Thursday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Looms Boldly drawn well outside other speed

Aqueduct | Race 5 | Post Time 3:15 p.m. (ET)

I'm a little concerned about the inside post position for Ten Cent Town (#1), who runs his best races when he can be involved in the early pace. There appear to be some quicker rivals drawn outside of him, and he may be forced to rate from this rail draw. While he did get back to the winner's circle for new connections last time, but he still didn't quite run back to the 110 TimeformUS Speed Figure he earned in that Dec. 13 victory, which was aided by a speed bias.

Ravin's Ransom (#5) should be quick enough to edge ahead of that rival early if aggressively sent from the start under new rider Flavien Prat. He conceded the lead in a slow pace situation last time and possesses more natural speed than that.

Stewie (#4) has shown the ability to stalk and win in the past, but he nearly beat the gate last time on Mar. 5, and Manny Franco seized the opportunity to send him to the lead. He got away with moderate fractions and had little excuse to get run down in the late stages. He now makes his first start off the claim for Orlando Noda, who does well with this move but will have to get this horse to move forward.

I prefer Looms Boldly (#6), who ran down Stewie on Mar. 5 despite getting outrun to the early lead. Looms Boldly broke a bit flat-footed and was forced to rate behind the leader in the early stages. This 6-year-old has never been successful using anything other than a frontrunning style, so it was surprising to see him find another gear and run down the leader in the lane. That speaks to a horse who is rounding back into top form after a dry spell late last year. He's now first off the claim for very capable connections, and I like that he's drawn outside of his main pace rivals. He may be quick enough to make the lead, but he now has the option to sit and pounce after it worked so well last time.