When a trainer enters a horse in a race they are looking for the most appropriate race that will give their owner's horse the best chance to win.
The condition book is the most important publication to any trainer as it’s a schedule of races for a certain track for an upcoming period of time, from several weeks up to a month. They outline various classes of races available allowed for a trainer to point his horses to certain races and develop a training regime.
There are dozens of conditions of races such as maiden races, allowance races, stakes races and claiming races. Among those races are other possible qualifications such as horses who have not won three races in their careers or have not won a race in the current year. And some race conditions may get even more precise. For example, a race for horses who have never won at a certain distance.
It’s a good idea to take a look at the race conditions at the outset of your handicapping, sometimes you can find a horse taking a subtle drop in class that the general public may not notice.
Let's start by looking at a recent winner at Woodbine who was getting a slight class drop that may have not been completely evident to racing fans.
The Bison City Stakes on August 10 was a $250,000 stakes race for three-year-old fillies foaled in Canada. It’s the second race of the Triple Tiara and follows the Woodbine Oaks, also for Canadian bred three-year-old fillies. (State-bred races are denoted by [R] or [S] before the race condition. The age of horses in the race is noted just before that)
Stormcast, No. 8, didn’t compete in the Oaks, which was won by Kin's Concerto, and instead competed against older mares in an allowance/optional claiming race that was open to American-breds. The winner was a very good four-year-old from the U.S. named Literate and Stormcast was a good second that day, seven lengths clear of the third-place finisher.
In fact, Stormcast had raced against U.S.-breds when she finished second in the Honey Ryder Stakes on May 4 at Gulfstream Park in Florida.
Racing against Canadian breds (and fellow three-year-olds) in the Bison City Stakes was considered a drop in class since the pool of Canadian bred horses is much smaller than that of the U.S. each year.
In Wednesday's fifth race at Ajax Downs there’s a filly getting a class drop from “open” company to Ontario Sired horses, again, a smaller pool. The race is for Ontario Sired Quarter Horses, non-winners of two-, three-year-olds and upward and No. 4 SNOW MAGICALLY SWEET has not competed against restricted company since last fall.
All three of Snow Magically Sweet's races this year have come in open races. She was fourth in a Trial for the Princess Derby on July 21 and third and fourth behind two older males Jess Carolinas Award and Sour Candy, respectively. In addition, she’s in a race for non-winners of two lifetime and she has never been at that classification since she won her maiden last summer in a stakes races.
Snow Magically Sweet is a filly to strongly consider in all wagers including the exactor and trifecta.
I will play Snow Magically Sweet with No. 3 ILL GOT TO WAR, who is a fast-improving three-year-old colt. For the trifecta, I will include another runner dropping into Ontario-sired territory, No. 1 RUSHN INTHE RAIN.
$5 Exactor Box 3/ 4 = $10.00
$2 Trifecta 3, 4 / 1, 3, 4, 5/ 1, 3, 4, 5
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