Ghost Is Clear's price dampens enthusiasm

Mike Maker sent out seven winners during the December meet at Turfway Park last year, making him the leading trainer. A bettor blindly betting the Maker stock might have cashed some tickets while watching his bankroll dwindle precipitously, as Maker’s $2 return on investment during that meet was a paltry $1.12. That’s because so many of his starters were what Ghost Is Clear figures to be in the featured seventh race on Sunday at Turfway – an odds-on favorite.

Ghost Is Clear is one of seven entrants in the second-level allowance, which is also open to $40,000 claimers and carded for 6 1/2 furlongs. We know those conditions suit Ghost Is Clear since he was last seen 11 months ago winning exactly that kind of race by two lengths. Ghost Is Clear scored Jan. 8 at odds of 4-5, and while he is listed at 6-5 on the morning line Sunday, bettors don’t often let long layoffs from the Maker barn dampen their enthusiasm, and Ghost Is Clear’s sparkling record at Turfway – 6-5-1-0 – plus a steady local work pattern does make him look formidable.

Formidable, of course, is not the same as fairly priced, and while it’s encouraging that Maker, who owns Ghost Is Clear with Jana Wagner, still thinks his horse is worth $40,000, it’s worth wondering why Ghost Is Clear has raced just two times in the last 20 months.

One victory behind Maker in the December 2015 Turfway trainer standings was Kim Hammond, whose six winners produced a $2.05 ROI. And there, drawn on the rail in the Sunday feature, is the Hammond-trained Snow Leopard. We also know that Snow Leopard fits this class level since he won under the same conditions by more than five lengths when last seen Sept. 30 at Indiana Grand.

What we don’t know is whether Snow Leopard can run as well on synthetic surfaces – which he never has tried – as on dirt, but at three or four times Ghost Is Clear’s price, that might be an answer worth more to find out than whether Ghost Is Clear still has his old spark.

One more to consider for the win slot: Above the Bar. His connections enter him under allowance conditions Sunday, and while Above the Bar has only three modest thirds from his trio of Turfway starts, all of those came around two turns, and Above the Bar just might enjoy cutting back to a longer sprint.