Yesterday in the Fort Lauderdale I had expected the crowd to wager Silver Medallion to a favorite. Was I wrong as the herd went with Mutual Trust as I did. I had the 4YO colt as the dark horse selection, and after some hard knocking down the stretch he prevailed and paid a nice $9.80 to win. He did a great job against older horses and has to say “job well done.” Today we will stay at Gulfstream and on turf for the Gulfstream Park Sprint for $60,000 for 4YO and upward going 5 panels. A field of seven has joined the fray and it looks like on paper a two horse race. So don’t blink this one will be over in a flash, so let’s take a look …
Contenders:
#1 Little Nick ML 5/2
He has back to back wins with strong Beyer’s (100 -90) over this distance and on the grass. His record last year was real good winning three of seven and having only one bad race all season. Quartarolo doesn’t have a huge barn but makes good with what he has, and Little Nick is one tough turf sprinter. Will get to the front and never look back with Paco Lopez staying in the Irons. This will be a duel with Great Attack, and really don’t see anyone catching them. I’ll take recent winner, rail, Paco as the winning angle.
#6 Great Attack ML 2/1
This 5YO didn’t have the greatest 4YO season but was racing in some high class events. He showed himself well in the BC Turf Sprint after bobbling. He has the speed and running style to go with Little Nick and you can’t ignore Wesley Ward especially in turf sprints and layoffs. The #6 does have the class edge I think and it gets down to which one get’s the better price, that’s how close it really is.
#4 Madman Diaries ML 4/1
The second horse Ward is fielding today and ran well against Little Nick back on December 21st at Tampa. His Beyer’s are good but not quite up to the two front runners, but he is a lightly raced 4YO with only 9 trips to the gate. Sanchez stays with Great Attack as expected, and Madman Diaries picks up an excellent jockey in Trujillo. The Ward/Trujillo combination was deadly at Monmouth last season, so this switch while saying nothing, could be the push for the #4 to get better.
Dark Horse:
#3 Marquet Cat ML 8/1
I can’t look the other way on a tough knocking claimer. His last outing a month ago won a $50,000 claimer right here over the GP turf. He popped a nice 90 Beyer and has shown flashes of running faster, and Servis is a sneaky good trainer. The 7yo is rising in class today and will have to run the wheels off to stay with the top two, but you have to respect him.
Bombs Away:
#2 Wekiva Wachee ML 8/1
On paper he looks overmatched here, even with a nice effort against Little Nick and Madman Diaries back in December at Tampa. Here is another 7YO grinder that shows those moments of speed and gets the job done. This time the front end is a bit too fast and with his running style he will be in tough. It’s one of those picks where you have to hope something goes wrong up front for him to clear the wreckage and win it. Definitely believe he can grab a spot on the board. He gets Castanon again, the last time they worked together; they won a claiming event at Arlington. You all know by now, I like jockey angles.
Selections:
1 – 6 – 4
No comments:
Post a Comment