The Nomination Is In: The Grade 2 Ruffian at Belmont Park

Ruffian

Thank you to the wonderful people at The Thorofan for allowing me to share my thoughts today on the Grade 2 Ruffian, a 1 mile dirt race at Belmont Park for Fillies and Mares, 4 years old and up.

My first race track romance was with Ruffian.  As a young boy, like many boys my age in an era before instant information, we waited every week for our copies of Sports Illustrated to arrive by mail.  I never saw Ruffian run, but I read about her, was captivated by her, and ultimately horrified at her sudden and gruesome death.  I'm still not, some 40 years later, able to think about Ruffian without getting emotional.  Her death, like the death of George Washington and Tuscan Evening, resonated with me at a very deep level, the level in my soul that makes me a fan and lover of these animals and not someone who can purely think of them as a post position and a price.  It's a beautiful and cruel sport all wrapped into one.

I'm not embarrassed to say I'm not really a very good blogger.  The Turk is celebrating his 8th year of hack handicapping and poorly written sentences, and my traffic in 8 years is about the traffic the good blogs get over a Breeders' Cup weekend.  No matter, I love talking about the horses and my ROI speaks for me when I can't string the words together properly.  I wish I had the time, and talent to write like this piece I found about Ruffian.  This  blog entry at The Vault: Horse Racing Past and Present is  real writer's articulate retrospective on one of the finest race horses ever.    As promised, I'm getting emotional talking about Ruffian, and I'll shut up now and get back to the business at hand! Rest in Peace Ruffian and Trainer Frank Whiteley Jr.

I wish there was more business to be at hand.  Today we have a 6 horse field and you could make a legitimate case for 5 horses to win this race.  While it's a wonderful field, I just wish it was more than six horses.  As a race track investor, the reward must be worth the risk, and I can find much easier marks on any card on any day of the week than this race.  That said, I like to handicap and assemble bets, and while I may not ultimately play it, I follow the same consistent steps for every two part handicap/bet construction and I have found that it is that consistent approach to interpreting the past performances and the race charts that brings me success.

Let's get after it!




Right off the bat, keep your eyes on the weather.  It's going to pour on Friday and maybe it will dry out by Saturday for a very fast track.  If it goes sloppy, our field has 7 total wet starts, with 2 wins both by Carrumba, so that may change thinking slightly at post time.  Our field has a top Beyer of 100 by Cavorting with a variance of (16) Beyer points down to our toss horse, Welcome Aboard.  The Beyer didn't toss the 6 year old, her wretched 5 year old campaign did.

I think Carrumba is the logical choice: 3 wins in last four starts, in the money in all 7 lifetime starts, 2 wins at the distance, 2 wins in 2 tries on off track, 2 wins in 3 starts at BEL, a Grade 3 winner, the Phipps Stable (Barbara Phipps-Janney, owner of Ruffian) runner looks the part of pure class.

I like Spelling Again as a contrarian choice;  owned by Buffalo Sabres Hockey Hall of Fame member and one of the true gentleman of our era.  She'll be near the front and looking to fire off of speed.  I'm not sure the pace scenario will set up for her, but I like this mare quite a bit.

Cavorting makes another excellent argument for the Win.  Her last four starts she's been stretching out at the 7 furlong wire, and the 1 panel extra distance may just be what she wants.  She runs against Grade 1 caliber horses consistently and she has a Grade 1 win.  No wins yet at the distance for the 4 YO, 2 wins at BEL, and she had much success at Saratoga last year, something I generally dismiss.  5 wins in 10 starts.

Include Betty is also a graded stakes regular and Grade 2 winner.  Trainer Proctor is 19% off a 61-180 day layoff, I think she needs another start after this.

There is nothing to dislike about Calamity Kate, you just can't cover them all and the Yes It's True 4 YO with Johnny V up fell off my list a bit.  She seems to still not be able to rate very well and with a cut back in distance I think the thought is to steal the race from the front and hold on.  I'm not sure, its very possible.

As you can see, this is a jam packed quality field. Be careful in a race like this over covering and over investing.  Calamity Kate, Spelling Again and Welcome Aboard will have big prices come post time. If you need action, play Calamity Kate and Spelling Again to Win or Place, or toss them into an exacta box on top of Cavorting and Carrumba.

