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Race 1- For those who don’t know me, I like to beat the chalk.  But sometimes it us unable to be avoided. For 1^st place #5 Honey Bunny is just a mare who loves her job.  A five year-old Tapizar mare, out of a Storm Cat mare has solid breeding.  Does it get much better? Never worse than third at Keeneland out of three starts.  Over $300,000 in earnings with eleven wins out of twenty eight starts. Just a gal who loves her job.

2^nd #4 Trusty Roll hasn’t ran at Keeneland before, but also is quite consistent and shows her heart.  She’s been off the board eleven times out of thirty one starts. Which means she doesn’t like to lose.  She is better out east, from what we can see.

3^rd #7 Tenpins Tango sure handled loved her home state Louisiana, so I’m interested to see how she runs for her first time out of the state.  This race is a little tough for her, especially with the above two I chose. They recently got a little blacktype on her which makes her ideal as a broodmare.

Race 2- 1^st #4 Loran Holiday (ARG) saw success going up in class, which isn’t very common.  The best part was, her last start was a win at Oaklawn for a $16,000 claiming race.  Can she go back to back?

2^nd #2 Katie the Cutie is a versatile gal , but her last race didn’t work out.  In fact, she was never even a factor. Now she’s had a few months off so she should be freshened up.

3^rd #3 Picasso Girl just won out in West Virginia.  Most of the ladies in this race haven’t tried Keeneland, and my concern is that Mountaineer horses just aren’t much of a match elsewhere.

Race 3- 1^st #2 Chili Pepin is a City Zip filly making her first start.  A couple of workouts back, she did outwork my second selection.  They both share the same trainer.

2^nd #4 Letsstaypositive is a Palice Malice baby girl making her career debut.  Wesley Ward trains her also, and the works on her seem decent. So… let’s stay positive and hope this girl will perform well.

3^rd #7 Annabelle’s Babe hasn’t worked out on the Keeneland surface yet, unlike my top two selections.  I would have liked to see that work out before she ran to see how she likes the dirt here. She’s by Flat Out.

Race 4- 1^st #6 Golden Orb was a costly $300,000 purchase trained by Mike Stidham.  If you couldn’t guess, she’s by Orb- who’s showing plenty of potential this far as a stallion.  She really liked the Fairgrounds and is coming off of two second place finishes.

2^nd #5 Rockin Ready is the chalk, but is she worthy of it? She is undoubtedly a nice filly who loves the grass, with killer breeding.  Also a $280,000 purchase, which hasn’t been earned back. It took her a long time to break her maiden, and then something happened last summer at Del Mar, so that is why I am hesitant to take her on top here.

3^rd #7 Tap Tap Taparoo just like her foes, was an expensive $250,000 Keeneland purchase.  Saratoga was really hard for her. However, she was able to pull of an impressive victory over the summer in a tough maiden special weight race.

Race 5- 1^st #7 Owlette is an Ontario-bred coming down to give Ky a shot here for Wesley Ward.  He’s had a lot of maiden fillies this meet so far, and the ones I have chosen have let me down.  She’s a Scat Daddy granddaughter, as we hope to see how her sire Frac Daddy turns out as a sire.

2^nd #2 Nayibeth is the heavy chalk, and that’s probably because of a couple bullet works here and the fact she was a $230,000 purchase.  She is trained by Wesley Ward and the other maiden filly races I have handicapped, I always get let down by Ward. I hope he can prove me wrong here.

3^rd #4 Diamonds Are A is a filly Winstar Farm sent to the sale, and got a nice purchase price for her.  Ben Colebrook is a really up and coming young trainer who has been seeing success lately.

Race 6- 1^st #5 Bourbon Calling, despite being a maiden, has already ran an 80 Beyer which is fantastic for a maiden.  He has a real shot here, with Leparoux aboard for Ian Wilkes.

2^nd #4 Trade Deadline’s is fresh coming off of a little break so he is plenty fresh.  Chad Brown trains the Kitten’s Joy colt.

3^rd #7 Blue Torch Key didn’t really give an effort last out, which is normal for horses making their first career start. Hopefully this time around he will stay more engaged instead of dropping out of the race.

Race 7- 1^st #5 Tiznoble has been HOT in the claiming box.  He’s been claimed eight times since 2017. He’s a hard knocking gelding who loves his job with seven wins out of nineteen starts, and plenty of on the board finishes.  I’m curious if he will be claimed this time.

2^nd #3 Stone Hands may not win or hit the board as much as some of these other guys, but he runs some high, respectable Beyer numbers.  He was in his prime last year- and it’s not too late for him to get back into the swing of it. He most recently won at Santa Anita.

3^rd #4 Go Navy Go ran fifth last out, but it was a good fifth.  He only lost by a length and a quarter. Previously, he’s been in over his head and I think even this level will be a challenge for him.  Again, one of the few horses in this race who’s ran at Keeneland before.

Race 8- 1^st #8 Neepawa has done a lot of traveling around North America.  He won a $400,000 stakes last year at Woodbine which is his preferred track.  Mark Casse and Florent Geroux team up here. Doesn’t get much better with the connections.

2^nd #12 Sarrasin (GB) hasn’t been in America super long and his races haven’t been great here this far because they’ve been tough.  Also, I couldn’t imagine the kind of change it’s been for him. Last out was a good race at Tampa so he was able to earn a little respect with his fourth place finish, but didn’t lose by much.  

3^rd #1 Krewe Chief is stepping out of the graded company, back to a race that is probably that suits his previous levels he succeeded at.  There are changes made here though. Ortiz jumps on, different track, and blinkers off. He ran a 91 Beyer three back in New York, and it was his best race of his career.