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. 29
RACE 1
KEEPING IT REAL has been off since early December when he finished second at this same level. Give him the edge to pick up the maiden win here. SETTLEYOURCRACKERS shows a nice third place finish against similar last time out and looks like a contender. TRIBUNUS was third last time out in his first start in nearly two years. Any improvement off of that effort could make him dangerous here.
RACE 2
FORGED SIGNATURE didn’t show much last in his last start, but ran well at Churchill at this same level in his debut before that one and is the choice for the win here. AS YOU KNOW drops in class and looks like a contender. BURNING VISION was second last time out and could be dangerous if he likes the shorter distance tonight.
RACE 3
CHEROKEE IN ME has been off since October when she broke her maiden at first asking at Mountaineer. She shows a few nice works over the track here at Turfway recently and looks best in a short, but well-matched field. ARYA was a distant second behind an impressive winner last time out. She picks up Jimenez tonight and would be no surprise here. MARTHA ROSE moves back up in class after just missing last time out and definitely looks capable of winning here.
RACE 4
GILLEY closed well to finish second here at Turfway last time out in her first start at this bottom level. She shouldn’t mind the move back around two turns tonight and it looks like she’s in a good spot to pick up the win here. MOJA NAGRODA was second at this same level last time out and looks capable of running well again tonight. SPECIAL DIAMOND shows two in the money finishes in her last two starts over the track, but is questionable at this distance.
RACE 5
FAITH AND PRAYER comes in off a nice win over the track and rates a slight edge here with Jimenez back in the irons. ROYAL ALLUVIAL also comes in off a win here at Turfway as the favorite. She picks up Gilligan tonight and definitely looks like the one to beat. SCRAPER runs coupled with MEGA SENNA who both look capable of running well here.
RACE 6
SCARLET’S NUMBER drops in class after being second best in each of her last two starts and looks like she’s in a good spot to pick up the win here. ALONE AGAIN finished behind the top pick two starts back and is a threat. MISS OMEARA won at this level at long odds last time out and could be dangerous again tonight.
RACE 7
YA MON drops in class after two decent efforts on the dirt at Hawthorne and could be tough to beat here if he takes to the Polytrack. DEVADUTT was second at this same level last time out and is a threat. BROADWAYANNIEROSE has been beaten as the favorite in his last five starts, but still looks capable of running well here.
RACE 8
LIMERICK LADY looked sharp winning at this level two starts back. A repeat of that effort would make her tough to handle again tonight. GRACEE GOO didn’t show much last time out, but was third against allowance company before that one. She moves back in for a tag tonight and looks like the one to beat. BOOK CLUB also moves back down in class and has won at this distance before.
RACE 9
WONDERFUL REMARK moves back up in class after just missing on the grass at Gulfstream in her last start. She shouldn’t mind the move to the Polytrack tonight, give her the edge to pick up the maiden win here. PICK POCKET has been off since October when she didn’t fire on the dirt at Keeneland. She ran well in each of her two previous starts on the turf, a return to that form makes her the one to beat. MAKE IT MARIA has been second in each of her last two here at Turfway and would be no surprise here.
RACE 10
GIVEMHAYLEGAYLE has shown a great deal of improvement since moving to Turfway for her last two starts. She gets in light again tonight with Gallardo and could score here at decent odds. MISS CATWOOD drops in class after two in the money finishes over the track and could be tough to beat. MONGOL VOICE was second as the favorite last time out and figures to move forward off of that one.