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, Feb. 11
RACE 1
TIZ A DIXIE DANCER comes in off a close second place finish and is the choice to pick up the maiden win here. KNIGHT OF VALOR makes his first start since June of 2014 when he showed some decent form on the turf in New York and Florida. A return to that form would make him a contender again tonight. BUD’S BAYONET ran a nice second at long odds, finishing ahead of the top pick last time out in his first attempt over the track.
RACE 2
SPECIAL DIAMOND shows two seconds and a third from her last three starts and looks best here. PEW didn’t show much last time out, but drops in class and should like the move back around two turns. MOJA NAGRODA looks capable of running well here.
RACE 3
DAVE GOT EVEN showed a great deal of improvement last time out, making his second start over the track and back from a long layoff. He shows a nice work over the Keeneland training track since that one as well, give him the edge against a short, but well matched field. ZAMBIAN moves back around two turns after a win and a third place finish in his last two starts over the track and looks like a contender with Jimenez picking up the mount. HOLD MY PURSE comes in off a nice maiden win and definitely looks capable of running well here.
RACE 4
TODAYMAYBETHEDAY ran a decent race last time out coming back from the layoff. He should move forward off of that one and he is the choice to pick up the maiden win here. SMACKIN THE HAMMER didn’t show much in his first attempt over the track, but drops all the way to this bottom level tonight and he looks like a contender here. BLUE RANGER makes his first start since moving to Jordan’s barn and is a threat.
RACE 5
MISS DEE’S TIARA has won two in a row over the track coming into this one. She has the speed to be well placed throughout and should be able to handle the move back up in class. CASH DANCE was beaten as the favorite last time out, but didn’t run poorly in that one. She won over the track here at Turfway before that one and looks like the one to beat again tonight with Jimenez back in the irons. GIVEMHAYLEGAYLE has run well in each of her last three starts over the track and is a definite contender here.
RACE 6
CALLANS CANDY drops all the way to this bottom level after a disappointing effort in his first start over the track and looks like he’s in a good spot to pick up the maiden win here. BROADWAYDANNIEROSE figures to move forward in his second start back from the layoff and is a threat. AWESOME KAWAH showed a great deal of improvement on the move to the Polytrack, finishing second at this level in his last start.
RACE 7
BONNIE BLUE EYES comes in off a nice win against similar and looks best in a wide-open field. MONGOL VOICE also comes in off a win and would be no surprise here. SWEET EXCURSION faded badly last time out, but drops in class and should move forward tonight.
RACE 8
HEROICALLY has been improving steadily moving to Turfway back in December after the long layoff. He beat a solid field at decent odds last time out, give him a slight edge against another well-matched field. TRICE UP was a close second at this same level last time out and would be no surprise here. CANDY CHANT shows a win and a third from his last two starts over the track and will be running at the end again tonight.
RACE 9
CALL ME ANNA was a close second as the favorite last time out on the drop in class and is the choice for the win here. MY BIRTHDAY GIRL ran a game second coming back from a long layoff in her last start. Any improvement off of that one could make her tough here. DANCING VISION was a beaten favorite in her last start, but is capable of better.