Good luck and watch out for horses returning to fast tracks for the first time in a while. Why? With the wet Autumn and Winter, many horses have run on surfaces rated less than fast. The combination of the clear skies and moderate (by January standards) overnight temperatures has led to the first truly fast race tracks in a while. Therefore, look to excuse some bad form on back class horses feeling the loam underfoot for the first time in a while.
Picks for January 27, 2019:
The rains are gone and the skies are clear so expect fast and chilly.
Aqueduct Race 3
Maiden $30K at 6f for 3 year old boys. Short priced M/L favorite looks very suspect in here. 1-Loverboy Lou ran very well last out so why drop him? Instead look to 4-Mandatory Payout to pay off for the connections moving this one to Linda Rice’s barn. This one lost his first start at the break but was running late which should set him up well here.
$10 W/P/S 4-Mandatory Payout
Aqueduct Race 4
Starter Handicap for boys that ran for $25K or less in 2018-19. 7-Turco Bravo on the reclaim for David Cannizzo looks very deserving of his M/L favoritism. Can he be beat? Maybe. He has beaten most of these recently so on form it is tough to pick against him. The one chance belongs to 1-Outplay, he has significant early speed and should get an easy lead. If Silvestre Gonzalez can get him to relax and set soft fractions, he could stay on. Mick doesn’t see it. Turco Bravo for win number 18!
$10 W/P/S 7-Turco Bravo
Laurel Park Race 3
Optional $50K for older boys at 6f. A rematch from also-rans in the Fabulous Strike at Penn in November. On that night, 2-Mr Brix checked in 6th and 3-Mesotherm was 7th. That was Mesotherm’s worst career race although he is making only his 8th start at 6 so he is not exactly precocious. Look for Mr Brix to hold the advantage here as he should be able to get a 1:10+ race and finally win after chasing some wicked paces in recent tries.
$10 W/P/S 2-Mr Brix
Laurel Park Race 7
First level allowance for older fillies and mares at 6f. Another short field which should help the controlling speed on the rail, 1-Bells Irish Fancy. Ben Perkins legs up the excellent pace rider Forest Boyce on a mare that has woken up since returning to the dirt during the Fall. Her race two back wins here with distance to spare. 6-Hot Friesia will be coming late but the distance favors the speed.
$10 W/P/S 1-Bells Irish Fancy
$5 Exacta 1/6
And now for some quickies….
Aqueduct Race 8 Ruthless Stakes
The 7f distance is a stretch out for many of these but should not be a problem for 3-Ujjayi who ran a cracker at this distance in the Gin Talking at Laurel Park. She was out gamed that day but won’t need to break from the 10 hole in this one. 18% Penn National regular Erin McClellen doesn’t ship to NY very often so she must have a lot of confidence in this one. Both the 1-Enliven and 6-Miss Imperial are well intentioned here but won’t pay nearly as much as the 3 will to win.
Laurel Park Race 8
Maiden $50K for older boys. Say what? Most of the field is taking a raise to be in this race. Why do that for maidens? It appears that this one was written for 3-Bullets Child, who ran an excellent first race in late December and comes back here against a suspect field. He will either win by bunches or be off the board. Bridge jumping opportunity here. Try 5-Cyclobomb in the show position. Chuckie Lawrence and Jorge Vargas are 68% ITM so you should get your money back at worst. If the 3 wins for fun be prepared for somebody to mention Ben’s Cat . . . oops, Mick just did.