Turf feature difficult to decipher
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Sometimes, the longer you look at a race, the more plausible contenders begin to appear. But Fair Grounds’s featured sixth race Friday could produce the opposite effect. The seven horses in the main body of the field all have flaws, and playing the race may require simply choosing the least-flawed entrant.
The race, carded for about 1 1/16th miles on turf, is a third-level allowance with a $62,500 claiming option. An eighth horse, Treasury Bill, is entered main-track-only, and given the weather forecast is unlikely to run. Two horses, Rhetorical and Stormdriver, are entered for the claiming price, and though Rhetorical looks a longer shot than his 10-1 morning-line odds, he is a potential pace factor stretching out from sprints.
The pace is one tricky element in this race: Rhetorical is one of three or four horses that want to race on or near the lead. Rhetorical and 8-5 morning-line favorite Shining Copper will go forward from inside draws, and though Adios Nardo has settled just off the leaders in the past, he figures to be fresh and eager racing for the first time since April. Knights Nation and Caribbean Storm are tough pace reads: Both have led in recent races but also have run from well off the pace in other instances.
The Fair Grounds grass course, with a long history favoring closers, has been playing fair this season after undergoing apparently successful drainage improvements this past fall.
Race 6
KEY CONTENDERS
Beyond Compare (Last 3 Beyers: 94-82-73)
His overall form will look slightly light compared with a few others in the race, and he is up a one level in class, but this horse seems to thrive in New Orleans, and is 2 for 2 on the Fair Grounds course. He won a first-level allowance on turf last meet, and racing for a $40,000 claiming option has a turf and a dirt win already this meet.
Has tactical pace and a jockey, Cisco Torres, who seems always to put his mounts into the race sooner rather than later.
Initial connections gave up on him fairly early, but he has a big-time pedigree, by Tapit out of a Kingmambo mare, and might just be late-maturing.
Adios Nardo (Last 3 Beyers: 86-84-94)
One of the best grass horses on the grounds last Fair Grounds season, he finished second in two stakes races during the meet. He has been away since April, however, and may be in need of an outing.
FORMULATOR FACT: Trainer Leo Gabriel, who does good work, is just 2 for 41 wins with a $0.27 return on investment in Fair Grounds turf races the last five years.
Shining Copper (Last 3 Beyers: 79-93-87)
The morning-line favorite has, up to his last race, very competitive Beyer Speed Figures to go with popular connections, and he will be bet, but does he have any real edge over better-priced foes?
Might prefer slightly less distance, and his win since being claimed for $50,000 in August came when he made an easy lead over the Saratoga course.