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 Saturday, Feb. 13
RACE 1
ORBITAL FLAG takes a big drop in class after an even effort in her debut and is the choice to pick up the maiden win here. WHATDOWEDONOW hasn’t shown much in her last two starts, but drops in class and is a contender. VERN’S MOCHA ROSE drops in for a tag for the first time and is a threat.
RACE 2
DONTMISSTHEPRIZE ran a game second last time out in his first attempt around two turns. A repeat of that effort would make him tough again tonight. YARBROUGH has been off since October when he didn’t show much in his debut at Indiana. He’s been training steadily over the track for Maker since that one and picks up Jimenez tonight. BANDAR ran a nice race at long odds last time out and has to be considered.
RACE 3
DADDY DEVINE looked very sharp drawing off to win by over eight lengths in his last start. He figures to be on or near the lead again tonight, give him a slight edge here. MISTER PIPPIT shows two solid efforts against similar in his last two starts and would be no surprise here. HALF LEADER was beaten as the favorite last time out, but is capable of better.
RACE 4
The 34th Running of the Cincinnati Trophy Stakes
EGYPTIAN HONEY has been idle since early December when she drew off to beat a nice allowance field in her first start over the Polytrack her at Turfway. She might prefer to go longer, but has the speed to be in contention throughout, give her the edge in a very well-matched renewal of the Cincinnati Trophy Stakes. BANREE has been off since November when she was third in the G3 Tempted Stakes at Aqeuduct. She looked sharp winning at Keeneland before that one and will be tough here with Prado coming in for the mount. SOCIAL BUTTERFLY comes in off a stakes win over the synthetic at Ocala and could be dangerous here.
RACE 5
BLUEMYMIND didn’t fire last time out, but ran well in his two previous starts and is the choice for the win here. JUSTFOLLOWMYLEAD shows three solid efforts in his last three starts over the track and definitely looks capable of running well here. THE DUCK OF REED finished just behind the top pick a few starts back and has won over the track in the past.
RACE 6
COOL MOVES looked sharp breaking her maiden here at Turfway in early January after having been off since June. Any improvement off of that effort would make her tough again tonight. FASHION CITY doesn’t like to win, but has been in the money in half of her career starts and has run some strong races over the surface here in the past. BE NICE has shown some decent form in Ohio recently and could be dangerous if she takes to the Polytrack.
RACE 7
GHOSTLY WONDER has won three of his last four in impressive fashion and should be able to win here despite the move up in class. SONOF A MONSTERCAT was second at this same level last time out and looks like the one to beat. MOST WANTED moves up in class after a nice win in his last start and has won three of five starts here at Turfway.
RACE 8
QUIET SCORE comes in off a sharp maiden win around two turns over the track here and looks best in a short, but well-matched field. EMMA’S PARADE has been off since early December when she was third against similar in her first start here at Turfway. LA PIBA didn’t fire at Oaklawn last time out, but showed some decent form before that one and shouldn’t mind the move to the Polytrack tonight.
RACE 9
LONESOME HIGHWAY hasn’t shown much recently, but drops in class and could score here at decent odds. RENN LAKE has been a close second in each of his last two starts and is the one to beat again tonight. SHUT UP CHRIS was third against similar last time out and has the speed to be dangerous here.
RACE 10
GILLEY comes in off a nice win here at Turfway and is the choice for the win in a wide-open field. ANNIE’S ON TOUR has been well beaten in her last few, but won against tougher here back in December and could be tough to handle on the drop in class. CORINA CHARM would be no surprise here.