Turfway Park Saturday January 25, 2020
Mike McEntire
Twitter: @Gorgonzola44
Mike has been an avid horse handicapper since he discovered the Daily Racing Form in his Econometrics and Forecasting Data class at Erskine College (SC) in 1992. He has worked as a field auditor, employee benefits consultant, martini bar owner, and is currently a business insurance broker in Columbia, SC. Since his 2009 thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, Mike has been an avid couch potato and horizontal horse handicapper. He loves bug zappers, bug juice, bug spray, and bug boys. His fiancée is an equine pharmacist and she supports his love of horses and handicapping by driving eight hours to various horse tracks and reminding him not to hedge, therefore, he hits 3/4s, 4/5s and 5/6s on the regular.
There’s a Pick Five carryover of $25,030 tonight.
Fade me.
Race One: 6:15 post – Claiming 7500n3L 6 F 4YO&Up F&M
6-8-3-1
#6 My Girl Rocket was a made our tepid ML favorite, but that actually speaks to the quality of the evenly matched field as any number of these fillies and mares can win this race. My Girl Rocket was actually pretty good at the end of the summer before she was claimed away from Genaro Garcia for $10K on 9/6/19, but she fired a couple of duds in the following two starts. She gets her first start for a new, lightly seen barn tonight. Her 1/13/20 work out here at Turfway tells me that she is live and the one to beat. #8 Christian Miss has finished second in both of her Turfway park races at very similar conditions, so it would be silly to toss her. I find it interesting that leading jockey Albin Jimenez decided not to follow up his last ride on her, but he took this race off completely, so it may not be significant. She’s likely going to try to wire this field, but I would feel better if she had a slightly more seen jockey in the irons. #3 One Lovely Storm would be the primary beneficiary of a pace meltdown, and she is making a huge class drop for owner/trainer Haley Hester.
Race Two: 6:44 post – MC 7500 1 Mile 4YO&Up
3-11-10-6
#11 Slick as a Pin got DQ’d out of his graduation photo at 60/1 against a bottom level MC $5K here at Turfway Park on 12/19/19 and he is going to take some play off that running line tonight. Trainer Jimmy Corrigan places his horses rather well here in Florence Y’all, so we can’t completely ignore him, but is he really as good as his last race? Moving up in class a bit is a positive sign, but I am not playing him on top. #10 Thermal Shock has been gradually improving for trainer Stephen Lyster in his last three races. He finished well behind Slick as a Pin at longer odds on 12/19/19 but he has returned to the track for a better effort against better horses on 1/3/20. Another step forward has him sniffing the win at the wire. #3 A King’s Ransom keeps apprentice Virginia Tormey aboard and drops down the claiming ladder a bit for his fourth start. He will appreciate the shortening up in distance, continued weight relief, and the lesser competition. If Tormey can negotiate a decent trip, which is a fair question as she normally fans wide coming home, this Dane Kobiskie runner will get his picture taken tonight.
Race Three: 7:13 post – MSW $46K 6 F 4YO&Up F&M
8-10-4-2
I have zero comprehension of this morning line, so it must be filled with secret track information or a work of fiction. I suppose #4 Frills makes perfect sense as the ML favorite, but she has yet to show a nose for the wire. I can make an excuse for her last two efforts where she had compromised starts, but she still made the lead in both of those races. She’s a player, for sure, but I like the upside of others. #10 Senda is coming in off a seventeen-month break, which is normally a sign, but her workout pattern entering this return is solid enough to warrant a long look. If she was no good, trainer Ben Colebrook would have entered her in a claimer. #8 Barracuda looks to be a solid FTS for trainer Ignacio Correas, and he can certainly win at first asking. Her workouts are definitely solid and the 12/28/19 is a cracker. Add to that a gate drill for some fine tuning and a bullet in her last tune up tells me that she can win tonight. Now, will we get the price?
