PICKS

Race 1:   5 - 3 - 4 - 2
Race 2:   5 - 2 - 8 - 4
Race 3:   5 - 3 - 2 - 4
Race 4:   4 - 8 - 1 - 7
Race 5:   3 - 1/1A - 4 - 2
Race 6:   10 - 2 - 3 - 1
Race 7:   3 - 1 - 5 - 4
Race 8:   7 - 5 - 8 - 3
Race 9:   6 - 9 - 5 - 10

TOP PLAYS

RACE 2: COMMUNION MONEY (#5)
The obvious horses in this race are Daddyisdooley, who has run fine in her last two turf starts; Majestic Mist, who set a strong pace before fading in her lone turf start last year; and Quanique, who finally gets back to sprinting after some route experiments. I’ll use all of them, but the runner who interests me most at an enticing price is Communion Money. She only made one start on turf last fall and actually ran better than it seems after setting a deceptively strong early pace that fell apart. She’s since proven to be better going shorter distances, and I like that she’s getting back on the grass here since she’s a half-sister to three turf winners. Furthermore, she’s getting a positive trainer switch to Ray Handal.

Win/Place: 5
Exacta Key Box: 5 with 2,4,8,12

RACE 4: FASTLANEFRONTMAN (#4)
This race is full of class droppers. The two that have performed the best recently against maiden special weight company are Borsa Vento and Javelin, who both must be included. However, I’m most interested in a runner that is coming off a significant layoff while dropping in class. Fastlanefrontman actually showed some ability as a two-year-old, contesting the pace before fading behind eventual Remsen winner Mo Town when that one broke his maiden. His next start at Parx was actually much better than it seems since he was contesting a fast pace (indicated by red color-coding in the PPs). The TimeformUS Speed Figure that he earned for that effort (88) is actually the highest of his career. Now he’s getting a positive trainer switch to Tony Durrow, and if he can improve on his two-year-old form, he can be a player here at a price.

Win/Place: 4
Exacta Key Box: 4 with 1,7,8

RACE 7: IMPROV (#3)
I like turnbacks in general, and Improv fits that bill as she shortens up in distance after fading late in two route efforts. Even though she was losing ground late in those races, she put in nice efforts. That was especially the case two back when she was involved in a fast pace (indicated by red color- coding in the PPs) that collapsed and was the only horse who contested the pace to be around at the finish. She’s actually run fine going this distance in the past, and I think she’s in better form now as a 5-year-old. The Pace Projector is predicting that she is fast enough to make the lead here in a situation favoring the front-runner.

Win: 3
Exacta Key Box: 3 with 1,4,5
Trifecta: 3 with 1,5 with 1,2,4,5

RACE 9: DANIELLE’S PRIDE (#6)

This is a pretty interesting finale. Dream Passage is the horse to beat as she returns from a lengthy layoff. They were confident enough to try her against open company in her turf debut last year, and she actually ran quite well, hanging on to be a close fifth after contesting a strong early pace. She’s dangerous, as is Smart and Sassy, a half-sister to multiple New York-bred stakes-winning turfers Invading Humor and Distorted Beauty. She was pretty green in her last start around one turn and may benefit from this stretch-out. I just wish her connections had named a rider who was having more success at this meet. I’ll use both of these fillies, but the horse whom I really want to bet here is Danielle’s Pride. She actually was really running on well at the end of her sprint debut last time and quickly galloped out past the entire field after the wire. I think it’s interesting that Javier Castellano took the mount for these low-profile connections last time, and she gets another live rider in Junior Alvarado today. I actually like the stretch-out for this daughter of Mission Impazible since there’s a ton of stamina on the dam’s side of her pedigree. Her dam was a pure router and even won going as far as 1 3/8 miles on turf.

Win/Place: 6
Exacta Key Box: 6 with 3,5,9,10