DRF's Horse Racing Playbook for Friday, Oct. 9, 2026

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.

1:05 LRL 3rd FROST ROCKET (#11, 10-1) is a highly intriguing juvenile getting back to turf for Motion; by far, the best performance of his career came when he broke his maiden by 2 3/4 lengths on the grass at Woodbine; both of his efforts on synthetic came in stakes and were not nearly as strong. - Patrick Moquin | Get Past Performances for this race

1:10 BEL 1st The Chad Brown pair figures to be tough in here, but both are coming off somewhat disappointing efforts; would rather take the upside of GETTING SERIOUS (#4, 8-1), the lone 3YO in this group; struggled with consistency early in the season, but she seems to have gotten things back on track at Colonial this summer; closed with a rush to go from last to first in that July victory, then was compromised by a sow pace against a tougher stakes field last time; a mile seems like her ideal distance. -David Aragona | Get Past Performances for this race

1:32 KEE 2nd CHASING EM (#7, 10-1) somewhat floundered around in the slop Sept. 11 switched from turf MSW debut to $50K main-track maidens. Still marked a step forward, and think she can improve again dropped to $30K and getting out to a long one-turn trip that might better suit her. Post-race work video came against an unraced maiden of questionable quality, but thought she went well enough. - Marcus Hersh | Get Past Performances for this race

2:11 WO 3rd TUTTI CONTENTI (#7, 8-1) just missed after prevailing in a three-way front-end battle in his much-improved last outing in a longer sprint at this level, for which he got a career high 76 Beyer. Apprentice Douglas retains the mount and might have his hole card. - Ron Gierkink | Get Past Performances for this race

2:16 BEL 3rd Not afraid of any of the favorites in there, so will instead take a shot with ADROIT(#5, 12-1), who gets on dirt for the first time; her pedigree leans more towards dirt, by Solomini out of a dam who produced multiple dirt winner Bad Larry ($189k); hasn't progressed much on grass, but did show some potential in her 2 sprints, staying on belatedly each time; don't mind this slight cutback as she switches surfaces. -David Aragona | Get Past Performances for this race

2:26 GP 5th CARCONE (#3, 3-1) a late running third when dropped for this tag for first time several weeks ago and clearly best of the bunch in light of unlucky trip that began with slow beginning from the rail and very wide trip into stretch. Taken to be along in time if able to secure better early position at the break. - Mike Welsch | Get Past Performances for this race

2:43 WO 4th NYCELY (#7, 8-1) has never cracked the top three, but the son of elite sire Nyquist has landed in a race devoid of early foot and could take some catching if allowed to roll early. - Ron Gierkink | Get Past Performances for this race

2:49 BEL 4th It doesn't appear that NUMEROLOGY (#3, 8-1) was facing much of quality on debut at Colonial, but not going to get overly caught up in comparing class lines with this lightly raced 2YOs; got away a step slowly and just ran like a filly who badly needed the experience and would want more distance; imposing daughter of Golden Pal has nothing but turf route pedigree on her dam's side; Graham Motion is 9/33 (27%, $2.90 ROI) with maiden 2nd time starters going from sprints to routes on turf over 5 years. - David Aragona | Get Past Performances for this race

3:23 BEL 5th AMBITION (#6, 10-1) can run on either surface, but appears to be a touch better on dirt; didn't have much chance when he last raced on this surface out of the Wilson Chute two back at Saratoga, trying to make up ground in a forwardly-dominated affair; his prior dirt form primarily came against tougher company; Chis Elliott has ridden him well in the past and now gets reunited with this guy as he makes his 2nd start off the claim for Rob Atras. - David Aragona | Get Past Performances for this race

3:40 KEE 6th 20-1 on TIMELESS VICTORY (#2, 20-1)? I doubt it. Got the summer off after two starts for this barn, neither anything to write home about. But he definitely was "fast enough" earlier this year at Gulfstream, and I'll guess this is an aggressive drop trying to win. - Marcus Hersh | Get Past Performances for this race

