Two turf sprints may be fertile ground for NHC contestants

Horseplayers at the National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas will be searching for value on the nine-race Friday card at Fair Grounds, where players can select optional races for mythical $2 win-place wagers. There are a few races with at least moderate appeal on the program, including the featured eighth race, so let’s take a quick look at the card from an NHC-slanted perspective.

Race 1 – A bottom-level Louisiana-bred maiden-claiming mile with just eight horses. Surely, horseplayers will want to feel out the track given the limited options available here.

Race 2 – A Louisiana-bred maiden special weight turf mile with nine horses in the field’s main body. If the local forecast holds, this race is likely to stay on turf, but a tournament player might think twice about trying to beat likely favorite Jus Kevin. She ran a solid race for third while debuting in a one-mile dirt maiden race Jan. 10, simply appearing to tire in the final furlong. Her pedigree slants to grass, and modest second-start improvement would make her a major win player.

Race 3 – This conditioned-claiming sprint barely filled, with just six entrants, and Kutuzov looks like he was hustled into the race. Pass.

Race 4 – This $15,000 conditioned-claiming turf route has some possibilities, as morning-line favorite La Bruna Forte looks vulnerable. The race has a trip horse, Amazing Bets, who probably would have won at this class level two races ago with better piloting decisions. It remains to be seen if she goes off as high as her 6-1 morning line.

Race 5 – Reigning Catfish is the kind of ascendant starter-allowance horse who demands attention in races like this, but the seven-horse field is too short and the options too obvious for tournament play.

Race 6 – Tournament players might do well to put a magnifying glass to this $30,000 maiden-claiming turf sprint, which looks ripe for chaos. The horses who will be bet won’t be taking money because they have any truly discernible edge.

Race 7 – Five of the eight entrants ran in Race 9 on Jan. 2, a race at this same class level that might not have been very good. One strategy: Focus on the other three – Jazzy Rebel, Cajun Silver, and Madelyn’s Wild Max, all of whom have a chance.

Race 8 – An appealing $17,500 turf-sprint claimer for fillies and mares. Spring Formal got into her best stride too late last time and was a fine second, but that was the day she was supposed to win, and she’s drawn wide. Lexi’s Love, 15-1 on the morning line, has tournament appeal while returning to turf, her preferred surface, with poor dirt lines obscuring her best form.

Race 9 – It’s not easy to stand against the heavy favorite Let the Lady Speak in this $5,000 claimer with conditions.

Nickname headed to Oaklawn

The 3-year-old filly Nickname, who won the Grade 1 Frizette and finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, worked a solo six furlongs in 1:12.80 on Tuesday and on Wednesday was shipped by van to Oaklawn Park, where she starts Feb. 6 in the Martha Washington Stakes. Trainer Steve Asmussen described her major final drill for her 3-year-old debut as “perfect.”