Remember when you took Thoroughbred Handicapping 101 and they told you that – rule of thumb – favorites win about a third of the races? How quaint. A 33 percent favorite strike rate these days falls at the low end of the spectrum. The chalk as of June 19 had won 42 percent of the 129 races run so far this Monmouth meet. Seems kind of high until you look back to 2018, when Monmouth favorites hit at a 49 percent clip. Epona’s Hope has been made the 8-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s $100,000 Goldwood Stakes at Monmouth. Paco Lopez, who has won 25 of those 129 races at the meet despite missing a couple days with out-of-town mounts, has the call on Epona’s Hope, who is plunging in class into a modest edition of the Goldwood, a 5 1/2-furlong female-restricted grass sprint. She exits a solid third-place finish in a salty renewal of the Grade 3 Unbridled Sidney at Churchill Downs, won by rising divisional star Queen Maxima. Ag Bullet finished seventh in that race and returned to capture the Grade 1 Jaipur. A horse like Ag Bullet would be 1-10 in the Goldwood. Epona’s Hope figures closer to 3-5 than 8-5 and figures to add another win to the favorites’ ledger. Epona’s Hope drew the outside post among eight entered, an ideal spot for Lopez to dole out her ample early speed. Five-year-old Epona’s Hope was just another decent Florida-bred before previous trainer Eddie Plesa switched her to turf in April 2024. She won that day, and over the winter at Gulfstream, Epona’s Hope rattled off three in a row, an allowance and two stakes. Tyler Servis took over her training before the Unbridled Sidney, and anything close to baseline form lands Epona’s Hope a fifth win from seven grass starts. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Rosie Jeeks would look like just another 15-1 shot jumping into a stakes after a first-level allowance win, but she resides in the Chad Brown barn and thus will attract greater attention. She’s listed at 9-2 and would offer far worse value at that price than Drifaros at her 6-1 morning line. Drifaros has raced only once on turf, finishing a creditable fourth in the 2024 Goldwood, and if anyone is going to keep Epona’s Hope from raising even higher the percentage of winning Monmouth favorites, it’s she. Plans for Book’em Danno Trainer Derek Ryan doesn’t yet know – or at least won’t reveal – where crack sprinter Book’em Danno will race next, but he knows where the 4-year-old New Jersey-bred gelding won’t, namely, any race at six furlongs. Book’em Danno was at the very bottom of his distance preference, Ryan believes, when he won the 6 1/2-furlong True North on June 7 at Saratoga. Ryan has marked on the schedule a return trip there for the Forego on Aug. 23, a seven-furlong Grade 1. Book’em Danno will race in July but only at seven furlongs or one mile, said Ryan, who also has ruled out a trip to the Breeders’ Cup for either the six-furlong Sprint or the two-turn Dirt Mile. Ryan said Book’em Danno could have his first work since the True North, an easy three furlongs, on Sunday at Monmouth. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.