Sunday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Ohoopee can rebound getting back to frontrunning tactics

Aqueduct | Race 4 | Post Time 2:44 p.m. (ET)

Purple Divine (#4) is obviously the one to beat after twice running well against tougher fields since the claim by Ilkay Kantarmaci. She had performed better than it appears when she just barely lost to a couple of today's rivals on Feb. 27, making the first move into a fast pace before drifting down to a dead rail late. I have no major knocks against her other than the likely short price.

Probable Angle (#5) and Cravings (#7) defeated that foe in late February, but both got better trips from off the pace. Between the two, I slightly prefer Cravings who has come to hand lately and is picked up by a pretty sharp barn. However, it isn't easy to improve a horse claimed away from Brad Cox.

I don't see a ton of true speed in this race, and I would expect both Linda Rice trainees to go forward early. The TimeformUS Pace Projector shows them both leading in a scenario favoring frontrunners. Ohoopee (#2) is the one that I want to bet, especially now that she's drawn outside her stablemate. That may be key, as this filly got stuck on the rail inside of Baseball Lady last time and got rated off the pace. She clearly resented that ride, pulling at the restraint through the first quarter mile. She had gotten cooked in a pretty quick pace over a tiring track two back and her prior form makes her competitive here.