With 27 winners so far during 2023 and a robust 25 percent strike rate, Lindsay Schultz, in her second full year as a trainer, has done well by herself. She has done well, too, by bettors who wager on her horses. During 2022, Schultz’s 14 winners produced a $2.94 return on investment, a big number, and even on higher volume and as a more recognizable name during 2023, her ROI stood at $2.63 as of Wednesday. Alex Joon, who starts Friday in Keeneland’s featured ninth race, could further boost that stat. Alex Joon is listed at 15-1 on the morning line, not an unreasonable guess at his price considering the depth and breadth of this group. A third-level allowance carded for one mile on turf, the race drew an overflow field of entrants with a dozen in the race’s main body and four more entered main-track only. Showers are likely Thursday into Friday in Lexington, but because the weather has been very dry, it would take a considerable amount of rain to move Friday’s turf races to dirt. Easter and Strong Quality are the likely favorites. Easter, a 5-year-old French import trained by Graham Motion, comes off a close second-place finish racing over 1 1/8 miles on Saratoga turf at this class level. His four wins all have come at one mile, and Easter, racing for the first time since Aug. 24, is fresh and dangerous under Flavien Prat. :: Bet Keeneland with confidence! Get DRF PPs, Picks and more. It’s been about seven weeks since Strong Quality set the pace and faded to fourth in the restricted Tapit Stakes at Kentucky Downs. Strong Quality ran on short rest that day, having started Aug. 12 in the Grade 1 Arlington Million at Colonial Downs, and only the last five of Strong Quality’s 13 races have come on turf, leaving him relatively unexposed. He went wire to wire over the Keeneland course in April in a 1 1/16-mile second-level allowance race, though fall turf at Keeneland is different than spring, and Strong Quality, a one-way front-runner, might better suit slightly longer distances than one mile. Improving 4-year-old Forever Souper enters after consecutive turf allowance wins at Monmouth Park; he was much the best in both races. Main Event, a Grade 3 turf winner last year, and longshot Tatanka will vie with Strong Quality for the lead. The more pace, the better Alex Joon’s chance. In April, Alex Joon raced too close to a muddling pace going 1 1/8 miles in a Keeneland second-level allowance, finishing third. On Friday, he could run more like he did last October at Keeneland, where he finished fastest in a 12-runner turf mile, just missing second in another second-level allowance. Schultz had a good turf allowance winner Oct. 13 at Keeneland when Highestdistinction just got home at 5-2. Alex Joon would do a lot more for the ROI. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. ◗ Highly regarded 2-year-old Dornoch will make his next start Dec. 2 in the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct if he doesn’t run the week before in the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs. Trainer Danny Gargan said Wednesday the Remsen was the more likely spot. Second in the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth, Dornoch won a Keeneland maiden dirt route Oct. 14 by 6 1/2 lengths, a performance that yielded an 86 Beyer. “He’s still green,” said Gargan. “You can only do so much with a horse like this because he’ll work too fast. He’s got to work it out racing.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.