King's preview: Saving best race for last

Churchill Downs enters its final three-day race week of the September meet Friday before racing shifts to Keeneland.

Friday’s program begins with a late-afternoon post of 2:45 p.m. Eastern, and offers several good races, most notably over the second half of the card. Two straight maiden races for 2-year-olds go as the sixth and eighth; a first-level allowance for babies is carded as the ninth, and the day’s best race, a second-level allowance on turf that goes as the 10^th and final race.

Three scratches from the last race unfortunately reduced the field from 11 to 8 – with Talkin Bout, More Respect, and Rinella Bay being withdrawn from the race.

Flashy Gal is the filly most likely to take the 10^th. She won a first-level allowance over this course in June before heading up to Saratoga and running fourth in a second-level allowance there. She also owns Beyer Speed Figures of 80 or higher in three straight races.

Faerie Queene beat Flashy Gal by three quarters of a length when they met at Churchill in May. But Faerie Queene has not run as well in her last couple starts as the top choice, though she did pick up a stalking placing earlier in the summer.

Intriguing allowance for 2-year-olds

Although the list of contenders seems short, the few top prospects appear to have promise, making the ninth race an intriguing race, particularly with all the horses in the field stretching out in distance.

Handy Candy finished powerfully to score by a nose in a six-furlong race when debuting Sept. 6 – a rare first-out winner for trainer Ian Wilkes, whose horses typically improve as they gain experience. This one should benefit from stretching out from six furlongs to a mile.

Also appearing to have talent is Rod McLeod, who won his debut at Churchill in the spring before getting dusted in the Saratoga Special this summer. Fast recent works from him seem to suggest a return to form is in order.

And Big Big Easy offers some degree of appeal, as well, returning to his best surface on dirt after going unplaced in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile on turf. He is the only horse in the race with a win at the distance, having won a maiden race two starts ago at a mile at Indiana Downs.

Spot plays

Race 5: Exploden Moonshine (#5, 10-1) is the value-based choice, coming off a close third in a first-level optional claimer on turf at Ellis Park and now going in a starter. The betting public seems likely to overlook her on the surface switch, believing her to be faster on turf than dirt, but perhaps she just improved last time when under the care of trainer Lon Wiggins, who claimed her at Ellis Park this summer.

Race 8t: Sourcesandmethods (#4, 7-2) was backed down to 8-5 odds vs. Holy Boss first out, and though he couldn't keep up - finishing a distant second - he acts like his has talent. He gets off the fence, a position from which he broke poorly in his debut, and starts for a barn that does well with second-time starters.

Early changes

Race 4 #1 Olliemae scratched

# 5 Joe's U. K. Girl scratched

# 8 Zenittowinit scratched

Race 8 #9 Obsidian Splendor scratched

#5 Chantmeupbaby jockey change: Joe Johnson

Race 9 #4 Sunshine’s Son Bob scratched

Race 10 #2 Talkin Bout scratched

#10 More Respect scratched

# 11Rinella Bay scratched