Friday’s TimeformUS Highlight Horse: An improved Andesine will be tough to hold off

Aqueduct | Race 7 | Post Time 3:58 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs | Not already a TimeformUS member? Sign up

Palladian Bridge (#1) seems like a deserving favorite here. She defeated a couple of today’s rivals two back and then ran a strong second behind the accomplished filly Quezon when stepped up to stakes company. A repeat of either of those performances makes her a likely winner of this race. However, she is facing some worthy rivals. Silly Sister (#8) should attract some support as she returns from a lengthy layoff for Linda Rice. I’ll use her defensively, but I’m more interested in horses coming out of the eighth race on Jan. 25.

That event was won by Startwithsilver, who ran down the entire field with a fantastic finish. She was able to make such an effective late move because the early pace was relatively fast. The horse setting those early fractions was Zealous Scholar (#3). I think she’s dangerous once again, especially after the scratch of her main pace rival Sandy Belle. However, she usually comes to a stop at the end of her races and may not be able to hang on.

The horse I want to bet out of that race is ANDESINE (#2). This mare has improved significantly in recent starts. She indicated that she had turned a corner with an impressive claiming win two back, and her last effort was just as good. Considering that she’s typically a closer, she was actually very close to that quick early pace set by Zealous Scholar. She had to briefly wait for room coming around the far turn and kicked strongly once clear in the stretch. If she shows that same tactical speed again here, she should sit a perfect trip.

THE PLAY

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