Sports Book (#5, ML 12-1) returns in Friday's first race at Gulfstream Park, a 7 1/2-furlong claiming race on turf. It will be his first start since finishing fourth by 12 1/4 lengths in an allowance April 30 at Churchill Downs. The first-, second-, and third-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts.
Bernier: How I'd play Santa Anita for Saturday, June 20
BreezeFigs Quick-Pix for Saturday, June 20th by Bob Fierro and Jay Kilgore.
The early pick four Saturday at Belmont beginning in race 2 is, to me, a good-looking sequence. Let’s go after it.
Download DRF Plus handicapping reports for Friday's races, including DRF Bets GamePlan, the Positive ROI Report, and Key Race Report.
Tencendur looks like a 5-1 chance and will likely start above that price, even if he drops a bit from his 8-1 morning line in Saturday’s Ohio Derby at ThistleDown.
The Bed o’ Roses at Belmont Park looks like it might come down to the same pair who ran one-two in the Vagrancy. That race was at 6 1/2 furlongs, this one at seven furlongs. La Verdad obviously is going to be in front. Will the extra 110 yards allow the very hot Room for Me to catch up this time?
Tencendur has trained well since the Kentucky Derby, and I’m looking for him to rebound to his Wood Memorial form in Saturday’s Ohio Derby at ThistleDown.
Trainer Jon Arnett saddles Jafmils Persuader (#7, ML 3-1) in Thursday’s eighth race at Prairie Meadows, a 1 1/16-mile allowance. Since Jan. 1, 2014, Arnett is winning at a 27 percent clip in allowances, for a return on investment of $3.21.
Bakken (#6, ML 7-5) returns in Thursday’s eighth race at Belmont Park, a six-furlong optional claimer. It will be his first start since finishing second by 3/4 lengths in an optional claimer May 1 at Belmont Park. The first-, third-, and fourth-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts.
