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 Thursday, Jan. 14
NANJING ROAD drops in class after two decent efforts over the track and looks like she’s in a good spot to pick up the win tonight. HOT BUTTERED RUM figures to move forward off of her last and has two wins over the track. NSPEIGHTOFVICKIE didn’t fire last time out, but is capable of better.
RACE 2
GOLDEN TOUCH ran a decent race at this same level two starts back in his debut. Give him a slight edge against a wide-open field. STATURE tries two turns for the first time after showing some improvement at Hawthorne last time out and looks capable of running well here. NURI hasn’t shown much in either of his two starts, but drops in class and has to be considered.
RACE 3
TRUE STARLET has been off since the summer when she won five in a row at multiple tracks. She has a strong record over the track here at Turfway and will be tough to beat tonight if she’s ready. PROM THEME drops in class after and has run some strong races over the track in the past. COOPER’S KEEPER moves up in class after winning two in a row and has the speed to be dangerous here.
RACE 4
JOE’S KEEPER looked sharp last time out coming from off the pace to win. He seems to like the track here at Turfway where he has two wins and a second from five starts, give him a slight edge here. PROPER IMPULSE has been idle since August when he showed some good form at Presque Isle. He shows some solid works over the track leading up to his return and looks like a contender tonight. DRIFTING WIND has been beaten as the favorite in each of his last two starts, but didn’t run poorly in either of those and wold be no surprise here.
RACE 5
MARQUEE CAL GAL takes a big drop in class after finishing a close second behind an impressive comeback winner last time out. She figures to be a very short price, but will be tough to beat tonight. SNUGGLE STRUGGLE comes in off a nice win in her first start over the track and looks like the main competition. SUSANS QUEST has a chance.
RACE 6
MISS DEE’S TIARA moves down to this bottom level for the first time after breaking her maiden in her first start since September. She figures to be on or near the lead again tonight with Ouzts back in the irons and is the choice for the win here. LADY ANN takes a big drop in class after a dull effort as the favorite last time out. She showed some good form before that one and definitely looks like the one to beat on the drop in class. POBLANITA drops in class and should like the move back to sprinting.
RACE 7
TAKETOTHESTREETS was over-matched in the Prairie Bayou last time out, but showed some good form on the Kentucky circuit before that one. He looks like the main speed in here tonight, give him a slight edge with Burke picking up the mount for Gorder. RISETOTHEOCCASION, another Gorder trainee, tries two turns for the first time after finishing an even fourth against a slightly tougher field last time out. He figures to move forward off of that effort, picks up Jimenez tonight. MOTIVATIONAL closed well to finish second against similar last time out and will be running at the end again.
RACE 8
CALL ME ANNA drops in class after a dull effort around two turns last time out. She should like the move back to sprinting tonight and appears to be in a good spot to pick up the win. BONNIE BLUE EYES moves down to this bottom level for the first time and looks like a contender. MAKENZIE’S MAGIC ran a decent race off a long layoff last time out and has three wins over the track.
RACE 9
SPECIAL DINNER looked very sharp winning here two starts back and looks best here on the move back down in class. FOLOWTHEMONEYTRAIL also drops in class and would be no surprise here. CAT’N FIDDLE is another class dropper, he hooked an impressive winner in his first start over the track and definitely looks like he has the ability to run well here.