Thursday’s TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Proletariat lands in the right spot second off the layoff

Aqueduct | Race 4 | Post Time 2:20 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs

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This is one of the more interesting races on the card. The David Jacobson entry was made the morning-line favorite, and we'll see if both of them start. The one likely to attract most of the play is Police Escort (#1). He ran well enough behind Bustin It last time in what was a very fast race for the level. However, he didn’t finish particularly well that day and he’s facing a much tougher field here. His entrymate Black Tide is not without a chance and would be somewhat interesting as a separate betting interest. That said, I still think there are more intriguing options at better prices.

In my opinion, the horse to beat is Tasunke Witco (#6). This runner has performed admirably in his two most recent starts, especially so last time when he raced three wide throughout against a strong rail bias. The major question he has to answer is whether he can handle the turnback to a sprint since both of those races came around two turns.

I'll use him strongly, but I want to take a shot against the favorites with PROLETARIAT (#4).

This Bruce Brown trainee ran deceptively well last time. That race was dominated on the front end by Foreset, who set a strong pace in his wire-to-wire victory, but there were more than a few runners that had tough trips behind him. Proletariat was one of those as he was two to three wide on the far turn and then could never get clear in the stretch while attempting to rally. I don't mind that they keep him sprinting since he does possess more early speed than he displayed last time. This horse showed the ability to run competitive speed figures before the layoff and he is realistically spotted today by Brown, who is having a fantastic meet.

THE PLAY

Win/Place: 4

Exacta Key Box: 4 with 1,2,5,6

Trifecta: 4,6 with 4,6 with 1,2,5