$4 Million Desert Turf Classic

[Stormy Peak]

DESERT TURF CLASSIC

Well, with Roughian, I *had* the only filly in the field until Summertime Crush entered just recently.
Summertime Crush is owned by Joseph Depaulo, and there's been a good rivalry between our two fillies.
They've faced each other in 4 stake races now.

Results

Roughian has won 2 while Summertime Crush finished 2nd
Summertime Crush won 2, while Roughian finished 2nd.

This alone, at least to me, makes this race pretty awesome...unless there's a deadheat, one of them will get a nose ahead of the other filly in the rivalry. Plus, they will be racing against the males, and there's a lot of scary talent in that group.

Of the nine colts in this race, 4 of them are multi-millionaires, 3 of them have won over $1 Million, and the other two, while not millionaires are Steward-breds and each are having a pretty good season so far.
So far, too, at this point, Steward-breds vs Homebreds in this race is 6 to 5.

I think my mare has a really good shot at winning this race. She won the Pegasus Turf against the boys in her last effort and has had some rest between then and Friday's race. I am hoping both of these will give me a bit of an edge over Summertime Crush who hasn't competed against the males so far, and who has raced in some tough races every other week since Year 54 Week 12. I do worry that Roughian might bounce though, that last race was against top competition, I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that won't happen.

Any other trainers have some insights into this race, or have some of their own rivalries going on with other horses, and how do you feel about your horses' chances?

Stormy

[Brian Leavitt]

Silver Tabby Cat is only a stakes galloper, so he's likely a tad outclassed in races like this and the Pegasus, but I still hold out hope that one of these days he'll pull off a big upset!

[Stormy Peak]

Silver Tabby Cat did a great job in the Pegasus! He moved up pretty strong near the end of that race and got on the board with a 3rd.

This is a longer race, maybe the distance will suit him? I've had stake horses beat freaks before, so it does happen.
Roughian has won a Grade 1 race at a mile and a half, but it was against 3 year old fillies. I hope she has it in her to run that far and hang in there against the boys....and beat Summertime Crush

Stormy