- Get Smokin- Jose Ortiz- Thomas Bush
- Get Smokin draws the rail today in this most likely 8 horse affair as there really isn’t any precipitation in the forecast for today. He is coming into this race off of a really poor effort at Belmont to finish his fall campaign up there in New York. The one thing I like about this horse is that he can rate or go to the lead and is lightly raced. However, the layoff after a poor start last time out makes me question how fit this horse is. Due to that I will be passing on this gelding.
- Irish Mias- Rajiv Maragh- Graham Motion
- I like this colt a decent amount today. I think Graham Motion has him fully cranked finally and this colt is improving in each start since going on the turf. He is coming in off of the best number in his career and should improve even more today. I see rajiv sitting close and pouncing late. Must use.
- Yesterdayoncemore(IRE)- Julien Leparoux- Patrick Biancone
- This california shipper, is coming out of small stakes for the girls in which she won 1 and ran last in another. Another thing that caught my eye is that she is indeed a filly running against the boys on top of shipping from Ireland to California and now all the way to Florida at such a young age. Due to those things, I tend to look at other places. Usually, a filly won’t be the boys at this stage in her career, but if you do like this angle or any of the angles you find with this one, the price will be higher than the morning line in my opinion.
- Bless the Kitten- Irad Ortiz Jr.- Michael Maker
- The only one who has ties with who the race is named after. That being said this Kitten’s Joy colt is coming into this race off of a MSW win at Churchill in which I actually found to be pretty impressive. Irad has been making a mockery of this strong colony so far this winter and even more when it comes to the turf. This Maker horse for the Ramsey seems like not only a logical winner but a likely winner as well. He is my top pick as I expect Irad to have a perfectly timed ride.
- King Theo- Javier Castellano- Carlo Vaccarezza
- King Theo is trying Turf for the first time and this is something I expect he will like. The connections tried this colt on the turf in his second start in which the race was taken off due to rain. He cleared that field and seems to like a harder course which makes me think he is more of a sloppy or even turf type of horse. This could work in his favor especially since Javier has taken the mount. I will use this horse underneath but he just missed my top 3.
- Mystic Lancelot- John Velazquez- Todd Pletcher
- I think the Blinkers coming off actually makes this horse more calm. When he had no blinkers he ran an 84 in debut at Saratoga and then ran bad on a wet turf in a Grade 1 at Woodbine. Pletcher clicks at a 19 percent clip with blinkers coming off. Velazquez went to Canada for this horse too so he must have loved him enough in his debut performance to want to ride it back in a Grade 1. I think he might be the best horse with value here so I will be using him as my second choice today.
- Ny Traffic- Irad Ortiz Jr.- Saffe Joseph Jr.
- MTO
- Island Commish- Paco Lopez- Saffe Joseph Jr.
- Island Commish looks for 3 straight since Paco got aboard this colt. Saffe is a very underrated trainer and usually knows where to put his horses at and this seems like a reasonable spot. 7 ½ hits this filly right between the eyes and she is coming in this race in great form. He is a top 3 selection for me and I think since the rider change and addition of blinkers he has found his runstyle.
- Summer to Remember- Luis Saez- Todd Pletcher
- Pletcher isn’t the best with turf horses and this also seems the weaker of the combo he has entered here. He is training very well and coming into this race off of a very solid MSW win at Gulfstream earning a 72 beyer. I think the post hurts him today but he has some early speed in which he could maybe be able to come in a little and not be so wide. I just think this horse might be a one paced horse and needs some things to work in his favor each race.
TOP PICKS
#4 Bless the Kitten
#6 Mystic Lancelot
#8 Island Commish
#2 Irish Mias