Frisky Thunder a heavy choice

Frisky Thunder, coming off two straight wins in similar $60,000 stakes, is 3-5 on the morning line in the Punch Line Stakes for Virginia-bred 3-year-olds and up at Colonial Downs.

Frisky Thunder won the Van Clief at 1 1/16 miles at Colonial on June 28 and the John Marshall Memorial on turf at the same five-furlong distance as the Punch Line two starts back.

Nobody else in the Punch Line field of six has ever hit the board in a stakes.

The lone negative is Frisky Thunder's trainer James Murphy's record with odds-on favorites. Of the last 24 he has started, he won with just eight, for a negative $2 return on investment of $1.14.

Should Frisky Thunder stumble, Power Jeans might benefit most. She's just 5 for 32, but she has the race's second-best Beyers and she's trained by Mark Shuman, who excels in turf sprints - 34 winners with his last 135 starters and a $2 ROI of $2.36.

A Reel Buster has a win and a second in two turf-sprint tries, but is still eligible for first-level allowance races and steps way up.