The Nomination Is In: The Hoosier Park All Stakes Pick 4

Bourbon Courage: Lynn Roberts, Hodges Photography

In my last blog post, a post celebrating the fourth anniversary of "The Turk and The Little Turk" blog, I spoke of a lack of passion I've had this year.  The horses haven't been doing it for me as a fan, and while I'm a good gambler, I'm really a fan, and fans need passion and excitement to keep them engaged.  I'm not a fickle Turk though, this isn't about me shifting allegiances to tennis, WWF Wrestling, synchronized swimming or something eccentric, this is simply an admission that the current crop of handicap division horses makes me yawn more than scream, and the 3 year olds  have been an utter train wreck of injuries and heartbreak. Luckily there are some segments of racing that still get my heart beating, and as in life, its the ladies that hold my interest when all else fails.  I've really enjoyed the fillies and mares this year and sprint racing instead of what has been passing for quality classic distance racing. 

In year five of my blog I'm going to talk about more than just handicapping.  I'd love to tell you what subjects I plan to cover, but that's far more restrictive than I want to be.  I lead a fairly regimented and structured life, and with my blog I'm just going to let my (figurative) hair down and talk about ye' ol Turk and the world around me. 

We are in Breeders' Cup season now, with most of the heavy hitters either already running their final prep races or doing that in the next two race weekends.  The Santa Anita, Keeneland or Belmont tracks are where I am spending my time watching but when I looked for a handicapping opportunity this weekend, my eyes gravitated to Hoosier Park and the late pick 4.  I was turned off (as a bettor)my the field sizes in Santa Anita in the key races I cared about like the five horse Arroyo Seco Mile.  As a race fan I think its important to watch the 5 YO Japanese Trailblazer and the former Santa Anita Derby winner, Midnight Interlude. 

Big fields and nice pots of money for trainers to hunt for, isn't that what's its about?  It's a shame that racinos pull away product from the treasures of our race tradition, but those states get it and backward places like Illinois and California and New York don't. Anyway, I'm going to avoid religion and politics here at The Turk, but just about everything else goes. 

When I look for places to invest my racing capital I try to eliminate variables and tilt the odds a bit in my favor.  When I look at this sequence a few things popped: All dirt, all two turns, weather doesn't appear to be an issue. 




Race 9 is the Michael Schaefer Memorial Mile $100K, 2 turn 1 mile race.  By the way, Mr. Schaefer was a US Navy veteran likes yours truly and a war vet, just like yours truly.  Like is the case in big racino racing days, you get a pretty big differential in talent that competes, but you also learn the big name ship in horses don't always win, so don't feel like you have to play the chalk or nothing.  I think its a three horse race for win honors though.

Shadowbdancing is 4 of 5 in the money in 2012, 4 of 7 in the money in 2011, 26 of 32 in the money on dirt and 4 of 5 in the money at the distance and the races lone millionaire. The 7 YO is consistent but never a lock. Ultra competitive, expect an in the money finish.

I'm looking for value and Hurrican Ike represents that; tacked up today by new trainer Michael Stidham, he hasn't run as well as he has since this race a year ago. First time on dirt since a hideous Texas Mile effort in April. 3 of 3 in the money at HOO with 2 wins, winless in 2012.

Good Lord switches turf to dirt, and returns to a surface where he freaked out two back to back triple digits Beyers and sprint distance.

Baffert must be respected, clicking off wins at a 31% clip right now, and he brings Bejarano in to ride Hoorayforhollywood; Most likely the big chalk, its prudent to cover in P4 but I'll take a stand a bit in the superfecta shading him down and not singling.  The 4 YO Storm Cat has the look of the real deal but was a bust in the Grade 1  Malibu and seems to be stuck in an Optional Claimer class. 

Race 10 is the Mari Hulman George $100K. Classy of the DRF to spell Ms. George's name wrong in the Past Performances, a truly special woman and friend to all animals. 

Baffert's Ellafitz will command mondo respect and cash but I'm looking for value and Michael Maker's Juanita, if she goes here (entered KEE R8 7 Oct 12) will be my dark bay or brown hope.  1 win in 1 try at HOO, 4 of 6 in the money at the distance and 10 of 12 in the money on dirt, with 5 wins. 

Absinthe Minded goes for D. Wayne Lukas who I've been a bit critical of, and I should shut the F**K up about him, as he is a legend and he's doing what he loves and I should just view him as I would any 9% trainer and not expect him to be at the top anymore.  I am happy for him to see him get of the mat with his graded stakes win percentage.  This 5 YO ran 5f in 1:00 4/5ths recently and when she's on, she's on, like her Grade 1 Apple Blossom Place to Plum Pretty earlier this year.

