Even at less than his best, Welder a threat in TRAO Classic Sprint

Welder is the 2-5 morning-line favorite to win the $55,000 TRAO Classic Sprint for the third year in a row on Tuesday at Will Rogers Downs, but is Welder the same horse now as he was a year ago?

Since winning his fourth straight race in the 2017 TRAO Classic Sprint, Welder has lost three of four races while going through two trainer changes. In the Highland Ice Stakes last month at Will Rogers, a race he won by two lengths in 2017, Welder faded to finish fourth as the 3-5 favorite.

Perhaps he just needed his first race back from a 4 ½-month winter break. Even at less than his 2017 peak, Welder will be competitive in the TRAO Classic Sprint, a six-furlong dash for Oklahoma-breds. The 6-year-old gelding is well drawn on the outside, but at something close to his morning-line odds, Welder comes carrying a buyer beware tag.

Topofthemountain was a 37-1 shot in the Highland Ice but finished second, almost two lengths in front of Welder while running far and away the best race of his life following a long layoff and a barn change. But a more interesting alternative to the favorite is Taxman’s Quest, who, unfortunately, figures considerably lower than his 5-1 morning-line odds. Taxman’s Quest spent last spring in Southern California trying open-stakes competition with no great success, but he has won all three of his stars in Oklahoma with relative ease. Taxman’s Quest hasn’t raced since July, but has fired fresh in the past and has strung together a series of encouraging workouts for trainer Roger Engel.

The TRAO goes as race 8, post time 4:16 Central, while the Tuesday card concludes in race 9 with the $55,000 Will Rogers Handicap for Oklahoma-bred 3-year-old colts and geldings.

It’s strange that Wildscore is the 123-pound highweight and gives three pounds to Kirk of Diamonds in the Will Rogers. Kirk of Diamonds is a two-time winner with a pair of stakes placings and earnings of more than $85,000, and he is the 5-2 morning-line favorite. Wildscore is a one-time winner of a little more than $25,000 in earnings whose lone success came in a $25,000 maiden-claiming race at Fair Grounds, and he is 5-1 on the line. Go figure.

Kirk of Diamonds is proven over a route of ground and has turned in a pair of solid recent performances over the Will Rogers racing surface. He looks like the right one, although Rookie Season and Private Stash merit consideration.