DRF's Horse Racing Playbook for Friday, October 16, 2020

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 KEE 1st LIBERTY BELLE (#2, 12-1) took a touch of action in career debut (considering low frequency of barn’s first-time-starting winners) but broke from the rail, got in behind horses, tucked her tail and called it a day. Find it meaningful that competent trainer holds firm for the $50K tag with youngster that cost only $10K. Worked back 5f and suspect she’ll show much more now. -Marcus Hersh

1:20 LRL 2nd FLIGHT MAP (#6, 5-1) has a stamina-based pedigree as a son of Liam’s Map and turf-route winner Tizjet, a mare by two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic hero Tiznow. Perhaps that will give him the natural bottom to last this demanding seven-furlong debut distance. Working steadily since late-August with a couple of bullets in the holster. September 25 workout matches up with Rubley’s Speed Lane, a troubled third in a $40,000 waiver maiden on October 8 with a 48 Beyer. Perhaps they worked in company. -Dan Illman

1:39 KEE 2nd MONEY INTHE STARRS (#8, 8-1) is a DRF Best Bet (Marcus Hersh).

2:33 BEL 5th BUFFET (#7, 6-1) showed speed over a sloppy track two back then caught another wet track here four days ago and lost all chance at the start; back quickly with a chance to do better over fast dirt based on her debut, where she had a troubled trip vs. better in a race that was run at a fast pace. -Mike Beer

2:38 LRL 4th JESTFUL (#9, 7-2) is a DRF Best Bet (Dan Illman).

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2:45 KEE 4th Maker barn winning with everything right now, including two out of last six 2yo firsttime starters in turf MSWs. There’s one slight gap way back in first-time starter RISK MANAGER’s (#5, 6-1) work pattern, but it is only slight and in general the tab is very strong. Don’t see a lot to fear from those that’ve raced. -Marcus Hersh

3:06 BEL 6th BIG PACKAGE (#10, 4-1) ran well in both turf sprint starts as a 2yo before trying his luck on dirt, then returned to turf off the layoff and pulled off an upset while making a game late run through some traffic; took another big step forward last time when just failing to run down the talented Maxwell Esquire after that one got the jump. -Mike Beer

3:18 KEE 5th Don’t pay too much heed to the 12-furlong Kentucky Downs flop from a wide draw from SCOTT POND (#4, 5-1), and his 9f turf try first time out was considerably better. His regular workout track is the Keeneland dirt and he should find this soft-looking field of $30K maidens much more pliant than the MSWs the first two tries. -Marcus Hersh

3:58 GPW 8th CUY (#11, 5-1) gets the nod if the race stays on the lawn. His races on turf stand out and he could be sitting on a big effort in the third start of his current form cycle. -Randy Goulding

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4:18 LRL 7th TASTES LIKE PLAID (#1, 12-1) benefited from a drop to conditioned claiming competition as he rebounded from a couple of dull starter-optional efforts. Tracked three wide at the back of the pack, bid three and four wide on the turn and was getting away late. That was a promising return from a short layoff, but he steps back up in class and catches a field without much early zip. Demand value. -Dan Illman

4:35 WO 1st SPANISH MATADOR (#7, 8-1) has won two in a row, against $10K maidens and NW2 types, with Beyers in the 70s. The lightly-raced 4yo could keep his roll going in this NW3 tilt with Kimura replacing Stein, who’s sticking with speedy Conquistador. -Ron Gierkink

5:08 WO 2nd SLIP KID (#2, 8-1) prevailed in a front-end battle before fading to third in a longer sprint at this price Sept. 4. The durable 9yo used a closing style in his July 26 turf tally, and the switch to the patient Fukumoto suggests that he’ll be coming from off the pace here in search of his 16th synthetic track win. -Ron Gierkink

5:20 BEL 10th KERRY GIRL (#7, 10-1) just went evenly first time out in a race that was won from last-to-first, but she was always on the outside in that spot while never really getting a chance to settle, and she raced on to the end while never a threat; well-bred filly adds blinkers and can do better with a more comfortable trip second time out. -Mike Beer

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6:45 WO 5th SOCIETY MISFIT (#3, 8-1) got away slowly before rallying from ninth to third when going from $15K to this $5K maiden level two weeks ago. Stein is sticking with the 3yo, who might be poised to put it all together in his fourth start off the shelf. -Ron Gierkink

8:12 WO 8th MYCRAZYLIFE (#5, 10-1) is a DRF Best Bet (Ron Gierkink).

10:27 RP 6th SPRING STEEN (#7, 4-1) moves back into the Oklahoma-bred ranks for the Oklahoma Classics Night Distaff Sprint after running second against open allowance foes at Canterbury in a race that went in good time. For the effort, she earned what ranks as this field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure. -Mary Rampellini

12:19 RP 10th ROCKPORT KAT (#1, 12-1) returns to Oklahoma-bred company for an Oklahoma Classics Night “starter stakes” that he won in 2019. -Mary Rampellini