By Jalen Santos Twitter @jalen_santos7
Throughout the Saudi Cup card of Feb 25th, we saw many horses run from all over the world and some performances nothing short of spectacular. That is, after all, what we expect from the world’s richest race card isn’t it?
This article’s topic is the heartbreak of the 1351 Turf Sprint (Gr.3) on the turf. The race is named for the 1351 meters long the race is, which is roughly 6.75 furlongs. A strange distance to say the least, but Casa Creed doesn’t seem to mind. If anything, he enjoys it.
The seven-year-old stallion is a son of Jimmy Creed, out of unraced mare Achalaya who is by Bellamy Road. Not the greatest pedigree, but apparently nobody told him that because his list of accomplishments goes on and on as a 7-time winner in 30 starts. It doesn’t look too impressive but when you factor in that he’s finished on the board in 54% of his starts, you really have to respect his consistency.
He’s a 6-time stakes winner and half of those were Gr.1 wins, including being a two time winner of the Jaipur (Gr.1) and a Gr.1 winner at the mile distance, beating the likes of champion Regal Glory who won 13 of her 23 starts and 5x winner and gsw Masen (GB) in a short but strong field in the Fourstardave (Gr.1) going a mile on the Saratoga turf.
Last year’s edition of the 1351 Turf Sprint was a thrilling one in which Casa Creed partook. Lifting late, he missed by a head to the Japanese mare Songline. The race was a little suspect, where he got into the clear and seemed to level off and hang a little with the runner outside of him, while Songline got a little more than two lengths on him. He kicked in again in the final sixteenth but ran out of time. A disappointing effort from the US runner to hang mid-stretch like that, costing him the race.
This year’s edition of the race featured Songline and Casa Creed again along with a few new shooters. The gates sprang open, and Casa Creed lumbered out of there as usual under Luis Saez near the back of the pack. The surprise, however, was that Songline also came out slow and in fact came out of the gate behind Casa Creed instead of her usual mid-pack position.
This meant Casa Creed instantly had the advantage as Songline was flat and caught wide into the turn. With Bathrat Leon (JPN) who was another hope for Japan freewheeling on the front end through fast fractions, the race seemed the perfect set up for Casa Creed to win. They turned for home, Bathrat Leon kicked on still in front and Songline was still dead last with no response.
At this point, Casa Creed had been roused a sixteenth of a mile ago by Luis Saez who urged his mount along to the top of the stretch. Casa Creed started to roll, now in prime striking position he looked as though he would win it in hand. Just when he looked to go on to the lead, he did it again. He hung in the middle of the stretch just like he did last year and, once again, he got going again in the final sixteenth of a mile but didn’t really show his kick until the final 50 meters of the race. He ran on to finish a very narrow second once more as he couldn’t reel in the Japanese freewheeling Bathrat Leon who isn’t new to springing massive upsets. He won the 2022 Godolphin Mile (Gr.2) at long odds after a series of poor performances in Japan. Songline however, never fired in this spot after starting in last and getting stuck wide, she picked up a few tired rivals late but finished near the rear of the field.
The biggest takeaways from this race are that Bathrat Leon is one to include on your tickets in whatever race he shows up in for the Dubai World Cup. If he comes to the United States this year for the Breeders Cup, he might just pull another shocker and take them gate to wire as he did in the Godolphin Mile (Gr.2) last year and the 1351 Turf Sprint (Gr.3) this year.
The other big one is that Casa Creed is one to include in your underneath bets for the Al Quoz Sprint (Gr.1) if he shows up like he did last year in Dubai. Once he gets back to the United States bet him on the turf to win going 6-8 furlongs, which seems his best distance range. Although, bet with caution in his first start back as he should get a start first to prove he won’t hang again, as he hasn’t in the USA.
