OK. It isn't the greatest race to highlight, but a week out from the Breeder's Cup and we have some slim pickings.
This race does feature an extremely competitive field that is far from the supposedly highlight of the card today.
Jay Makes Us Laugh: After 16 races on the dirt, this will be hist first ever venture to the turf. Not only turf, but the quirky down the hill turf at Santa. Prefer many others.
Love My Bud: Ofer on turf, and his lone venture on this route was a near disaster when finishing 9th of 10. While all that seems discouraging, 2 of his last 3 aren't all that bad. Should be a huge price in an iffy field.
Fashionably Fast: Gets class relief and is 4 for 6 hitting the board in his lifetime. Will take his first venture to turf today, and will want to be on or near the lead. Should be the favorite, but will be an interesting tote watch.
Plain Wrap: Gets back to turf and cuts back in distance. The 1 for 25 lifetime record is extremely difficult to look past.
Preacher Roe: Has three rices down the hill that include a couple of Show finishes. A hard knocker that has 6 lifetime wins and should be well in the mix when it counts. Contender.
Shaymin: Recent form is all over the place and is 1 for 10 lifetime. Has some races that would be more than competitive in here, but hard to trust. Seems like a good exotics inclusion.
Silver Summer: Won gate to wire on this very patch of ground 3 back in impressive fashion. A true turf horse that will be large odds and not without a chance. In a field of numerous "non-turf" horses you could make worse wagers.
Hollywood Square: Lightly raced 4YO that should be about to hit a new peak effort. Biggest problem is you are wagering on possibles with a horse that is overly wagered every time out. Anything less than 6/1 is an underlay.
Duke of Fallbrook: Hit the board in 3 of his last 5 races and is a ML of 50/1. I've definitely seen worse 50/1 ML entries. Then again, it is tough to see this guy hitting the board today.
Nevermissesabeat: Won his last out coming from well back on this very stretch of ground. Still a 3YO so he has room to improve, but that wasn't all that impressive of a win. Looks to be another underlay.
North Country Guy: Second time in the barn of Baltas isn't a bad thing. This guy needs to get better to compete in here though. Rolling some monster works so a very must watch on the tote. 7/2 ML is probably telling us quite a bit here. Very interesting entry in a crazy hard field.
SUMMARY: This is a really tough optional claiming race that one would expect for the price. Nobody jumps out on the form, so you need some imagination in this one.
WP
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