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, Feb. 20
RACE 1
QUEEN OF SPRING has been off since new year’s day when she won on the move back down to this bottom level, give her a slight edge against a wide-open field. MISS OMERA is inconsistent, but won against tougher two starts back and looks dangerous here on the drop in class. DUCHESS WHITNEY has won two in a row coming into this one and would be no surprise here.
RACE 2
AS YOU KNOW drops in class after a dull effort last time out and looks like he’s in a good spot to pick up the win today. GOOD NIGHT BUD comes in off a maiden win here at Turfway and is a contender. DEVADUTT also comes in off a maiden win over the track and has a chance.
RACE 3
CALHOUN has been running well since moving to Turfway with two wins and a second from his last three starts. He has the speed to be in contention throghout, give him the edge against a well-matched field. FAVORITE COACH shows two solid efforts in his last two starts over the track and looks like the one to beat. TOSTON just missed last time out and definitely looks capable of running well again today.
RACE 4
DO I DO ran third back in December in his only start since September. He has two wins over the track in the past and is the choice for the win here. GRAND COULEE shows two solid efforts at this same level in his last two starts. NIMBLE TIGER has been third in each of his last two starts and has to be considered.
RACE 5
PRINCESS PRINCESS comes in off a nice second place finish on the grass at Tampa and looked very sharp breaking her maiden at long odds at Keeneland before that one. She should be able to handle the move to the Polytrack today and will be tough to beat here. QUIET SCORE has been off since late December when she broke her maiden in her first start over the surface. Any improvement off of that effort could make her dangerous here. LA PIBA didn’t fire at Oaklawn in her last start, but showed some decent form before that one.
RACE 6
TAPANNA comes in off a win against many of these same horses and loves the track here at Turfway where seven of his eleven lifetime wins have come. His best should make him a winner again today. BOLD ICE finished a close second behind the top pick last time out and looks capable of running well again today. BEEFY was third behind the top two in his last start and is a threat.
RACE 7
RENN LAKE shows two close second place finishes in his last two starts and is the choice for the win against a very well-matched field. GRAND KUMA also comes in off of two close second place finishes here at Turfway and picks up Jimenez today. RIDGE DANCE was third last time out, coming back from a long layoff and has seven wins over the strip at Turfway.