2011 King's Bishop Stakes: Potential Entries

Written by Caitlin Patton
Wednesday, 24 August 2011 00:12

Let’s check out the list of potential entries for this weekend’s 2011 King’s Bishop Stakes from Saratoga.

The 2011 King’s Bishop Stakes is a 7 furlong race for 3-year-olds ran at Saratoga Race Course yearly, and I’m extremely impressed with the list of potential entries at this point.  We are still a day or two off from knowing exactly which horses will make up the 2011 field but it’s never too early to speculate on the probable entries.  Make sure to stay tuned for horse racing picks, post positions, odds, and tips on the King’s Bishop that will be up later in the week.  The 2011 King’s Bishop Stakes has roughly a 5:00 PM ET post time and will be shown live on NBC on August 27th.

For those that haven’t started betting on horse racing online just yet, making sure to check out our racebook comparison tool that lists all you’ll need to know about the various wagering options available.  We should know the official King’s Bishop field in just a few days and will be sure to update everyone when the post positions and morning line odds are set from Saratoga.  For now, let’s look at the 11 King’s Bishop Stakes horses that are likely to be the entries in the 2011 field.

2011 King’s Bishop Stakes Potential Entries:

Uncle Mo – The one-time overwhelming Kentucky Derby favorite will be making his first start since coming up 3rd in the Wood Memorial back in April.  Uncle Mo won his first 4 races before that point and won’t be easy to defeat if he’s in decent form after the layoff.

Flashpoint – The 14th place finisher in the Preakness Stakes should enjoy the lesser distance of the King’s Bishop Stakes.  Flashpoint, a super speedy pace setter, has won all 3 tries at 7 furlongs or less while finishing no better than 4th at any races beyond that distance.  He’ll try to wire the field.

Justin Phillip –  This is a horse that is hit or miss, having defeated King’s Bishop potential entries like J J’s Lucky Train in the past while also losing to other possibilities like Caleb’s Posse and Wine Police.  After not having much success at a mile or longer, Justin Phillip switched to 7 furlongs and won the Woody Stephens before coming up 4th last time out in the 6.5-furlong Amsterdam.

J J’s Lucky Train – I was impressed with how strong this horse looked last time out in the Haskell Stakes, but I’m still not sure what his best distance is.  J J’s Lucky Train has had some success with 2 wins and a 2nd in 3 career races at this 7-furlong distance and he could prove to be a spoiler here.

Cool Blue Red Hot – I’ve loved this horse for a while now but the fact of the matter is he’s still a bit of a wild card since he’s raced at less than a mile just once.  Cool Blue Red Hot took 3rd in that race before winning an allowance next time out and then putting in a solid 3rd in the Dwyer Stakes.

Caleb’s Posse – I didn’t think much of Caleb’s Posse until he took home a 1st in the Amsterdam last time out.  He never impressed me at a mile or longer but, looking back, the King’s Bishop might be the perfect distance.  He’s won in 3 of 4 career races at less than a mile while finishing 2nd in the other try.

Bold Warrior – This 3-year-old won 2 in a row before stretching out to over a mile and finishing 6th in the Curlin at Saratoga last time out.  Although his pedigree (Bold Warrior was sired by 2006 Preakness Stakes winner Bernadini) indicates he should enjoy the distance, ultimately you can’t argue with results at the shorter distances.

Poseidon’s Warrior – Although he’s won only twice in four career tries, the one thing I can say about Poseidon’s Warrior is that he’s one of the few King’s Bishop potential entries that has always ran shorter distances.  That being said, this guy will have to show a large improvement to compete here.

Wine Police – Although he finished a disappointing 3rd in the Amsterdam, Wine Police has shown in previous races that he can compete with some of the best 3-year-olds in the horse racing game.  Look for this speedster to vie for the lead along with Flashpoint and Justin Phillip.

Dominus – I’m honestly a little bit surprised to see Dominus’ name mentioned as a potential entry into the King’s Bishop.  He has the pedigree to go longer than a mile and took home the Dwyer Stakes before finishing a strong 3rd in the Jim Dandy at Saratoga last time out.  This is a very interesting horse into the field and I won’t be surprised if Dominus ends up not running here.

Runflatout – This horse has been fairly competitive with possible Travers Stakes favorite Coil in his last 2 races but both were on synthetics and at longer than a mile.  Runflatout broke his maiden at 6 furlongs before taking 2nd in the 7-furlong Laz Barrera at Hollywood Park.