King's preview: Looking for a price in Dogwood

Unlike the past two Saturdays, when Churchill Downs shared the Kentucky racing stage with Kentucky Downs, Churchill is the only horse racing game in the state Saturday.

Yet it didn’t do much to help the field sizes for the races Saturday, with most of the dirt races over the first half of the card having rather short fields. Thankfully, there is just one early scratch on the card, the also-eligible Daisy Fuzz (#11) in race 4, a maiden race on the turf.

The Grade 3 Dogwood for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs is a quality race and offers a contentious field of 10, with the favorite being Fiftyshadesofgold (#2) at 2-1.

Though she is the most likely winner, having won the Eight Belles here in the spring before fourth-place finishes in the Acorn and Test, 2-1 odds seem skimpy.

The value-based choice is Thank You Marylou (#7, 4-1), who may slip past the betting public a bit after three consecutive unplaced finishes. But examine her form in greater detail, and it becomes apparent she is better than she appears on paper. Two of her last three races came in Grade 1 races, and another was in the slop, which she might not have liked.

Another filly of interest is Milam (#4, 7-2), who came within a half-length of Fiftyshadesofgold when second in the Eight Belles. She also ran third in the Grade 3 Victory Ride this summer after falling father off the pace than usual.

Spot plays

Third race: Centella (#1, 8-5) is a good horse to single in early multi-race gimmicks; gets blinkers taken off after being a little too aggressive in her latest at Ellis Park and has hot-riding Corey Lanerie up in the irons.

Sixth race: Little Norwegian (#2, 7-2) returns to her preferred surface, dirt, where her two best performances have come. Her lone win came on the Churchill main track last year.