Finally, The Moment of Truth

- Well, here it is; finally, after being rained out twice, the long awaited turf debut of Highland Cat. And I won’t be on hand; instead, I’ll be watching the simulcast at Saratoga Harness, as the Head Chef and I are going up in the morning to scout it out for the upcoming meeting. We’ve had this planned, and the horse hasn’t exactly shown much indication that he’s worth radically changing plans for. Nonetheless, it’s a WHOLE NEW BALLGAME, BABY, and maybe it will bring good luck, and I’ll drive up there every time he runs.

To me, there are only three horses in the field that have turf form worth worrying about. One of those, Oracle of Omaha (Louis Quatorze) has been out for almost 14 months, and returns for a tag for the first time. On the outside, are three horses similarly dropping into claimers. Really Reilly (Pine Bluff) goes for the hot Hushion barn, and is 4-1 in the morning line, but I Really Reilly don’t like him. King Hoss (El Prado) hasn’t been out since September; John Kimmel has not been winning off layoffs of late (though he has three recent seconds).

Morning line favorite Lunenburg is the one that scares me the most. He came off a seven month layoff; at 7-1, he was live on the board considering his long odds and dismal efforts in his two prior races, and closed six wide to close for 4th, missing the win by just a half length. This five year old gelding has some nice turf influences; by Lear Fan, out of a Seattle Slew mare, and this is the female family of Twilight Agenda and Go and Go, both of whom won grass stakes in Europe before winning major stakes here, as well as the multiple Grade 1 Irish-bred Refuse to Bend.

But it’s a fresh start for Highland Cat; it’s his maiden start for all intents and purposes. Hope spring eternal, indeed. Tactical Cat sires 11% first-out grass winners, according to the Form; and his broodmare sire, Highland Blade (Damascus), loved grass, dirt, and distance. We know that Highland Cat doesn’t like at least one of those; hopefully he’ll like the other two here.

[UPDATE: Oh man, there's a chance of "strong storms" in the forecast...]