Race Four: 7:42 post – Claiming 5000n2y 6 F 4YO&Up F&M
10-2-8-5
#2 Drama Run is solid enough if you can get past the last running line where she was claimed away from owner/trainer Bret Santangelo. New trainer Steven Cahill is exceptionally good at Turfway Park, so adding leading jockey Albin Jockey for tonight’s ride should trigger some play. #8 Archie’s Girl has been relatively good recently at Mahoning Valley and her ML makes zero sense to me. Apprentice jockey Joseph Ramos is plenty good and the horse is out of Archarcharch, which means he should like the synthetic track. Owner/trainer Cipriano Contreras is the wiliest conditioner in this field, so I expect some run. Owner/trainer Bill Morey has #10 Daneira entered tonight in the exact conditions where she won on 12/21/19 under bug girl Crystal Conning. Make no mistake, this Aussie apprentice can ride, and she had a helluva trip in that last victory. Daneira has won 4/5 of her career races on the synthetic and looks to be improving in her 5YO year. Gimme the bug.
Race Five: 8:12 post – Claiming 5000n3L 1 Mile 4YO&Up
6-7-1-8
#7 Colombiano was the choice of jockey Rogelio Miranda as he could have ridden #1 Cruz Diez. Colombiano might be a touch beneath a couple others in this race, but Miranda is pretty useful at getting good trips, so he’s not a complete toss and could win slight improvement. #6 All Hands On Deck absolutely aired a n2L field here at Turfway park on 12/26/19 and he does have a 6/8 ITM record here. Jockey Kevin Jimenez hasn’t cashed too many checks from the racing secretary, but he has twice done so with this horse. Interesting. #9 Gray Donovan loses last-out jockey Sonny Leon to the #8 Spectacularxchange, so there might be a little bit of track knowledge at play here, but his Turfway Park results, 1/9 ITM, don’t bear this move out.
Race Six: 8:42 post – Claiming 5000n2x 1 Mile 4YO&Up F&M
3-7-2-8
Trainer Kim Hammond probably has #2 Air Turbulence ready off the shelf, but her last race needs some forgiveness. The 1/3/20 Turfway Park workout gives us a reason to draw a line through the last race effort on 8/21/19, but her record over this strip is less than stellar and she is a play against at the ML odds. #3 Sour Peach loves Turfway Park as evidenced by her 9/12 ITM record here in Florence. She has been a little lightly regard in her last two runs but has run close to the leaders going a mile over the strip. Her projected improvement has her in the mix. #7 Nook moves to the Donald Campbell barn after winning for fun in her last race here at Turfway Park on 1/11/20. I have to believe this was a private purchase from the Larry Rivelli barn as last race jockey Albin Jimenez is no longer around. She’s an 8YO mare, so running back-to-back winning races might be too much to ask, but her last race is plenty good enough to win. I’m against the barn move and the jockey downgrade. Though she won’t be on any of my tickets, I’d like to give a tiny shout out to #11 Prom Theme. This 11YO mare is making her 110th start and her 43rd at Turfway. I’d love to believe owner/trainer Doug Danner can win with her tonight, but I’ll be rooting for her based on nostalgia only.
Race Seven: 9:12 post – Allowance 46500n2L 1 Mile 4YO&Up F&M
entry-8-4-2
It’s going to be super tough to beat the entry of #1 Enchanting Kitten and #1A Speedy Solution. Speedy Solution ran in the Jessamine at Keeneland on 10/10/18 for trainer Wesley Ward, but she hasn’t found the winners’ circle since. She finished second in her last race but was just a little flat down the lane. She should improve a lot in her second race since spending eleven months on the shelf. Getting the additional value of Enchanting Kitten in the entry makes this duo even tougher to beat and a likely single for me. If I were to try to beat these two, I would take a stab with #8 Loving Moment. I normally don’t care for horses facing winners for the first time, but I do sometimes play them when they win at a track in their first appearance and then run right back. Loving Moment fits that bill.
Race Eight: 9:42 post – Claiming 5000n3L 1 Mile 4YO&Up F&M
11-3-2-8
The bottom falls out on the Kim Hammond trained #2 Arian Rae as she is entered in a $5K claimer after running in a Turfway allowance feature race on 1/10/20. She may be good enough, but I see enough red flags to pass on this filly all together.I like the other Kim Hammond, #3 New Appeal, much better. This is the first time for this filly in the Hammond barn after two so-so efforts here at Turfway. This 4YO could easily improve with the change of scenery. #11 My Aunt Tillie was really flat in her first start for Cipriano Contreras on 12/13/19 but he wins at 41% with horses in their second start in his barn. Contreras is throwing apprentice jockey Joseph Ramos in the bike tonight, a move that should provide a little more speed and stamina.