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 Sunday, Jan. 31
RACE 1
LIVIN’ A PRAYER moves up in class after a nice third place finish in her career debut and is the choice to pick up the maiden win here. COLOR ME BLUSH ran an even race in her first start over the track and looks like a contender. BLACK BUTTERFLY shows two decent efforts in her last two starts over the track and is a threat.
RACE 2
HERE’S JOHNNY was third, sprinting against similar last time out in his first attempt over the surface here at Turfway. He should like the move back around two turns today, give him a slight edge here. IRUSAN is questionable at this distance, but has been in good form recently with two wins and a second in his last three starts over the track. HAPPY TO BE HERE is inconsistent, but has the ability to run well here.
RACE 3
SMACK DOWN drops in class after a few even efforts at long odds over the track. He picks up Jimenez today and looks best in a wide open field. ABRAN PASO didn’t show much in his first start over the track, but drops in class and should move forward off of that one. GOOD NIGHT BUD comes in off a nice maiden win over the track and looks capable of running well here.
RACE 4
BACK AWAY shows three solid efforts in his last three starts over the track, including a nice win as the favorite last time out. A repeat of that effort could make him tough to handle again today. IN MY BOOK won against tougher at long odds two starts back and looks like the one to beat on the drop in class. SALTY RIM was a winner the last time he raced at this bottom level and would be no surprise here.
RACE 5
RIPINANDATEARIN moves back up in class after a nice win over the track last time out in his start for Wells. He’s run well at this distance before, give him a slight edge here. ROCKIN’ MELODY didn’t show much in his last two starts on the dirt, but he’s done his best racing on the turf and synthetics so he should like the move to Turfway today. He shows two wins at Presque Isle going marathon distances and could be tough to beat here with Jimenez picking up the mount. OWL CREEK has never raced at this distance, but ran a nice second going long two starts back at this same level here at Turfway.
RACE 6
PADDY NOT PATTY ran a game second going around two turns in his career debut here earlier this year. He figures to improve off of that one and could score a slight upset here. TRIPLE CREEK has been second as the favorite in each of his last two starts over the track. He figures to be a short price again today and will be tough to beat here. PULSE OF HOPE showed some improvement in his second career start and is a threat.
RACE 7
MAJOR DARBY was no match for an impressive winner last time out and looks tough to beat here on the drop in class. LOGAN CREEK didn’t fire last time out, but looked very sharp winning by five at this bottom level before that one. TOP PRIORITY didn’t fire last time out, but should like the move back around two turns today.