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, March 6
RACE 1
NASDROVIA was third at this same level last time out in her first start back since early December. She should move forward off of that one and is the choice to pick up the maiden win here. VERN’S MOCHA ROSE takes a big drop in class after a few dull efforts and looks like a contender. GRANNY PANTS drops in class in her second career start and is a threat.
RACE 2
MAX’S DEFENCE moves back around two turns and could against a wide-open field at decent odds. CITIZEN JOHN shows a few solid efforts in his last couple of starts over the surface. EXCITING BAND has five wins over the track here at Turfway.
RACE 3
GILLEY was disqualified from winning her second in a row in her last start after causing some trouble in that one. A cleaner trip should make her a winner today. HOPE TO SHINE has been second in two of her last three and looks like the one to beat on the move back down in class. ANNIE’S ON TOUR drops in class and looks capable of running well here.
RACE 4
COOL MOVES looked sharp breaking her maiden here at Turfway back in early January after having been off since June. Any improvement off of that effort would make her tough to handle today. BOTTLE WALK drew off to break her maiden by seven last time out in her first attempt over the track. She gets in light with Gallardo today and looks like the main competition. FASHION CITY is consistent and could be dangerous if she likes the move to sprinting.
RACE 5
HERE’S JOHNNY drops in class after two solid efforts against tougher and looks like he’s in a good spot to pick up the win today. SHERWOOD DRIVE has won two of his last four starts and looks like the one to beat. BATTLE ON comes in off a nice win in his second start over the track and definitely looks capable of running well again today.
RACE 6
ROB AND JON’S GIRL has been in good form recently and loves the strip here at Turfway where eight of her sixteen lifetime wins have come. She figures to be in a good spot on or near the lead again today and looks best against a short, but well-matched field. VANILLA SCORE was beaten by the top pick two starts back, but followed that up with a win in her next start. She figures to be running at the end again today and would be no surprise here. FANCY HAT shows two solid efforts in her last two starts over the track and could be tough here making her third start back from the layoff.
RACE 7
ARVAK ran a nice second against similar last time out and should move forward off of that one. Give him a slight edge against a wide-open field. GRAND COULEE has been second in each of his last two starts here at Turfway and looks like a contender again today with Aragon back in the irons. DO I DO has been idle since early December and could be tough today if he’s ready. STARSHIP CAPTAIN would be my top pick if he draws in off the AE list