DRF's Horse Racing Playbook for Sunday, April 19, 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.
12:55 GP 1st Giving the second-timer BOOKS (#12, 10-1) a big chance, given the immediate drop in class and her favorable open-air outside-box draw; slow start did her no favors when caboosing a short field in her debut 6 Sundays ago. -Marty McGee
2:53 GP 5th ETERNAL PEACE (#2, 6-1) gets a fresh start for a HOF trainer (Attfield) whose charges tend to come alive in springtime; serious Payson drills appear to have her on the razor’s edge. -Marty McGee
3:05 OP 3rd SACRED UNION (#8, 7-2) has experience at this mile and a sixteenth distance and is further appealing as one who has been facing steeper. -Mary Rampellini
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3:15 TAM 6th Like the late Pick 4 sequence here on Sunday. Consider using several in each leg, starting with INDIAN GULCH (#1, 10-1) lost any chance at the start in his latest, a race where he was favored after dropping to this same level following several starts against open claimers; with a clean getaway he clearly has license to run to his best recent figures, which are plenty good enough to put him on the short list of contenders, and he figures to offer some value off that ugly -- but forgivable -- running line. BIG MONEY MACHINE (#2, 9-2) is making that drop from open, richer claimers into a restricted claimer for $5,000, and he is eligible to improve given the class relief; he does like to run 2nd, making a relatively short price a little tough to take, but he’s certainly one to use in exotics. -Kenny Peck
3:45 TAM 7th TILSA (#5, 4-1) comes from the red-hot Thomas barn; she’s the first starter out of the dam, who was a stakes-placed grass horse, and works suggest she has some speed. ENOUGH KISSES (#10, 20-1) could be the right value play, as she could be overlooked in the wagering despite some breezes that hint at some ability; out of a dam who won four races, two of them on the grass. SASSY SASS (#4, 7-2) is a threat based on the connections alone, as trainer Christophe Clement is always tough here with firsters on the grass; full sister to More Ice, who was a multiple stakes-placed turfer. -Kenny Peck
3:53 GP 7th PUT POSITION (#9, 6-1) is a DRF Best Bet (Marty McGee).
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4:15 TAM 8th BACK PAGE (#6, 20-1) is interesting at a price, as he looms the main speed in this sprint, which is otherwise seemingly short on pace; he may finally be able to shake loose today, and that’s a luxury he hasn’t had since his last win, back in August. -Kenny Peck
4:36 OP 6th HERE’S CARLOS (#8, 9-2) is back in the claiming ranks after facing starter allowance foes. -Mary Rampellini
4:45 TAM 9th RANK AND FILE (#6, 12-1) was well off the board in his turf debut last time but a slow start cost her her best chance; she was moving well enough through the lane to suggest she has more ability than she showed there, and trainer James Gulick does very well with grass sprinters. -Kenny Peck
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4:55 GP 9th All of a sudden TRAPPEZOID (#3, 7-2) is back in the form he flashed as a young steed in his early Ky. days, launching big stretch runs to win off by himself. First start of the spring-summer meet finds him on what amounts to a subtle class raise, albeit not an insurmountable one if he can just keep doing what he did to end the championship meet. -Marty McGee
5:25 GP 10th ALL QUALITY (#3, 6-1) had a terrible trip from post 11 when returning from a layoff March 7, but was only beaten two lengths in that first-level optional claimer. --Ron Gierkink
5:38 OP 8th JACCAT (#2, 6-1) was second at this level last out at Santa Anita. -Mary Rampellini
6:09 OP 9th TWO THIRTY FIVE (#2, 5-1) returns to the overnight ranks after five consecutive stakes starts and notice in one of those races, the San Pasqual, he finished in front of Combatant, next-out winner of the Santa Anita Handicap. -Mary Rampellini
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