I'll take my chances against Salty Strike and Brushed by a Star is capable.

In the Indiana Oaks the lovely Grace Hall goes for Tony Dutrow with Ramon Dominguez up. A dud in the Alabama as a well beaten chalk to Questing et al, a pretty consistent runner, 8 of 9 in the money lifetime and the race's lone millionaire by a bunch.  May single, but we'll cross that bridge later.

Amie's Dini has been training well and will be a big price if you like that sort of stuff, well like just about every player,  Seems to be getting better.  Hmmm.

The coupled Uptown Bernie and Wine Princess will be competitive but I like Bridgemohan's mount Wine Princess a bit more.  Both need to show more speed if they have it. 

I've been an Eden Moon fan all year, you have to go back to 3 March at SA to find a good effort on dirt, and the ship for the Kentucky Oaks wasn't worth the travel expense.

When I rattle on about what I don't like about racing, its the lack of fields and field strength.  I don't care if this field for the Indiana Derby is world class, but its full and vibrant and there is enough class to make this fun.  I was so enamored as I write this I really don't know who I'm backing.  I'll start with Bourbon Courage, the Grade 2 Super Derby winner last time out, with that on the heels of the place finish in the Grade 2  West Virgina Derby. Conventional wisdom is the horse will step back at some point, but we save conventional wisdom for the bullshit pile here at The Turk. I have him on top but I'm not sure if he has the class of others here. 

Easter Gift, a Hard Spun son, has been training well at the Saratoga training track since early August and in the middle of that, a nice win in the slop in the Grade 3 Smarty Jones for trainer Zito.

Fed Biz is a lightly raced Baffert that ran well on dirt at SA and won a stakes at Del Mar over that crappy fake dirt track that I try to ignore. Hard to judge really what he has here. 

I like Stealcase and Neck 'n Neck quite a bit; Stealcase's sire, Lawyer Ron, rest in peace, was a favored colt of mine and his loss still makes me a bit emotional, resonating like the deaths of Tuscan Evening and Lost in the Fog and George Washington still do with me.  Don't tell me you're a race fan if you can't tell me who your heart hangs heaviest for.  Alydar and Ferdinand gotta mean something to you too!

I think I digressed.  Stealcase is a good, not great horse, honest, with a trainer in Mark Casse who is comfortable taking shots.  I like that! The Haskell effort was solid, not embarrassed in the Travers, this isn't out of the question.  Neck 'n Neck  is a Flower Alley, cut from similar cloth. Training well, the Grade 3 winner came just short in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and also wasn't embarrassed in the Travers.

I'll be going vertical and horizontal and we'll see what kind of fun we can make today into.  I hope whatever track you play find races where you can tilt some of the variables your way.

Have fun friends, Turk Out!






 

The Nomination Is In: Arlington Park Millions Preview Day All Graded Stakes Pick 3

Greatness: The word is used much too often in our culture. The professional sports world is a classic example where we are bombarded with being told which over hyped athlete has achieved "greatness". The Turk doesn't like to toss that word around easily, but friends, one of the saddest deaths in racing in the past few years was the great, Tuscan Evening, winner of the 2010 Modesty Handicap. I went to look for a picture that captured her spirit and this Jamie Newell photo gazes right into the mare's soul. Thanks to Jamie for this image and check out more of Jamie's inspired work at this link. If I talk too much about what that animal meant to me I'll get emotional, and I'd rather just remember her spirit and her will to win and know that she's on the other side waiting by the Rainbow Bridge for her kin and connections to join her.

The Little Turk has a soccer tournament this weekend which will limit my horse playing but not my handicapping. It's important to study the various racetracks you wish to play and the Arlington Millions is always a mid summer target of mine, so today's Millions Preview Day is like required reading. I'd like to hope that one day when Illinois racing is stabilized and Arlington Park becomes the track it is capable of being that they will do one key thing: You've got to get the purses much higher on Preview Day to attract the types of horses that will actually come to Millions Day. I won't even complain about the poly track, which I dislike, but turf favoring trainers do feel better about running over the plastic when the races come off so I won't rant about that today, but the purses have to get better.

