Race One:
The thoroughbred handicapping philosopher once said: “In a field full of first-time starters, the horse with a race under his/her belt is king/queen.” That is the reasoning behind my first-race pick in this MSW turf route. I watched the replay of
Sign of the Times’s only race back on June 22 at GP, a 7 and ˝ furlongs MSW turf route. In that race, this Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux (BRZ)-bred (I’m partial to that turf lineage) broke slowly. This 2-year old filly was then steadied some as Eduardo Nunez guided this Life is Beautiful-bred (5 winners and 2 stakes winners from 8 starters) to the inside on the backstretch. As the field reached the far turn, Nunez swung his charge to the outside; she was 5-wide. She was full of energy at this stage of the race, but she flattened out in mid-stretch. This filly ended up finishing 5th. In hindsight, I would not call this filly's first pari-mutuel race “the best of trips”. However, I felt that off that first effort the potential existed for marked improvement. That, in part, is why I’m picking this filly. Her owner-trainer, Wesley Ward, does very well with horses making their 2nd career start. In the addition, the blinkers come off (another category that Ward does well with). Finally, this is the only filly in this field who has raced in a turf route. I believe that’s a big plus. (In fact, many in this field are untested). Irad Ortiz, Jr. is in the irons. Others:
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P.S. Yes, at my own peril, I'm eschewing
