Dunleavy: How I'd play Monmouth on Saturday, Aug. 16
The Saturday card at Monmouth starts off and concludes with races I don’t have a really good feel for. But the middle of the card, races 5 to 8, is interesting and appears playable.
Saturday morning update: The Race 6 scratches of Call to Action (My lone "A" horse) and Previous Honor (One of two C horses) have altered my pick three tickets.
I will now be playing a $14 ticket covering races 5-7 and a $28 ticket covering races 6-8.
Here’s a look at the sequence.
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Race 5
I am going to single Ghost Hunter to start ticket No. 1. Trainer Jamie Ness claimed him on June 4 from Bill Mott, who dropped him from a first-level allowance in March into a $25,000 restricted claimer.
Ghost Hunter lagged back early in the June 4 race as an odds-on favorite and then left his rivals wondering what hit them in the stretch, winning the mile race by 5 3/4 lengths and earning a 78 Beyer Speed Figure.
Ness sent Ghost Hunter to Presque Isle for his next start and he sat off the pace in a mile and 70-yard first-level allowance at two turns and then finished nicely to win by 6 3/4 lengths and earn an 85 Beyer.
On Saturday, rather than jump Ghost Hunter up to a second-level allowance, Ness has him in comfortably spotted in a $25,000 starter allowance race. He is eligible because he has only three career wins.
Race 6
With the scratch of Call to Action, I am just going to use all seven horses in this race.
Race 7
Visionary Ruler is a New Jersey-bred who is based in Kentucky with trainer Bret Calhoun. He finished second to the ultra-fast Rainbow Heir in a NJ-bred allowance two races back. Rainbow Heir came out of that race to win the open Teddy Drone Stakes on Haskell Day.
In his most recent start, Visionary Ruler was fifth, beaten 2 3/4 lengths, in an open turf sprint allowance at Indiana Grand.
Calhoun ships him back to his home state for another statebred allowance and without Rainbow Heir in the lineup, he should prove pretty salty.
I am going to use Gadget Man as a B selection. Gadget Man finished with a quick burst after overcoming trouble in the stretch of a first-level allowance on Haskell Day. Trainer Joseph Pierce Jr. shortens him up to a sprint here and he is sharp and dangerous.
Race 8
Gourmet Delight won a turf allowance for Pierce in his last start despite steadying on the far turn and racing in tight quarters along the rail in the stretch. The performance was good enough that Pierce sent him to Saratoga for a restricted stakes race in his next start but he finished seventh. He should fit well in this first-level allowance.
I will also use One Golden Road. He finished second, beaten 1 1/4 lengths, at this level in his last race. He likely would have been closer but he ducked in during the stretch run when passing the part of the course where the chute meets the main oval and he had to be straightened.
Here are two $1 pick three tickets:
Race 5
7 / 1-2-3-6-7-8-9 / 4-11
Total: $14
Race 6
1-2-3-6-7-8-9 / 4-11 / 4-10
Total: $28