Friday’s TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Big Mara can rebound with a clean trip

Aqueduct | Race 7 | Post Time 4:44 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs

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There's a lot going on in this race. You have horses with strong recent form, such as Andesine (#7) and Bee Noteworthy (#8), who figure to take plenty of action on the tote board. But you're also presented with puzzling runner Vicki's Dancer (#2), who has run plenty of races that would beat this field but who hasn't been seen since last May. You can make reasonable cases for almost every participant in this race, so I want to find the one who figures to offer the best value.

I think that horse will be BIG MARA (#3).

Big Mara’s two starts at this level are likely to turn off most horseplayers, but she actually ran better than it appears on both occasions. Two back, she was stymied down inside around the far turn while eager to run and then was never able to get off the rail in the stretch. Then, last time, she was steadied and out of position early before getting bumped and losing momentum at the top of the stretch. She possesses more speed than that, and I expect Junior Alvarado, who has ridden her well in the past, to put her in the game earlier this time. If she runs back to her efforts from last summer, she can beat this bunch.

THE PLAY

Win: 3

Exacta Key Box: 3 with 1,2,7,8

Trifecta: 3 with 1,7,8 with 1,2,5,7,8