King: Churchill review of Friday, May 23

Churchill Downs review of Friday, May 23

A day for debuting horses
First-time starters fared well Friday at Churchill, winning three races. And in two of those three races, debuting horses captured more than first place.

Lucky Player and Corps of Discovery ran one-two in the second race, a baby race at five furlongs in which the three other competitors had already started. And in the sixth, debuting runners captured the top four spots, with Valala narrowly prevailing.

The other first-out winner was Shaun’s Blessing, who won a straight maiden race at 1 1/16 miles on the turf in race eight, even after a slow break that forced him to play catch-up.

In the case of Lucky Player and Valala, both started for trainers known for winning early with their runners: Steve Asmussen and Bret Calhoun, respectively.

Shaun’s Blessing is trained by Charlie LoPresti, whose reputation is patience. Shaun’s Blessing is owned by Stonestreet Stables, a new client for LoPresti, who is known for training two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan.

Two allowance winners impress
Bellarmine and Full Dancer each took allowances Friday, and both were good-looking winners.

The former was confidently handled by Alan Garcia, and finished well from behind a modest pace to score by two lengths in the seventh, a third-level allowance. He raced 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.65, and might be ready for a small stakes in the near future.

Full Dancer then romped a couple races later in the ninth, taking a first-level allowance under Calvin Borel by 7 lengths, even after being hounded on the lead through quick early splits. His time for 1 1/16 miles was also sharp, 1:43.99.

Full Dancer was claimed earlier this year by owner Charles Kardoush for a mere $5,000 at Oaklawn on March 9.

A horse to bet against
Pocket Medal appeared to stand out in the fifth race, a $5,000 claiming race, coming off a second-place finish at Churchill May 1 and facing a lackluster group. And during much of the running, he looked like a winner, with jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. having him well positioned without having to ask much of him coming into the stretch.

But once Pocket Medal pulled alongside Archenland in the stretch, and even took a narrow lead, he soon began to falter, showing an apparent lack of determination and ultimately losing by a half-length to Archenland.

Pocket Medal was claimed out of the race by trainer Angel Montano, who over the years has done well with low-end claimers, but until this horse starts showing more fight, he is a horse to play against in the win pool in his subsequent starts. The take here is to use him in gimmick wagers, as he often hits the board, but leave him out of the top spot.

Horse to Watch
Celebrategoodtimes
Trainer: Steve Margolis
Last race: May 23, 6th
Finish: 3rd by 1/2
Debuting against straight maiden company, she was off awkwardly and then raced greenly while taking dirt in her face when fourth down the backstretch. Once guided into the clear she finished best, closing rapidly to be third. The final time of the race was modest – 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:05.83 – but this filly has promise.