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. 13
RACE 1
ROYAL SPACES has been second as the favorite in each of her last three starts, but should be able to pick up the maiden win against a soft field today. STEF’S GIRL finished behind the top pick last time out and is a contender. MIZ KNIGHTLY has a chance.
RACE 2
MARTHA ROSE just missed at this level two starts back and is the choice for the win on the move back down in class. SUCCESSFUL BRAT finished right with the top pick a few starts back and definitely looks capable of winning here. TUCUPITA didn’t show much last time out, but is capable of better.
RACE 3
EURO CASH extended his win streak to four in a row last time out in his first start since July. A repeat of that effort would make him tough to beat again today. BACK AWAY has a win and two seconds in his last three starts here at Turfway and looks like the one to beat. CALMER THAN YOU shows two solid efforts in his last two starts and could be dangerous here.
RACE 4
AKAPESCHE has been in good form since coming back from the layoff, winning each of his two starts here at Turfway. Give him a slight edge against a very well-matched field. THE GREEN COUGAR was second behind the top pick two starts back, but followed that up with a win in his next start. PAINTED VALLEY also comes in off a win and would be no surprise here.
RACE 5
GRACE’S DEVIL looked sharp, drawing off to win by five last time out and will be tough to handle again today. LOGAN CREEK was second best as the favorite in his last start and looks like the main competition. JAGUAR RIDGE shows two in the money finishes in his last two starts and has to be considered.
RACE 6
MARQUEE CAL GAL looked very sharp drawing off to win by nine last time out on the move down in class. She ran a game second behind the likely favorite before that one and rates a slight edge here. SWEETSOUTHERNDAME was no match for an impressive winner last time out, but looked sharp winning two in a row before that one. She gets Jimenez back in the irons today and will be tough to beat again. JAZZY KATHY has been off since May when she disappointed as the favorite at Parx after winning three in a row. She shows two sharp works over the track recently and could be dangerous today if she’s ready.
RACE 7
HARDCORE has been off since August when she was beaten as the favorite in two straight on the grass at Saratoga. She’s been training steadily for Ward since that one and gets in light today with Gallardo, give her the edge to pick up the maiden win here. SKY LANI didn’t show much in her debut at Arlington back in May, but shows some nice works over the track here at Turfway since moving to Maker’s barn. TWELVE JEWELS ran a nice third in her first start over the track and figures to move forward today.