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. 27
RACE 1
ROCKIN’ MELODY won by five going a mile and a half last time out and should be able to handle the extra distance tonight. LUNE DE CARO has been off since November when he was going longer over hurdles. He should be able to handle the distance tonight and could be dangerous here if he takes to the Polytrack. DO THE MATH looks capable of running well here.
RACE 2
LUSTY GIT YER GUN comes in off a third place finish against similar and looked sharp winning before that one, give her a slight edge here. THREE SHEETS exits the same two races as the top pick and would be no surprise here. DISCREET KISS didn’t fire last time out, but is capable of better.
RACE 3
STRONG RESPONSE was well beaten as the favorite last time out, but ran two solid races here at Turfway before that one and is the choice for the win here. ARTIC SKY moves back down in class and looks like the one to beat. PEACE AT LAST figures to move forward in his second start back from the layoff and has had success over the track in the past.
RACE 4
CLOVELLY has been in good form since moving to Turfway, with two wins and a second from his three starts. Give him the edge here on the move back down in class. DADDY DEVINE finished behind the top pick two starts back, but drew off to win by eight after that one. A repeat of his last effort would make him tough to handle again tonight. HALF LEADER didn’t show much as the favorite last time out, but was running well before that one and is a threat here.
RACE 5
X CON drops down to this bottom level for the first time tonight and is the choice for the win. ARMY RANGER just missed last time out and definitely looks capable of running well again tonight. SIMEON also moves down to this level for the first time and has to be considered here.
RACE 6
ANNAFROMINDIANA ran a nice second going longer last time out and looked sharp winning at this same distance here at Turfway before that one. Give her a slight edge in a short, but well-matched field. PARC CELESTE comes in off of two solid races against similar and looks like the one to beat here. MELLO KISSES won here two starts back and gets Jimenez back in the irons tonight.
RACE 7
LADY MONAVI has been second best in each of her last two starts and looks best here. SPEND AND SPREE comes out of the same race as the top pick and has five wins over the surface. BOSSY BABE hasn’t shown much recently, but could like the move back to a synthetic track.
RACE 8
SWEPT UP has looked very sharp drawing off to win in each of her last two starts and will be tough to beat here. SWEETSOUTHERNDAME was second best behind the top pick in her last start and is a threat. MARQUEE CAL GAL moves back up in class after an easy win last time out.
RACE 9
DISCREET GLEN drew off to win by four in his last start. A repeat of that effort would make him tough to beat again tonight. WHOLE LOTTA RUN was beaten by the top pick two starts back, but followed that up by winning by nearly twelve lengths last time out. He figures to be part of the pace again tonight and could be dangerous here. MOST WANTED comes in off a nice win and has won three of five lifetime here at Turfway.
RACE 10
BLUEMYMIND didn’t fire last time out, but was in good form before that one, give him the edge here. JUSTFOLLOWMYLEAD shows three solid efforts in his last three starts over the track and is a definite contender. BEARLY SPECIFIC is inconsistent, but drops in class and looks capable of running well here if at his best.