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The Sunday featured event at Keeneland is the Bryan Station at a mile on the weeds and all eyes will be on Cowboy Cal, a three-time winner on turf who missed by a neck in the Blue Grass on the Polytrack here in April. He will have to be on his toes to win this thing off the bench but he has shown immense talent on the lawn and that’s worth something. Let’s take a look at a few contenders:
#1 READY’S IMAGE- The progeny of More Than Ready have done very well on the turf and this guy did break his maiden on the Polytrack, so there are reasons to believe he will take to the turf. Those tidbits don’t erase the fact that he has been atrocious of late with two absolutely horrendous efforts in a row. He’s going to be overbet because of his connections and bloodlines, he has no chance of gaining a clear lead, and he isn’t even the best Todd Pletcher trainee entered in this event.
#2 ST. JOE- A true POlytrack horse for course, this son of Trippi has a great deal of early speed and should be among the handful who will be involved in the opening stages of this event. He battled it out gamely to the wire in his turf debut at Kentucky Downs after contesting a hot pace and he is now going 3rd off the bench. If you can find a reason to believe that he’ll be able to rate off the pace, give him a try.
#3 NISTLE’S CRUNCH– After an extremely impressive turf effort over this course in April, this guy looked like a bona fide stakes horse on the lawn. He hasn’t won since but we all witnessed how strong the Keeneland turf horse for course angle can be when Alwajeeha scored on Saturday in the QEII for the first time since winning the Appalachian over this course. This guy actually ran well in the Saranac given the pace dynamic that afternoon and he is definitely going to benefit from the early battle in this event. The pick to win it all hands down.
#4 COWBOY CAL- Son of Giant’s Causeway made it clear he was a turf horse when he won his first three starts on the lawn. He failed in the Hallandale Beach and was then handled carefully by trainer Todd Pletcher throughout the spring. He made a premature move in the Derby and came out of it a tired horse, so he’s just now returning off a 5+ month layoff. He is clearly the most talented horse in the race and that makes him one to handle carefully.
#5 DEAL MAKING- This guy was the epitome of horribly overbet in the Kent as every amateur trip handicapper zeroed in on him after the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame at Saratoga. He was a non-factor in the Kent and the runners exiting that race have run poorly as the runner-up and an also-ran were off the board last week at Belmont and the winner finished a bad 4th in the Hawthorne Derby on Saturday. He is another who will benefit from the pace scenario today, but won’t he be overbet again? And more importantly, what has he done against good horses to make you think he can win?
#7 BIG STICK- This guy came into his own after a freshening by trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. He was available for $45,000 as recently as June and now three wins later he’s in a Grade III stakes race. His style is perfect for the turf as he is at his best stalking the early pace before moving in the final quarter-mile. That should put him right with the favorite in the early going today and could allow him to outmove the late runners.
DAY 7 RACE DU JOUR PLAY:
$30 Win #3 NISTLE’S CRUNCH
$5 Exactas #3 NISTLE’S CRUNCH with #2 ST. JOE, #4 COWBOY CAL, #5 DEAL MAKING, and #7 BIG STICK
TOTAL: $50
MEET TOTALS: $+333.50
Good luck!
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#1 READY’S IMAGE- The progeny of More Than Ready have done very well on the turf and this guy did break his maiden on the Polytrack, so there are reasons to believe he will take to the turf. Those tidbits don’t erase the fact that he has been atrocious of late with two absolutely horrendous efforts in a row. He’s going to be overbet because of his connections and bloodlines, he has no chance of gaining a clear lead, and he isn’t even the best Todd Pletcher trainee entered in this event.
#2 ST. JOE- A true POlytrack horse for course, this son of Trippi has a great deal of early speed and should be among the handful who will be involved in the opening stages of this event. He battled it out gamely to the wire in his turf debut at Kentucky Downs after contesting a hot pace and he is now going 3rd off the bench. If you can find a reason to believe that he’ll be able to rate off the pace, give him a try.
#3 NISTLE’S CRUNCH– After an extremely impressive turf effort over this course in April, this guy looked like a bona fide stakes horse on the lawn. He hasn’t won since but we all witnessed how strong the Keeneland turf horse for course angle can be when Alwajeeha scored on Saturday in the QEII for the first time since winning the Appalachian over this course. This guy actually ran well in the Saranac given the pace dynamic that afternoon and he is definitely going to benefit from the early battle in this event. The pick to win it all hands down.
#4 COWBOY CAL- Son of Giant’s Causeway made it clear he was a turf horse when he won his first three starts on the lawn. He failed in the Hallandale Beach and was then handled carefully by trainer Todd Pletcher throughout the spring. He made a premature move in the Derby and came out of it a tired horse, so he’s just now returning off a 5+ month layoff. He is clearly the most talented horse in the race and that makes him one to handle carefully.
#5 DEAL MAKING- This guy was the epitome of horribly overbet in the Kent as every amateur trip handicapper zeroed in on him after the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame at Saratoga. He was a non-factor in the Kent and the runners exiting that race have run poorly as the runner-up and an also-ran were off the board last week at Belmont and the winner finished a bad 4th in the Hawthorne Derby on Saturday. He is another who will benefit from the pace scenario today, but won’t he be overbet again? And more importantly, what has he done against good horses to make you think he can win?
#7 BIG STICK- This guy came into his own after a freshening by trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. He was available for $45,000 as recently as June and now three wins later he’s in a Grade III stakes race. His style is perfect for the turf as he is at his best stalking the early pace before moving in the final quarter-mile. That should put him right with the favorite in the early going today and could allow him to outmove the late runners.
DAY 7 RACE DU JOUR PLAY:
$30 Win #3 NISTLE’S CRUNCH
$5 Exactas #3 NISTLE’S CRUNCH with #2 ST. JOE, #4 COWBOY CAL, #5 DEAL MAKING, and #7 BIG STICK
TOTAL: $50
MEET TOTALS: $+333.50
Good luck!
Discuss
Add this link to...
Tell a friend
Bury
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