne in hopes of keeping his undefeated record intact. He won his debut at Saratoga before moving on to win the Hopeful Stakes (GI). The one-turn mile should be well within his wheelhouse, and should provide him with a good progression to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. A win here will guarantee him a trip to California for his next start, but it should be noted that he is a closer and will need a decent pace to be most effective.
Thirst for Victory (Stay Thirsty – Magical Victory, by Victory Gallop) The Todd Pletcher trained colt enters this spot off his maiden score at Saratoga, where he won going seven furlongs by three lengths. He has more speed than Practical Joke, so I expect him to break more alertly and get away well. Based off his maiden, he prefers to stalk the pace, sitting just off the front runners.
Syndergaard (Majesticperfection – Magic Belle, by Gold Case) The second Pletcher trained colt comes into this spot riding a two race win streak. He was most recently seen winning the Funny Cide Stakes at Saratoga. The 10 ¼ length victory was virtually a paid workout for the colt, with John Valazquez who gets a second call in the Champagne, gave him a “vigorous hand ride through the final sixteenth to the finish” in that race. There is a chance this colt could bounce if he is challenged here. He is a front runner and will go out quickly.
Lookin at Blessing (Lookin at Lucky – Southern Accents, by Birdstone) Nick Zito sends this colt in off a maiden win at Belmont Park on Sept. 11. Before that, the colt ran 7th and 3rd in his two maiden attempts which came at Saratoga. In his maiden score, he went right to the front and finished 2-1/4 lengths in front of the second place horse. He will likely show speed here again, and could challenge Syndergaard.
Favorable Outcome (Flatter – Shananies Song, by Eltish) Chad Brown sends out a second colt here, who comes in off a maiden win at Saratoga. He won by six lengths that day after tracking the pace. Favorable Outcome will likely be right on the heels of the early leaders, which should allow him to get an early jump on the late runners, including Practical Joke.
Big Gray Rocket (Tapit – Mistical Plan, by Game Plan) When Bob Baffert ships a horse East, bettors usually pay attention. Big Gray Rocket took two tries to break his maiden, but when he did he did it with style. He likes to run off the pace a bit, so look for him making his move around that sweeping turn. He will be stretching out here, but should handle it fine.
After looking over the field, Big Gray Rocket and Thirsty for Victory attract my eye the most. As the winner of the Hopeful Stakes, Practical Joke looks like he will get a lot of attention at the windows. The majority of the fields like to sit off speed, and if one of the top speed horses gets an uncontested lead, it could mean an easy win for them. Like most juvenile stakes, the Champagne is not an easy to race to read, which often leads to attractive odds and high pay offs.
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