DRF's Horse Racing Playbook for Friday, April 17, 2020

With most other North American sports being shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, we hope the sport of horse racing can entertain you during these trying times. Daily Racing Form has served as the most trusted source of news and information about the sport since 1894, and moving forward we have decided to provide a free daily playbook – something that both hardcore horseplayers and casual observers can reference to get informed of each day’s action.

12:24 TAM 1st YOUNG AMERICAN (#3, 3-1) takes a subtle but meaningful drop in class for this, coming out of races against non-winners of two in six months and now meeting nonwinners of one race since October; he has some of the better Beyers in the field, and though he will be looking to come from off the pace there does seem to be enough speed in the field to set him up. -Kenny Peck

12:52 TAM 2nd FAST FIONNUALA (#2, 4-1) is kin to seven winners, including Big Screen, a stakes winner who also placed in graded stakes on a few occasions; works suggest this filly has some speed and the barn is exceptional with maiden claimers (43%). -Kenny Peck

2:05 OP 1st SLIGHTLY CRAFTY (#4, 10-1) moves back to two turns for the first time this year and he’s well-versed at the trip. He also gets in lighter than a number of these under apprentice Kelsi Harr. -Mary Rampellini

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2:07 GP 3rd LOVE NEST (#3, 3-1) in new and dangerous hands while dropping to bottom for first time since easy N3L win last summer. Exits key race when encountering traffic issues last time. -Mike Welsch

2:25 TAM 5th NOT TELLING (#3, 6-1) didn’t break cleanly in his debut but he moved up quickly to get position before fading in the late stages; clearly has room to improve with a clean getaway, and he also figures to move up today with the addition of Lasix. -Kenny Peck

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2:35 OP 2nd DEFENDER (#3, 7-2) has been knocking on the door all meet. He was an odds-on favorite at this level last out, when he found himself farther off the pace than usual due to trouble. -Mary Rampellini

2:39 GP 4th FAST FRACTION (#5, 4-1) away since December when turning in big effort for nearly twice the tag behind Interest, an open $12,500 winner here earlier this month. Note bullet GPW drill and top J/T connections. Hard to look past. -Mike Welsch

3:05 OP 3rd GLOBUS (#2, 4-1) has a chance to wire the field on the move from a mile to a mile and a sixteenth, or he could track sprint-to-route prospect Road Game. -Mary Rampellini

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3:11 GP 5th LAKE PARIMA (#9, 6-1) one of several in here exiting fairly well graded Strike Magic race on 3/21. This filly ran well in her two turn and turf bow, stalking fast pace before giving way in a race that collapsed late. Should benefit from the outing. Figures on or with pace throughout. -Mike Welsch

3:58 TAM 8th KITCHEN FIRE (#3, 8-1) gets back on the main three after three straight turf sprint tries and this clearly is his preferred surface, at least at this stage of his career, and he lands in a seemingly good spot in this finale given his early speed and the lack of same in this lineup; off the board in both of his two starts on dirt but those were stakes race at Laurel, back in November of 2017. -Kenny Peck

5:38 OP 8th MOJOVATION (#5, 10-1) was no match for a runaway winner here March 1 but ran on well for 2nd. That was his first start off the claim for Sadler. He wasn’t risked for a tag that day, isn’t risked for one again here and could fall into a nice stalking trip. – Michael Hammersly

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5:38 OP 8th OPERATION STEVIE (#12, 15-1) fits here based on his performance just two starts ago, on Feb. 15 at OP. He’s won going a mile but to me has always excelled as a one-run closing sprinter, and there hardly could be more pace entered in this 6f allowance. Rolls late at a price. – Marcus Hersh

6:09 OP 9th MAN IN THE CAN (#7, 8-1) looked a little better visually than his running line from his most recent out, which was just his second career start. Went flat between ¼ and 1/8 poles but sparked back to life late in the game. Solid debut in a decent open RP MSW last December. Three recent works, can get a favorable trip, has improvement in him today. – Marcus Hersh