Arlington Park Race 8-9-10



I've assembled no bet as I'm unlikely to play the sequence. That said, I'd be comfortable playing it as handicapped, as a Pick 3, with all the horses in blue covered as the base bet and then making some tough choices to get the investment to a reasonable size.

The races themselves will lend themselves to good betting and I see value in each of them. Today's a good day to play the 3rd and 4th bettors favorites on the tote board to win when you're drinking and socializing and not really handicapping, not that I condone such behavior! Saratoga and Del Mar open soon. I digress, but what a great thought.

Anyways, have fun with this friends or any other races you will be playing. I'm a big Summit of Speed fan and generally I dig the Hollywood Gold Cup, so in between soccer games I'll be checking in, keeping it on the down low of course. The post race analysis will be more important to me and studying the race pace and the way the jocks and trainers play it. Hopefully Millions Day will have the same great weather and track conditions: Firm, 5 inch grass height, cut and watered, temp rail 6 feet in or lane 3.

Good Stuff, Turk Out!

Post Race Analysis August 7, 2010; Saratoga Late Pick 4 and Remembering Tuscan Evening

Friends, The Turk is a fan of the horses first and a handicapper second. I have never been the sort of handicapper that just talks about the saddle cloth numbers, I need a deeper connection then that. It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of Tuscan Evening. I've been a big fan and backer of the Irish bred mare and she is a testament to how wonderful some of these older animals can be when placed in the right barn and campaigned in just the right way. She was a terror in California and was about to make a big splash at Arlington on Millions Day. It wasn't to be. This is another reminder of just how cruel a sport this is, when it gives you a star to cherish like Tuscan Evening only to take her in the blink of an eye. I don't think I've been this shocked since Go Between (grandson of Turkoman) died under similar circumstances 19 months ago. My deepest condolences to Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and owner William Deburgh as well as everyone associated with this truly special mare. She ran the table at Santa Anita this past meet and anyone who follows the Great Race Place won't forget her anytime soon. I think The Saturday Post captured what I wanted to say more eloquently then this Turk could express.

On Saturday I assembled what I thought would be a winning Late Pick 4 bet at Saratoga. It's funny what can happen on the way to the forum. The Pick 4 was built around the fact that Quality Road would win, no questions asked. I believed, and still do, that Quality Road is the best 4 year old in training right now. I said that knowing full well that Blame was a darn fine horse and that Musket Man always delivers a strong effort and that Haynesfield is a solid horse, and a certain Kentucky Derby winner that is being prepped by a Hall of Fame Trainer, Mine That Bird, would also be running too.

I won't take anything anyway from Blame. The scary thing for the Quality Road camp is the Breeders' Cup is about 90 days away and he gets 2 starts between now and then to be sharp as Churchill Downs is a track Blame has run big on before, as has Rachel Alexandra. I still think Quality Road is the horse that finally beats Zenytatta but it's up to the horse not some bald, blathering blogger.

Saratoga Late Pick 4 August 7, 2010 including the Test and the Whitney.



I was out of the Pick Four pretty quickly as I did not include Sea Road in my top 3 in Race 8. That said, I salvaged the day nicely with a few obvious bets. I thought a Quality Road/Blame Exacta was a no brainer exacta and it returned nicely. I also thought that a mix of Quality Road/Blame in the top two spots and either Musket Man or Haynesfield in the Show spot was an obvious trifecta and it was.

The bet I was proudest of was the exacta on race nine. I planned on taking a strong stand with Champagne d'Oro and I did and I just worked my base handicap into it.

Disciplined betting has been the key to my recent work. After my base handicap is formed I in turn form a "value handicap". Some people refer to this as making your own running line/morning line. Instead of assigning odds I assign simple letter grades. Only A and B are considered in my bets. When you are a public handicapper like this you are thrusting your bets out there way too early. I prefer to build my handicap not knowing the morning lines, and as I have said here many times before, I do not read about the races or the horses that I am handicapping as the hype or writers slant can impact the handicap.

One of the best ways to test yourself as a handicapper without losing money is to handicap a card and then compare your picks to the track handicapper and the morning line. Are you in the same ballpark? Being contrarian is one thing, knowing how to identify the top three probable winners and how to identify the bottom few finishers accurately is fundamentally what you should be focused on.

Don't lose sleep about losing a bet. A consistent approach will bring you success but bumps will happen along the way. My pick 4 was not going to be a winner today unless I went deep into the first ticket and covered Sea Road. that's OK, I took $48 dollars and took a swing for the fence. The rest of the bet wasn't bad, even the decision to single Quality Road is hard to knock in hindsight. The NYS Bred Maiden turf race to end the night should have been the tricky one and it was a breeze.

