Drop from Dowd Mile to allowance company should serve Doby well

Doby found the competition in the Dowd Mile slightly too salty, but he can anchor late multi-race wagers Monday at Fonner Park as a solid chance to win a nonwinners-of-three allowance race.

:: To stay up to date, follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Doby is one of nine entrants in race 7, which is carded at six furlongs as the highest-class contest on Fonner’s eight-race card. Four-year-old Doby, trained by Stetson Mitchell, is listed at 9-2 on the morning line but surely will be a shorter price than that

He races with blinkers added following a one-paced fifth in the Dowd Mile, which was populated by rivals a cut or two above those he encounters Monday, and while Doby is far more experienced routing than sprinting, he missed by a head at this class level and distance while making his Fonner debut on March 31. The horse that nipped him at the wire that day, Scooter’s Boy, returned to win a nonwinners-of-four allowance and a no-conditions allowance, and merely repeating the March 31 performance should put Doby in the winner’s circle.

Fonner’s early 50-cent pick five covers the first five races on every card and starts with a pair of maiden special weights Monday followed by two allowance races. The maiden races are particularly inscrutable, but if a ticket can make it through those first four legs, Theboyfromjersey appears to have a strong chance to win race 5, a $5,000 conditioned claimer.

* Last Monday’s card was run under an intense inside speed bias, with horses on or just off the early lead and racing near the fence winning all eight races on the program.

* After winning just one race with 15 starters during the April 27-April 29 racing week, trainer Isai Gonzalez topped the standings during the most recent three-day week, going 4 for 10.