Monmouth - Race 12
#8 Trappe Shot (3/1 ml)
Immensely talented colt that i've been following for quite a while now. I haven't given him out due to price concerns, but he finally should be offering a decent price today on his jump into the Grade 1 Haskell. Might even go a touch higher than his morning line, with both the Derby and Preakness winners entered here (in addition to the second-place finishers from both of those races). This guy won by double-digits in fast time in both of his Gulfstream starts without ever being asked to run, then shipped up to Belmont and won easily again, in a time that was 2 lengths faster than D'Funnybone ran in the Woody Stephens on the same day's card. Last time, he was finally stretched out to two turns, and showed that he can rate just fine, coming from last in the tiny 4-horse field after encountering a bit of early traffic (despite the small field size), moving through along the rail when the leader drifted out a bit and then powering away in the last stages to finish very quickly, even being taken in hand nearing the wire. Very tall order for this colt tackling Lookin at Lucky today, but he just oozes talent, and has shown nothing up to this point that suggests he's not capable of handling it. He hasn't been rushed into this spot, and he even owns a win over the local surface, which is definitely a plus. Perhaps most importantly, he's very well drawn on the outside while Lookin at Lucky was a bit unfortunate to draw the rail, and Alan Garcia should have him in perfect position here stalking what figures to be a contested pace between First Dude and Our Dark Knight, while probably sitting just off the flank of Super Saver. That should also give him the jump on Lookin at Lucky, who will either have to take back a bit or risk being boxed in behind the leaders. Mucho respect for Lookin at Lucky, but i think this guy has a huge shot at beating him, while offering a better price besides.
