Race 3 at Keeneland – Post Time 2:04 PM Eastern

Top Win Contender(s): Eye Dee Kay

For exactas: Tres Soles, Money Run

Many fans will wonder about the trainer of Eye Dee Kay, Kinnon LaRose, who has a record this year with 0 wins and three seconds in 10 races. This trainer is expected to win many races this year and throughout his career. LaRose recently took over from the excellent trainer Tom Amoss, who had just stepped down from training. Many of Amoss’s winners were conditioned by LaRose when he was his assistant. LaRose claimed Eye Dee Kay for Amoss’s client, Maggi Moss, who has won many races for this stable. Eye Dee Kay has won 12 of 47 races but has been better with 7 wins in 27 fast dirt races and finished second or third 14 times. He has never finished worse than third in his last seven dirt route races, including five races before this starter allowance, where LaRose and Moss claimed him, moving him back to this class. Since his last race on February 6, where he finished second, he has rested. His most recent workout was a quick 59.2 for five furlongs, so he’s ready for his 13th career win.

Tres Soles gets Tyler Gaffalione, who appears to have never ridden for William Stinson, Jr., but Gaffalione rode twice for Stinson in the spring of 2024, finishing second in a stakes race. That is notable when a top jockey rides for a trainer who has started over 130 races in recent years but only rides twice. Tres Soles was claimed for this recent race after finishing second or third in his last five races. Money Run has won two out of three races under these conditions and could lead, as he led wire-to-wire in both those races. However, there are two other “early” horses, King of Hollywood and Fountain Run, so if any of them go to the lead with Money Run, this makes a good setup for Eye Dee Kay.

Handicapper Picks

Win bets: Eye Dee Kay at 9 to 5 or higher.

Exactas: Box Eye Dee Kay and Tres Soles, and Box Eye Dee Kay and Money Run

Also play Eye Dee Kay over Tres Soles, Money Run

Race 6 at Keeneland – Post Time 3:40 PM Eastern

Top Win Contender(s): Conquest Warrior

For exactas: Excite, Authentic Strike, Original Sin

Conquest Warrior was off the races for 23 months, from March 2024 to February 19. His first start was in a muddy sprint, followed by a route on a fast dirt track, where he earned his first win in January 2024. He scored his second win in March, in his third start at the same mile and one-eighth distance as this race. Later that month, he was sent off at 5 to 2 in the Florida Derby, finished fourth, just missing third by a nose. He had some issues afterward, but after switching trainers to Asmussen, he returned strongly. In his comeback, he nearly won after rallying from last and getting a head at the eighth pole, then finished second, three lengths ahead of the third-place horse. Additionally, the winner of February’s race, Corporate Power, who finished second in the New Classic Stakes, and jockey Saez, who rode the winner and will now ride Conquest Warrior in his second race after the layoff, make Conquest Warrior the horse to beat.

Handicapper Picks

Win bets: Conquest Warrior at 7 to 5 or higher.

Exactas: Conquest Warrior over Excite, Authentic Strike, Original Sin

Race 7 at Keeneland – Post Time 4:12 PM Eastern

Top Win Contender(s): Ciro di Marzio

Trifecta key in second and third: Rocky Joe

For in second and third in trifectas: Love’m Or Liam, Sicilian Defense, Arkhipov, Noble Confessor

Ciro di Marzio returns after a seven-month layoff. Trainer Ward excels with his comebackers. Ciro di Marzio finished second in November 2024 when he was brought to the U.S., and in his race last July. Both races had strong Equibase Speed Figures, earning 102 and 103. The only horse in this race with a faster figure is Noble Confessor last November, but that race was against only three-year-olds, and his comeback (February 28) race earned a 95 when he finished eighth. Joel Rosario, riding for the first time, has won 20% of his races. The last two of Ciro di Marzio’s last three morning workouts were “bullets,” meaning the best of the day. He seems ready to win.

Rocky Joe has finished second eight times in 18 races, including two races at Keeneland at 15 to 1. He definitely has a chance to finish in second or third. Love’m, Or Liam, Sicilian Defense, Arkhipov, and Noble Confessor are the other horses that have a shot to finish second or third.

Handicapper Picks

Win bets: Ciro di Marzio at odds of 2 to 1 or higher.

Exacta: Ciro di Marzio over Rocky Joe

Trifectas: Ciro di Marzio over Love’m Or Liam, Sicilian Defense, Arkhipov, Noble Confessor over Rocky Joe