Don't try to cover too many horses; build reasonable price tickets, be consistent, and success will follow you as your skill as a handicapper grows.

Have Fun, Turk Out!

Post Race Analysis for Race Day April 17, 2010: The Aqueduct Pick 4 including the Distaff Handicap

That good looking sire to the left is an A.P. Indy son, father of Pashito the Che and yesterday's Distaff Handicap winner, Tar Heel Mom, Flatter.

The Turk found success yesterday with the Aqueduct card. On a sloppy sealed track we "assembled" a Pick 3 and Pick 4 winner as well as an exacta and trifecta win and a handicap of the Distaff Handicap that we nailed the exact order of finish prerace. I made a point of discussing pre-race that the card at Keeneland with the Lexington and the Giant's Causeway, or Santa Anita with The Santa Barbara were more attractive but that I wanted to play the Big A card. Remember, don't be married to playing a particular place, look at the cards and pick the one you think you can win. Let's get after it!

Aqueduct Race 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 : The Pick Three and Pick 4 including the Distaff Handicap.



The bet construction followed my pre-race analysis nearly identical. Readers of the Turk know that I like to prepare my base handicaps and then use that base handicap to assemble my bets. Race 7's winner was the third shortest price on the board, Odessa's Hope. Our Special Effort had control to the top of the stretch but tired and with D. Cohen up, Odessa's Hope powered away to win by 2f.

Race 8 was won by the fourth lowest price, Positive Pitch. Two legs of the Pick Four were now in the books, won by my last horse included in the bet construction. Good stuff, let's keep going.

Race 9 was the Grade II Distaff Handicap. I really liked this field and this would have been a much more competitive field on a fast track, but it was sloppy and sealed and one horse stood out on the PP's as the one to beat on slop, a strong runner on her own, Tar Heel Mom. Taking control at the 1/4 pole, she fired off fractions of :22, :44 4/5, 1:10 1/5 and then brought it home at 1:24 2/5ths and was pressed just slightly at 1/2 pole and then not again. The Turk put all five starters in exact order pre race and I had a $2 exacta and $2 Trifecta win to show for it. Don't be influenced by hard talkin' handicapping types that would tell you that nailing chalky exactas and trifectas isn't worth the effort: $42.20 gross on $4 bet is always worth it!

Race 9 brought to an end the late Pick Three which the Turk took down for $119 on a $36 dollar bet. I took it but one race was left to complete my goal, a Pick Four win.

Race 10 almost got away from me. My pre-race chart excluded Ballast (Ire). It was a big field of 10 in a one mile turf claimer and as I wrote my blog entry I got more and more enamored with the experience of Ballast (Ire): This was the 9 YO geldings 47th Turf start, 25 of 46 in the money on Turf and recent steady turf efforts. 1 win in the last 13 efforts almost turned me away but I inserted and completed my day with the Pick 4 win. I did not expect Ballast to be the bettors top choice. In the vacuum of my office I had him slotted no better then 4th choice, but my top choices are still out there running as I type.

So what to take away from this? Today was about bet construction more then my ability to pick single winners of difficult races. The easiest of the bunch was the Grade II Distaff Handicap, and I nailed that exactly, a feat more rare then I would expect. The other three races were just the ol' Turk tossing most of the field and settling on the expected favorites and inserting some value as well. My rule of thumb is if I have three choices in a race, at least one has to be a reasonable price with a reasonable chance of victory. I got that and got decent payouts on my bets.

I'd be remiss to not mention Tuscan Evening (Ire). I first handicapped Tuscan Evening last November at Hollywood and was impressed, but what she did at Santa Anita this meet was really special. Congrats.

Have fun with your bet construction. Turk Out!

Post Race Analysis for Race Day November 28, 2009; The Cigar Mile at Aqueduct and The Matriarch at Hollywood Park

Just that kind of weekend, plugging away in the coal mine that the horsegame can sometimes be reduced to. I'm a horse racing fan and I'm also a horse player. At times I keep these two sides separate and one of the greatest skills I have is the ability to not feel the need for "action plays". I can be quite content just watching the ponies run for the wire. That said, I'm in horse player mode right now. There's good money to made on the undercards most weekends, but I prefer to blog about handicapping graded stakes and this time of the year you get what you get. What I got yesterday in the Cigar Mile and The Matriarch was a mixed bag of short priced chalks and small fields that the betting public were pretty hip to. To make money, sometimes you just have to be a coal miner; chip away at the stuff you think you can hit and keep your exposure low when you can't.

