Racing This Weekend
Belmont is underway and on Saturday they will run the Elusive Quality at 7 furlongs on the grass. A full field of 11 is expected to go and it looks like a competitive race. Value Proposition, a Belmont lover at 4 for 7 will likely be the favorite. I land on an interesting runner from Todd Pletcher. Toro Strike makes his second US start and second for Todd. He sent the horse to a stake at the Fair Grounds from his Florida winter base where he stalked the pace and faded. I am willing to give him a chance to improve and run a much better race, which he will need to do to compete for the win in here.
Woodbine is also back and on Saturday Steve Asmussen ships Parlance to try the synthetic. She is fast and is by Maclean’s Music, a sire I like a lot. If she handles the synthetic, she looks like she gets a nice trip here either stalking or possibly even setting the pace. Steve is not known for shipping to Woodbine so maybe he knows something.
Santa Anita is back in action on Saturday and has 4 stakes on the card. In The Californian Express Train comes in off three in a row where he has looked more like a freight train powering down the stretch. Those were three hard races and I’ll look to beat him. Shaaz looks like he has plenty of potential. He will be stretching out a little but there is no reason his speed won’t take him this far and maybe farther down the road. I think he is dangerous especially if he goes the aggressive route and takes it to them early.
In the Charlie Whittingham I lean towards Dicey Mo Chara. He is steadily progressing and his two races this year were good, and he has the right kind of style for a nice set up in here. I think he sits off but close to the pace and makes the first move turning for home.
With all the action that will be focused on Churchill Downs and the Oaks and Derby next weekend you can often find some sneaky value and opportunities at other racetracks. This game is about opportunities and capitalizing on them so we will be looking across the board to see what is out there. Check back in to see what we have and enjoy the races!