Free: Santa Anita Horses to Watch for week of Oct. 19
Free: Santa Anita Horses to Watch for week of Oct. 19
Brad FreeOct 21, 2015
Free: Santa Anita Horses to Watch for week of Oct. 19
Gierkink: Woodbine Horses to Watch for week of Oct. 19
Litfin: Belmont Park Horses to Watch for week of Oct. 19
Trip Notes for October 17-18: Athenia, Raven Run, Canadian International, and more by Michael Hammersly.
The first of seven pick threes on the Keeneland Sunday card could be the most appealing of them all from a betting perspective
Trainer Joe Hennessy saddles Ace of Hearts (#7, 15-1) in Sunday's eighth race at Gulfstream Park West, a 7 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race on turf. Since Jan., 1, 2014, Hennessy is winning at a 26 percent clip in maiden special weight races, for a return on investment of $7.10. Check out the Positive ROI report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
Pre-entries for the Breeders’ Cup will be released Wednesday. And from that point on for about 11 days, horseplayers across the country and, yes, around the globe, yours truly included, will be preoccupied to the point where they might not have the time or inclination for anything else.
The featured race Sunday at Belmont Park is the Grade 2 Matron for 2-year-old fillies. It has pulled a solid field of six as the anchor of the early pick four.
The late pick four with a $300,000-guaranteed pool catches our attention, with a favorable weather forecast that promises to keep the three grass races in the sequence intact.
RACE 1: By no means did BLUE ANCHOR (2) beat a field of superstars when winning his maiden at Los Alamitos on Sept. 19, but he did defeat a solid Bob Baffert trainee named Dream Team. Sunday will mark Blue Anchor’s first try against winners, and he possesses enough speed to be involved in the running from the break. HOT LIGHTNING (6) has the advantage of breaking from the outside post in a field that contains a fair amount of speed, and although the blinkers go on, it would seem very likely that he’ll sit off the leaders and attempt to make his move rounding the far turn.