King: How I'll play Woodbine for Sunday, Nov. 25

Sunday’s play of the day at Woodbine centers on an angle I have found appealing in routes for 2-year-olds at this time of year: a youngster stretching out with a distance pedigree.

This angle horse, running in the fifth race, is Matthews’ Orb, who after sprinting three times might be ready to move forward at 1 1/16 miles. His pedigree would suggest so, being a son of Orb, the 2013 Kentucky Derby winner.

As for the female side of his family, dam Prized Stamp, whose biggest victory came in the seven-furlong, Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie, has dropped a mixture of sprinters and routers, a couple of whom earned black type. The best of those was admittedly sprinter Town Prize (by speed influence Speightstown), winner of the six-furlong Woodstock at Woodbine in 2012.

Turning to his form, Matthews’ Orb ran competitively in his first two starts, recording a second and a close fourth, before finishing seventh last out on Nov. 11 after being bumped at the start. Those efforts leave him as the 4-1 morning-line third choice for Sunday’s fifth race.

He obviously needs to run a lot better than he did on Nov. 11 if he is to have a chance at victory, but the potential exists for him to be in the mix with favorites Inventing Blame and Dramatic Kitten, two horses coming off in-the-money finishes.

With Woodbine having just a 15-percent takeout on rolling Daily Doubles, I’ll try him with three horses in that wager that begins with the fourth race. So the play is a $10, fourth-race Daily Double of 5,7,9 with 6 – for a total cost of $30.

Giant Mine (5), Miracle Silver (7), Cape Romance (9) are the representatives from the fourth, a nonwinners-of-two claimer, after which Matthews’ Orb (6) goes in the fifth.