King's preview: Three spot plays for Sunday
Nice juvenile race in the fourth
What looks to be a promising 2-year-old maiden race goes in the fourth Sunday at Churchill Downs, with the race attracting first-timers trained by Steve Asmussen, Mark Casse, and Ian Wilkes, plus Heart’s Song, who ran second in her only prior start for trainer Bill Connelly.
Going 5 1/2 furlongs, it is one of the longer “baby” races of the meet, and with most of these accustomed to working four furlongs and the occasional five-eighths, there could be some tired horses over the final sixteenth.
With trainer Mark Casse rolling with his juveniles this spring and with his entrant, Make the Sun Shine, fetching $700,000 at auction at a 2-year-old sale at OBS in March, she seems the most probable winner. She also has been working quickly leading up to her first race.
Sunday’s turf races are the best wagering races
There are a pair of grass races on the Sunday card, and in what has become a regular theme, they offer the deepest fields. The sixth race, a first-level allowance for older fillies and mares, has eight entered for the grass, and the eighth race for second-level allowance mares landed 12 in the entry box, though after a couple of early scratches, the field stands at 10 as of this writing early Sunday morning.
Dry weather should leave the turf course firm.
Spot plays
Race 3
PRACTICE TEE (#1, 5-1) invades from Indiana for a barn that has been on a roll since the start of the year. He won two starts ago before losing his rider in his latest when unable to avoid a fallen horse.
Race 5
DEFOE STREET (#6, 5-2) won two claiming races in a row before finishing third last time out in an allowance with a 75 Beyer; suits the conditions of this $30,000 starter race perfectly.
Race 7
ROCKET TME (#3, 2-1) ran third in a fast race when debuting and now adds blinkers for his second start; a good single in multi-race gimmicks.
Early scratches
Race 6
#10 AE-MTO Hunting Hill
Race 8
#5 Heart of Destiny; #12 Allegheny Angel
Race 9
#9 Favorite Coach