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, Feb. 5
RACE 1
ARUSHINGCHILL comes in off a nice win here at Turfway against similar in her second start back from the layoff and is the choice for the win. PROM THEME drops in class and looks like the one to beat. JUDSONPRETTYGIRL didn’t show much around two turns last time out and returns to sprinting tonight.
RACE 2
CAHOKIA makes her first start since being claimed by Baez back in early December when she won impressively in her first attempt on Turfway’s Polytrack. A return to that form should make her a winner against a short, but well-matched field. LZZAEVEN has also been off since early December when she won against similar here at Turfway. She gets in light again today with Wright and is a definite contender. WILD CARD HIT comes in off a nice win in her first start over the Polytrack and would be no surprise here.
RACE 3
FIDDLELINA ran a nice second at this same level in her last start and looks like she’s in a good spot to pick up the win today. DANUBE RIVER finished just behind the top pick a few starts back and is a threat. MEAGAN’S HOLIDAY has a chance.
RACE 4
SUCKER PUNCHED ran a nice second behind an impressive winner last time out in his career debut. He should move forward off of that one, give him a slight edge to pick up the maiden win here. HOWLING WOLF has been second in three of his four career starts and is the one to beat on the move in for a tag for the first time. HIGH DRIVE didn’t show much in his debut, but drops in class and picks up Jimenez.
RACE 5
FUJITA FIVE was second best at odds on last time out on the drop in class. He figures to be a short price again today, but still looks best here with Jimenez keeping the mount. TC’S LUV was a winner over the track last time out on the move down in class and looks like the main candidate to spring the upset. CLOVELLY shows two solid efforts in his last two starts and looks capable of running well here despite the move up in class.
RACE 6
MEGNOG ran an even race against starter allowance company last time out and looked very sharp winning by ten at this level before that one. She shows a bullet work over the track for Maker since her last, give her the edge here. AZIFORCAST drew off to win by seven at odds on here at Turfway in her last start. She looks like the main speed in here and could be tough to run down again today. MEGA SENNA looks best of the rest.
RACE 7
HIGHROLLER DAVE comes in off a win here at Turfway and looks like he’s getting good right now for Hammond. A repeat of his last effort could make him tough to beat again today in another short, but well-matched field. SWEET PLATINUM beat half the field, finishing a close sixth at long odds in the Forego in his last start. He ran two solid races over the track before that one and shows a sharp work since his last. BRAVEMAN finished ahead of the top pick in his last start and would be no surprise here.
RACE 8
CALHOUN comes in off a nice maiden win over the track and rates a slight edge against a very well-matched field. COLBYVILLE has been second best in each of his last two starts and could be tough here if he likes the move to sprinting today. WHERE’S WOODY drops in class in his first start since May, but shows some nice works leading up to his return.
RACE 9
STURDY ALLAN has run well in each of his last two starts for Rouck since coming back from a long layoff. A repeat of either of those efforts would make him tough to handle today. HARLAN’S HOWLING comes in off a nice maiden win over the track and shows a bullet work for Maker since that one. THE RIGHT THING was over-matched against stakes company last time out at Tampa coming back from a layoff. He showed some decent form in his sprint races prior to that one and could be dangerous here if he takes to the Polytrack.
RACE 10
TALIAFERRO COUNTY was second best behind an impressive winner here at Turfway last time out in her first start around two turns and is the choice to pick up the maiden win here. CLASSY TEACHER shows a nice work here at Turfway since moving to Holt’s barn. TIZETTE makes his first start since moving to Lyster’s barn whose horses have been running very well so far this meet.