A Keeneland Double
In the mile and a half Elkhorn I am not convinced Rebel Red can’t handle the distance. I see a horse who improving and getting good towards the end of last year. He tried a marathon for the first time in the Red Smith and finished only two lengths off Integration. He went to the lead that day, which is likely the result of the stretch-out, but he had been running and winning from off the pace. On Saturday he meets the type of field he can be very competitive against and if he goes to the lead, he may be all the better with that Red Smith effort under his belt.
Rebel Red can still be improving, and I think we pretty much know what the others are. He looked like he needed the last race off the bench and should go forward here. His trainer, Cherie DeVaux is also due to heat up.
In the next race, The Ben Ali we will move to the grass at a mile and three sixteenths. I’m torn between two horses and fortunately both should be fair prices. Tennessee Lamb is 8-1 on the morning line and I would think goes off maybe even a tad higher. Piroli is 6-1 on the morning line and I imagine that will hold close.
Tennessee Lamb won his last two dirt tries by open lengths albeit in the maiden special weight and allowance ranks. Yes, the figures look light, but he is improving and just putting it together and will also be sitting in what looks to be a garden spot like trip. He will have to make a considerable forward move in here, but I can see it as a possibility.
Piroli is one for one over this track and probably makes more sense than Tennessee Lamb. He is coming off two synthetic track races at Turfway park and horses coming off that track have run big all over the place. He can sit close when he runs his race which is always some help at Keeneland. His last synthetic to dirt move resulted in a big figure increase and a nine-length win. He has faced and held his own against some good horses at times and if he runs one of his better races, I think he can make a lot of noise in here again at a fair price.
I recently sat down with Ed De Rosa of Horse racing nation and Dan Cronin of fatbaldguyracing and we went over the contenders and pretenders for The Kentucky Derby this year.
You can check it out here on Past the Wire TV on Kentucky Derby Radar Brought to you by AmWager