Bret Battaglia sets the morning line at Turfway Park in Florence and provides daily picks and comments for the Trib during the live racing meets.
Picks and comments for Friday, Jan. 8
RACE 1
GYPSY ANGEL ROW takes a big drop in class after a disappointing effort in her debut and looks like she’s in a good spot to pick up the maiden win tonight. SARAKAI moves up in class after finishing second last time out in her first start over the track. STEF’S GIRL moves back down in class and is a threat.
RACE 2
KITTEN’S TOP CAT has won two in a row coming into tonight, including a nice win last time out in her first start over the track. A repeat of that effort would make her tough to beat again tonight. GOOSE SKYWALKER should like the move back around two turns and has two wins over the track. CHA CHING JACKPOT just missed at long odds last time out and has to be considered here.
RACE 3
DELANTERA looked very sharp, drawing off to win by over seven lengths against a few of these same horses in her last start. She has the speed to be in contention throughout and is the choice for the win here. RON AND JON’S GIRL was no match for the top pick at odds on last time out, but has seven wins from sixteen starts over the track and would be no surprise here. MEGNOG drew off to win by ten in her last start and could be dangerous here despite the move up in class.
RACE 4
AZIFORCAST comes in off of two nice second place finishes against similar in her last two starts. She should like the move back around two turns tonight and has two wins over the track, give her a slight edge here. JOHANNAH JO had to need her last after having been off since September. She figures to move forward off of that one and definitely looks capable of running well here. JUDSONPRETTYGIRL shows two solid efforts in each of her last two starts over the track and gets in light tonight with Wright.
RACE 5
SOUNDS DIVINE ran a nice third against tougher in her first attempt over the track back in mid December and is the choice for the win here on the drop in class. FLAUNT won in his first start over the track last time out on the drop in class and looks like the one to beat here. DUKE OF VISEU didn’t fire last time out in his first start since September. He figures to move forward off of that one and has two wins from four starts over the track.
RACE 6
DANCING VISION comes in off a nice second place finish against similar and has never been out of the money in four starts over the track. Give her a slight edge against a well-matched field. DELIVER had to need her last coming back from a long layoff. She figures to show some improvement tonight and looks like a contender with Jimenez back in the irons. SPICE OF LIFE shows two solid efforts in each of her last two starts over the track and could be dangerous here.
RACE 7
GHOST IS CLEAR didn’t show much in her last two starts back in April and June, but loves the track here at Turfway where he has four wins and a second from five starts. He’s been training well over the track for Maker leading up to his return and will be tough to handle tonight. BRAVEMAN comes in off a nice third place finish against a solid field and has had success around one turn before. LET’S GO BEN moves up in class after an impressive win over the track last time out and could be tough to run down on the front end again tonight.
RACE 8
SIXTY FIVE makes his North American debut for Ward after two solid efforts on synthetics in France. He shows two nice works over the track coming into this one and is the choice to pick up the maiden win tonight. DERBY FAN hasn’t shown much in either of his two starts for Maker and the Ramsey’s, but shows a couple of solid works over the coming back from the layoff and would be no surprise here. PADDY NOT PATTY has been training well at Keeneland for Gorder leading up to his debut.
RACE 9
LIPSTICK JUNKY comes in off a decent third place finish against similar and is the choice for the win here with Lagunes back in the irons. DUCHESS WHITNEY didn’t fire last time out, but drops in class and has a win over the track. GIVEMHAYLEGAYLE comes in off a nice win in her first start over the track and definitely looks capable of running well here.