Before I get too far, I wish Summer Bird a speedy recovery. Lets Go!

The Cigar Mile Grade I at Aqueduct and The Matriarch Grade I at Hollywood Park



The Cigar Mile was a race I felt OK about the ability to make money on, especially the Exacta. I felt Bribon (Fr) would win, closely followed by Kodiak Kowboy. For a good paying trifecta, I believed Driven by Success had a chance to slip into the action. Just as I said prerace, I kept the exposure low, bet a boxed exacta on my base handicap and was rewarded with $45.20 on an $8 bet. My one trifecta busted out but the key was keeping the exposure low, which I did. The other good thing I did was identify that the coupled chalks, Pyro and Vineyard Haven would finish no better then Show. Vineyard Haven should drop back to 6 furlongs and Pyro, I dunno. Hat's off to Kodiak Kowboy, a solid run and a good win bet return for those who backed him.

Switching gears to The Matriarch, there really wasn't much you could do with this one. Ventura had a stirring stretch run and won convincingly. I had the top four locked up and with an engagement around the time the race went to post I bet a 10 cent boxed Superfecta for $2.40 based on my base handicap hours before post time. The $1 Superfecta returned $11.40 and my 10% variety returned a paltry $1.14. It doesn't happen often, but the bettors had this one dead cold and the order of finish was exactly, top to bottom, the order the bettors had them finishing. I kept the exposure low and if I would have followed my own rules I wouldn't have bet a nickel.

I received an email recently and the reader asked me my thoughts on exotic betting. I gave the simplest answer I know: 1.) Don't bother until you can pick winners on a regular basis and 2.) you can identify the toss-out horses regularly. If you can pick the winners, eliminate the horses who can't break the top four, and identify a group of horses that will slot out Place, Show and 4th, then you are ready. Bet responsibly and remember the best bets are often the ones you don't make.





Have Fun, Turk Out!

The Nomination Is In: November 28, 2009; The Matriarch Grade I on Turf at Hollywood Park

In the Vanessa Ng photo is Rutherienne, taking on The Turk's chalk in today's Matriarch at Hollywood Park, Ventura, racing for Trainer Ascanio who picks up where Bobby Frankel left off. Rutherienne will go off as possibly the 3rd or 4th bettor's favorite and The Turk is looking for her to add some value to his tickets. You'll find changes and scratches here. Let's Go!

Race 8 at Hollywood Park Post Time 7:05 PM; The Matriarch Grade I; 1 Mile on Turf for F&M 3 YO and Up.



Ventura needs no introduction to racing fans; 8 of last 9 races she put up 100+ BSF and she has beaten older males and Placed a few times against them as well. 12 of 13 in the money on turf. Gomez is up. Much to like from the 5 YO daughter of Chester House who is looking for her 10th win in her 21st and final career starts.

Rutherienne, the Clement conditioned daughter of Pulpit, is a steady upper 90 BSF mare. 3 wins in last 13 starts, 11 wins in 23 tries on Turf and a career best 100 BSF. A steady effort today should land her on the ticket.

Diamondrella, the Stevens trainee for IEAH Stables, is a bit erratic and presents a wild card. Capable of 105 BSF and more then capable of beating Ventura if on. Has run well on soft and yielding turf of late and had a dreadful Breeders' Cup week and race and followed that up with a slow work in hand, :49 3/5ths at 4 furlongs. May hedge to 4th at lowest but quality is too good to slip lower.

Tuscan Evening (Ire) is a Grade II winner, 3 of 3 at HOL and 14 of 20 in the money on turf. 4 YO worked sharply this week with a 4 furlong :47 bullet. Upset winner? Worth a $2 buck flyer especially if going to post odds > 4-1.

I'm tossing Taste's Sis , Puttanesca (NZ) and possibly April Pride from all tickets.

So what are we doing? Well 10 cent supers are in fashion and I'll work some of those as well as watch the tote closely and look for exacta bets with a sometime longer then Ventura/ and a 2-1 filling the top two spots. We'll hunt for value and see if we can't turn $20 into something a bit bigger.

Have Fun, Turk Out!