DRF's Horse Racing Playbook for Wednesday, March 18, 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.
1:00 GULFSTREAM 1st ABOVE PAR (#9, 9-2) shown little in two starts but neither was on turf, and his sire, Street Boss, is my favorite turf-sprint stallion in N America. He could make the front while dropping in class and has kept active on work tab through trainer change. – Marcus Hersh
1:45 TAMPA 3rd LITTLE NICOLE (#7, 2-1) was against the race flow in that last one, as she was looking to come from off the pace and the fractions were very slow, but she did well to rally for the place finishing well clear of SUNSHINE SMILES in third; shortens up for this but she should get a much better set up in terms of pace, which should enable her to make the last run. -Kenny Peck
3:18: TAMPA 6th, straight exacta 8-4 DANVILLE (#8, 5-2) suggested earlier at this 2019-20 meet that he should be able to get through his maiden condition when he closed strongly to be second for a $32,000 tag in early January. He then met an unusually tough crew a few weeks afterward, then was stymied by traffic when Chad Stewart dropped him in for this $16,000 tag four weeks ago – but now he should have clear sailing with this outer post and Gallardo staying put. Look for him to close stoutly to record an overdue first, with LUNAG RI (#4, 9-5) also moving along late to complete the cold exacta. - Marty McGee
:: Bet the races online with DRF Bets. New members get $250 bonus
3:18 TAMPA 6th DANVILLE (#8, 5-2) is a DRF Best Bet (Kenny Peck).
3:34 GULFSTREAM 6th JUNGLE WARRIOR (#2, 6-1) shows up tagged for first time in his career as well as a new gelding. Working well enough to merit plenty of respect, especially with Irad taking call. -Mike Welsch
:: Shop DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Digital Paper, Picks and more
3:48 TAMPA 7th FORTLITE (#1, 9-2) seemed to have run while stalking the two speeds, including the favorite and eventual winner, but he was floated wide on the turn and never showed much punch in the lane thereafter; makes his first start off the claim today and can be expected to revert to frontrunning tactics today given the expected race flow and his inside draw. -Kenny Peck
4:18 TAMPA 8th VERY REPLACEABLE (#6, 2-1) caught the eye with a solid late run two back at this same distance, and though he benefited from a fast opening fractions in his latest he was moving very well through the lane, just missing on the wire; seems to have found the right group, assuming he gets at least some help from the pacesetters. -Kenny Peck
4:24 FAIR GROUNDS 7th AIN’T NO ELMERS (#6, 9-5) really caught the eye in her career debut. Work pattern since is encouraging & trainer reported the other day she’s looked as good in the flesh as those drills do on paper. Formidable with these. – Marcus Hersh
:: Get the DRF GamePlan Playbook each day with a DRF+ Pro subscription. Purchase here.
4:36 GULFSTREAM 8th ELUSIVE RO (#6, 9-2) has won both his starts since being claimed & has been freshened up by competent connections for this move from claiming into starter-allowance competition. Think he’s good enough because I don’t like either of the two favorites. One is entered at the wrong distance, the other about to regress to his longer-term mean. – Marcus Hersh
5:07 GULFSTREAM 9th JAKARTA (#5, 6-1) in dangerous hands for turf bow and training extremely well for 2020 bow. Bred well enough to handle the going. Might not look back. -Mike Welsch
:: To stay up to date, follow DRF on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter