Sunday’s TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Cartwheel can bounce back from poor effort

Aqueduct | Race 2 | Post Time 1:54 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs

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Pursuing Justice (#7) is likely to attract the most attention after missing the break in her debut. It took her a long time to find her stride that day, but she was doing her best running in deep stretch. Linda Rice has excellent numbers with her second-time starters (100 TimeformUS Trainer Rating), and this filly is bred to be a good horse as a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Mineralogist. However, she will have to overcome the gate issues that were on display in her debut, and she’s not exiting the strongest maiden race.

I’m using the favorite, but the filly who may offer the best value is CARTWHEEL (#1). She was made the favorite in a deeper maiden race last time but lost all chance soon after the start. She was bumped at two points, the second of which caused Trevor McCarthy to lose his iron. It took him about a sixteenth of a mile to get it back, and Cartwheel was essentially out of the race by that point. The stretch-out in distance is a question, but this daughter of Flatter is bred to handle it. I’m hoping to see Joe Bravo be aggressive from this inside post position.

Others who must be considered include Rice’s first-time starter Silveratta Road (#2), who attracts leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. Her workouts appear to be unspectacular, but her dam was a talented stakes winner. I also want to throw in Bruce Levine’s other horse, Zecha (#5). She broke behind the field last time and then found herself racing in an uncomfortable position down on the rail for the rest of the race. She’s a big filly who probably would prefer to get outside of horses, and she’s bred to handle route distances. She could work her way into the exacta at a price.

THE PLAY

Win: 1

Exacta Key Box: 1 with 2,5,7

Trifecta: 1 with 2,5,7 with 2,5,7