The mid-season exit of two-time champion Good Night Shirt (Concern) due to
injury left a huge void in the steeplechase division that has not entirely been
filled. That might change pending the results of Saturday’s $100,000 Colonial
Cup (NSA-G1), the final major jump race of the season, which will be contested
over the Springdale course in Camden, South Carolina.
Ten geldings and a mare will answer the call to post for the 2 3/4-mile event
over National Fences. All who have won top-level events in Good Night Shirt’s
absence have been entered, though most have not enjoyed consistent form this
season.
The one with perhaps the fewest faults is YOUR SUM MAN (Ire) (Pistolet Bleu
[Ire]), the unheralded seven-year-old who coasted home by 3 3/4 lengths in the
October 17 Grand National (NSA-G1) in his North American debut in what could be
labeled a massive upset. The Tom Voss charge was nearly two years removed from
his last win in a novice hurdle at Punchestown, Ireland, and made what is left
of the American jumping division look mediocre with a convincing win at Far
Hills.
PIERROT LUNAIRE (War Chant), who handed Good Night Shirt a three-length
defeat in the Iroquois (NSA-G1) in May, showed little in the Grand National when
beaten more than 23 lengths into fifth. The five-year-old did encounter trouble
that day when clipping heels with a rival, and could bounce back with a more
representative effort here.
RED LETTER DAY (Red Ransom), who led from flag-to-finish in the Lonesome
Glory (NSA-G1) two back, could not replicate that feat in the Grand National. A
tiring fourth that day, he should nonetheless show speed from the start of the
Colonial Cup. SPY IN THE SKY (Thunder Gulch), who romped by more than 10 lengths
in the New York Turf Writers Cup (NSA-G1), was an okay fourth in the Lonesome
Glory and most recently passed his first-level allowance condition on the flat
at Aqueduct.
Others of note are the veteran MIXED UP (Carnivalay), who finished far back
in two starts since taking the A.P. Smithwick Memorial (NSA-G1); THREE CARART
(Storm Broker), runner-up to Good Night Shirt in the 2007 Colonial Cup; and
SWEET SHANI (NZ) (Kashani), the multiple Grade 1-placed mare who appears to be
rounding into better form.
Post time for the Colonial Cup is approximately 3 p.m. (EST).