Silver Timber lukewarm choice in wide-open field

How tough is the $1 million BC Turf Sprint? The program favorite, Silver Timber, has been pegged at 4-1 in a race that drew 15 entries, including one also-eligible, and nine more starters are listed at 12-1 or lower.

Silver Timber, with Julien Leparoux to ride, was assigned post 5, with the other program favorites being Chamberlain Bridge (post 1, 6-1), Rose Catherine (post 9, 6-1), Unzip Me (post 4, 8-1), and Quick Enough (post 8, 8-1).

Meanwhile, moviegoers and longshot bettors will have a natural hunch play in the Turf Sprint. A new comedy movie named “Due Date” will be released nationwide Friday, the day before a gray 5-year-old horse named Due Date runs in the five-furlong race.

“It sure seems like an omen to me,” said Richard Klein, who bred and owns Due Date with his parents, Bert and Elaine.

The Kleins owned the Bank of Louisville franchise until selling all assets to the BB&T conglomerate in March 2002. Whereas the new Warner Bros. movie is named after a pregnancy, “due date is a banking term, which is how our horse got his name,” said Klein.

Due Date, 15-1 on the morning line, is trained by Steve Margolis, who upset the 2003 BC Sprint at Santa Anita with Cajun Beat, a 22-1 shot.
The movie “Due Date” stars Robert Downey Jr. and is directed by Todd Phillips, who directed the 2009 hit “The Hangover.”