Saturday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Southern District should get right pace setup on turnback

Aqueduct | Race 7 | Post Time 3:55 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs | Not already a TimeformUS member? Sign up

Three Jokers (#4) will be pretty tough for this field to handle if he repeats his last race when gamely he chased home the talented Core Conviction going this distance. He got a pretty wide trip that day and seemed to appreciate the turnback in distance as he found something a little extra late. He also may have appreciated getting back on Lasix, as his form seemed to dip in his prior starts against stakes company. Three Jokers had run some pretty big races earlier in the year and it seemed like he got back to that form last time. He has the tactical speed to be sitting just off the early leaders and figures to get the jump on main rivals.

No Burn (#5) is somewhat interesting on the cutback in distance. He obviously wanted no part of a two-turn 1 1/8 miles last time, and he was also involved in a fast pace that day. He ran a big speed figure two back, albeit against weaker company. Yet the Wiliam Morey barn is dangerous and must be respected. I think there’s some speed to go with him on the front end, so I want a closer.

SOUTHERN DISTRICT (#7) comes out of the same race and may work out the right trip. His connections stubbornly kept running this guy on the wrong surface for more than half of his starts. He has a dirt pedigree, and he’s run his best races on the dirt. If you just isolate those main-track performances, he’s posted TimeformUS Speed Figures of 104, 105, and 109, all of which make him a major player in this spot. He was no match for winner Waxman last time, but that horse is a pretty good one. Now he cuts back to a one-turn mile, which could be good for him since he figures to get an honest pace ahead of him. Chad Brown also takes the blinkers off, as he didn’t seem to improve at all when they were added and he got a little too rank with them last time.

THE PLAY

Win: 7

Exacta key box: 7 with 4, 5, 6

Trifecta: 7 with 4, 5 with 1, 4, 5, 6