Thursday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Perina’s Pride gets a significant trainer upgrade

Aqueduct | Race 5 | Post Time 2:20 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs

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The obvious horse to beat is Maddizaskar (#6). She’s spent the better part of the past year facing much tougher company than the group she meets here. When she faced similarly cheap foes two back on Nov. 16, she did well to close for second behind a winner who controlled the pace through slow early fractions. A repeat of that effort would make her virtually unbeatable, unless one of her rivals improves significantly on their recent form.

The only horse who appears to have the potential to do so is PERINA’S PRIDE (#1).

This mare has been sent to the gate at some massive prices this year. She actually has not gone off at less than 12-1 in her last 11 starts. Considering that lack of support, she’s actually outperformed expectations on a few occasions, especially in her two recent third-place finishes. She delivered those efforts while racing for prior trainer Gaston Grant, who gets an overall TimeformUS Trainer Rating of just 59. Now she’s been claimed by Robertino Diodoro, a 91-rated trainer who gets a 93 Trainer Rating first off the claim. This seems like a shrewd acquisition of a filly who has subtly been rounding into top form. Furthermore, I like the stretch-out in distance, as she has run some of her best races going a mile.

If there’s one other horse to throw into this mix with the top two selections, it’s Josephine’s Moment (#4). She’s been a disappointment in recent starts, but she was compromised by trouble at the start last time. Furthermore, the Pace Projector is predicting a situation that favors horses on or near the lead, and she’s the controlling speed.

THE PLAY

Win: 1
Exacta Key Box: 1 with 4,6
Trifecta: 1,6 with 1,6 with ALL