King's preview: Three spot plays for Friday

Friday, June 27, preview

Racing returns under the lights

The final Downs After Dark card is Friday, with first post at 6 p.m. Eastern and continuing until almost 11, when the last of 10 races is set to go off. Skies are clear at this writing Friday morning, though weather forecasts call for the possibility of scattered showers late in the afternoon and into the evening.

Two allowances anchor the night’s races, with the eighth race for third-level female allowance turf runners going off first, followed by the ninth, an entry-level allowance sprint, this one for males.

Handicapping the eighth

Run a Risk (#1,7-2), part of an entry with Honey Lake (#1A, 7-2) due to common ownership, is the choice to take the eighth. She seems to be rounding into form and looks ready for a breakout effort, provided this race stays on grass. She is stakes-placed on turf and showed her class to win an allowance at Saratoga in 2013.

Pappascat (#2, 5-2) and Via Villaggio (#5, 9-2) also rank as contenders.

The former has won three of seven races, showing the versatility to handle dirt and turf. She easily won a second-level allowance May 31 on the Churchill main track but also won on the local turf in June 2013.

Via Villaggio, the winner of the Grade 3 Railbird in 2012, must be respected on the basis of her back class, but one gets the impression that she prefers racing on synthetic tracks over turf.

Analysis of the ninth

The ninth race appears wide-open and seems a good race to go deep in the multirace exotics.

Relentless Spirit (#3, 4-1) gets a slight edge, having been second and third in two starts at this meet in similar allowances. But there is not a large gap back to the others.

Mio D’Oro (#10, 4-1) and Back Off Buddy (#1, 9-2) are prominent contenders. The former held second after setting the pace in a May 17 race at Churchill, running a 78 Beyer Speed Figure, and he ran even Beyers – an 87 and an 88 – in a pair of main-track races at Gulfstream over the winter. Back Off Buddy, on the other hand, had a troubled trip when fourth last out as the favorite but had previously been third here in a race May 1, a neck behind runner-up Relentless Spirit that day.

SPOT PLAYS

Race 1

HERD MENTALITY (#5, 3-1) owns the top last-race Beyer, an 80, posted in finishing second at this $30,000 nonwinners-of-two class level. He has good sprint form since blinkers were added, and he may go off as the second choice due to class-dropping Mr. Right taking action.

Race 4

FINDING CANDY (#2, 4-1) caught the eye with a four-length romp against $25,000 claimers in which he circled the field four wide. He also ran quickly, posting an 88 Beyer, suggesting he could repeat on the rise to $50,000.

Race 10

BUCK MAGIC (#3, 7-2) makes his first start for a tag in this maiden $50,000 claimer and should benefit from a return to the Churchill dirt, where he ran his best race when second in a race here last November. He has been on turf and Polytrack in his last two starts.