Race Two - #1 Le Gris : This four year old gelding looks really solid in this spot. His figures and form make him a clear standout in this field, also we had him hung wide into the clubhouse turn last time out against a gold rail. This drop in class makes a lot of sense for Al Stall and he has had success with the move over recent years albeit a small sample size. Finally, he’s already answered the distance question and should get a hot pace to close into. We like a few horses in R4 and R3 looks navigable enough so we will try and get the picks hooked up!
The Play: 1 unit on Pick Three- 1 with 2,3,4 with 1,3,5 and 1 unit on Pick Three- 1 with 2,3,4 with 3,5.
Race Four: We had interesting notes on three horses coming out of the same off the turf race on debut and are looking forward to seeing them run back in this spot. #3 Heeere’s Johnny was a horse that Maggie Wolfendale loved in the paddock before his debut but indicated that he totally looked like a turf router and that’s what he’s getting here today. We view that last race as a total prep and his pedigree corroborates Maggie’s physical analysis- being the younger brother to recent Saratoga Derby winner World Beater. #1 Final Score’s pedigree is a little more vague, but he is out of versatile sire Not This Time. We caught something very interesting in his debut.. Shortly after they crossed the finish line the camera panned to Todd Pletcher (as he happened to train the winner of the race); however, he was totally locked in with his binoculars on watching the gallop out- not of the winner but of Final Score! The camera shortly panned back into the clubhouse turn where the colts were galloping out only to see Final Score blowing past the field and galloping out with HUGE ENERGY into the clubhouse turn. We believe this was a total prep and this horse will relish every inch of extra ground. Finally we were also interested in #1 Golden Rule who seems turf meant as well, John Ortiz horses normally improve with a start under their belts and the dam-side pedigree looks inspiring. We view the exacta pool (as well as a small “Kill Bet” in the trifecta pool) as the best way to express our handicapping opinion in conjunction with the pick three starting in R2 that we will hopefully be live to!
The Play: 1 unit on 1,3,5 Exacta Box, 1 unit on 3,5 Exacta Box and 0.5 units on 1,3,5 Trifecta Box.