3:49 WO 6th STEELE TOWN (#6, 20-1) had worked decently prior to a slow-starting third at first asking in a $25K Tapeta sprint a month ago. The son of 11% turf route sire Mo Town is adding Lasix for the stretch-out and surface change and could put it all together. - Ron Gierkink | Get Past Performances for this race

4:12 KEE 7th CAVALLI (#4, 10-1), first foal to race from a once-started dam, has been working at Turfway toward debut - alas, no breeze video. Maybe I'm just getting sucked in by the high purchase price and fact he's by Flightline, but vibes feel positive. - Marcus Hersh | Get Past Performances for this race

4:18 LRL 9th BILL OF RIGHTS (#5, 4-1) is the only runner in the field with a win at this distance, which alleviates concerns about his recent string of starts in routes; what's more concerning is that he has not won since June 2025; he has finished in the money in five straight starts, so there's a ceiling and floor here; maybe he's just better than this group. - Patrick Moquin | Get Past Performances for this race

5:48 KEE 10th ERICA'S BEACH (#1, 8-1) not bad at KD making debut on turf. I'd consider both sire and dam versatile with regard to surface, though Goldencents offspring probably in the end prefer the dirt - and I think this filly might, too. Post-race workout video from Churchill at least suggets as much. -Marcus Hersh | Get Past Performances for this race

7:00 SA 7th MARLA HOOCH (#9, 5-2) starts from the outside of nine in an allowance race for California-bred fillies and mares at a mile on turf, her first start against winners since a half-length win in a maiden race for statebred fillies and mares at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 30. There is no reason to think Marla Hooch cannot be as effective against winners. She has a stalking style that has led to two first-place finishes in her seven-race career. -Steve Andersen | Get Past Performances for this race

7:28 MED 2nd TONGUE TWISTER (#6, 7-2) is a DRF Best Bet (Kenny Peck). | Get Past Performances for this race

7:30 SA 8th MAGIC WAVE (#8, 4-1) was a good second to the odds-on favorite Mystic Ride in a maiden race for 2-year-olds at Los Al on Sept. 18. Only five started. Magic Wave disputed the early pace but could not keep up with Mystic Ride, who drew away to win by 4 1-4 lengths. Magic Wave finished well clear of three rivals. In this maiden race-optional claimer at 6 1-2 furlongs, Magic Wave starts from the outside and is expected to be prominent early under jockey Tiago Pereira, who was aboard on Sept. 18. - Steve Andersen | Get Past Performances for this race

7:30 RP 1st ABSAROKA (#3, 6-1) has been a pro for a long time. Hey, you don't win 15 times by accident, eight of those coming here. That said, he's just 1 for 11 this year and you wonder at age 10 how many bullets he has left to fire. But at least you know he likes it here and handles the trip. - Michael Hammersly | Get Past Performances for this race

8:26 RP 3rd GOSPEL FABULOUS (#2, 6-1) set a brisk pace at PRM last time and fell apart in the lane. In her defense she not only used fuel early she was facing tougher and had been going well for months so could be that race was a sign she was 'over the top'. Well, she's been freshened since and drops and while she's 0 for 13 here she's run well enough often enough to indicate she handles this place (four seconds). Her speed can have her in it from the bell. - Michael Hammersly | Get Past Performances for this race

9:20 MED 6th PRETORIAN GOLD (#2, 6-1) is a deceptive upgrade candidate off his last try, when he made a premature bid after a slow start and he weakened late in a race that featured a severe edge to closers (note inverted "C" in DRF pp line, indicating a severe instance); his best back Beyers are much better and he could well run to them given a better trip/set up in his third start off the layoff. - Kenny Peck | Get Past Performances for this race

10:18 RP 7th HEDGE THE RISK (#3, 10-1) is back to turf which might be his best footing. He has tactical speed and versatility and it's encouraging one of the meet's leading riders takes the call. - Michael Hammersly  | Get Past Performances for this race