Friday’s pick five at Churchill Downs is an all stakes sequence beginning in race 7 and ending with the Kentucky Oaks. I’m playing it, and this is how: Race 7, La Troienne – I’m taking a bit of a stand here in that I am against My Miss Sophia, easily second best to Untapable in last year’s Kentucky Oaks and winner of the Gazelle before that. My Miss Sophia really tailed off last year after the Kentucky Oaks, bringing into question the validity of her prior form. But even if her Oaks/Gazelle form was as solid as it appears on paper, I suspect My Miss Sophia might need this race, her first start since September and first for Bill Mott. Sheer Drama and Gold Medal Dancer are my two main horses, with Molly Morgan a backup. Sheer Drama ran the best race of her life romping in the Royal Delta most recently, and will be hard to deny with a similar performance. Gold Medal Dancer is logical off her upset over Untapable in the Azeri two starts back and her creditable third to that one in the Apple Blossom most recently. Molly Morgan was a distant third in the Royal Delta, but that was her first start in four months, and she now returns to Churchill, where she has done her best work. Even at her best, though, I’m not sure she’s as good as Sheer Drama or Gold Medal Dancer, which is why I have her as a backup. :: Build your pick five ticket with DRF TicketMaker Race 8, Alysheba – I don’t have any clever ideas here beyond the two favorites, Protonico and Honor Code, and I think I stand an excellent chance of getting through this race using these two in equal strength. Protonico, who rebounded from a mysterious did-not-finish in the Donn with a strong score in the Ben Ali most recently, has a pace edge here. As he showed when he took control early in the Ben Ali, Protonico can go early when there is a lack of other speed, and there isn’t much speed in this race. I do think Honor Code, winner of the Gulfstream Park Handicap in his seasonal bow, is the better horse. And unlike others who think he might be best as a closer going just one turn, I’m really eager to see Honor Code go a route again. Trainer Shug McGaughey has always maintained that Honor Code is a distance horse. But the lack of pace Friday could be a problem for his closing style. Race 9, Twin Spires Turf Sprint – My hope here is I can advance using two mains and two backups. My mains are Undrafted and Heitai. I needed Undrafted like oxygen in this race last year, and was tortured seeing him finish a fast-closing second. But he became a better horse as last season went on, as evidenced by his close third in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. And Undrafted, who was third in the Shakertown in his 2015 bow, is making his second start off a layoff Friday. That is noteworthy. Undrafted improved and ran big in his second start off a layoff a couple of times before. Heitai is a prolific winner, but a bit of a question mark at this level. However, he is 4 for 4 on turf and at the distance, and is the speed of the speed. My backups are Something Extra and Channel Marker, the one-two finishers in the Shakertown. I couldn’t use these two as mains because Something Extra won’t get the kind of uncontested lead he enjoyed in the Shakertown, and Channel Marker, who was 44-1 in that event, must prove his effort was not a fluke. But in deference to their sharp form, I am using them defensively. Race 10, Eight Belles – Again, I am going with two mains and two backups. My main horses are the two Bob Baffert-trained fillies – Enchanting Lady and Callback. Enchanting Lady cut back from a route to a sprint last time in the Santa Paula, and responded with a decisive victory, earning a field-best Beyer of 98. Frankly, I didn’t care for Callback’s desperate effort at odds-on last time in the Sunland Park Oaks, in which she was disqualified from first. But Callback is cutting back from a route to a sprint Friday and, as evidenced by what Enchanting Lady did recently, that makes her dangerous. My two backups are Ekati’s Phaeton, another suitably cutting back from a route, and Taylor S, who earned nice Beyers winning two of her last three starts. Not on my ticket is Promise Me Silver, who brings a 7 for 7 record to the table fashioned against much softer company.  Race 11, Kentucky Oaks – I think this Kentucky Oaks is wide open. My strongest position in this race is being against Condo Commando (nothing new there), whose two wins this year were achieved through very easy early leads, and whose two big stakes wins last year were aided by powerful track biases. Condo Commando won’t even be among the four mains and four backups I use here. If that doesn’t force her up, nothing will. My four mains, in post position order, are Eskenformoney, I’m a Chatterbox, Stellar Wind, and Puca. I’m a Chatterbox and Stellar Wind are obvious. The former swept the series for 3-year-old fillies at Fair Grounds, while the latter emerged as decidedly the best of her division at Santa Anita. They come into the Oaks as the top two 3-year-old fillies in the country. But Eskenformoney’s second in the Gulfstream Oaks looks better than it was because she dropped to a dead rail once she took a clear lead into the stretch. And Puca can improve on her pace-pressing second in the Gazelle just by returning to her much more effective closing style. My backups, again in post position order, are Shook Up, Lovely Maria, Oceanwave, and Birdatthewire. Shook Up was a game and improved second to I’m a Chatterbox in the Fair Grounds Oaks, while Lovely Maria followed a second to I’m a Chatterbox in the Rachel Alexandra with a nice win in the Ashland. Oceanwave had a less-than-perfect trip when narrowly beaten in the Fantasy, and she’s the one I want out of that race. Birdatthewire won the Gulfstream Oaks, albeit with the outside closer’s bias. Here’s the play, in main/backup format: Race 7: 5,7/8 Race 8: 2,7 Race 9: 3,12/2,11 Race 10: 1,8/3,12 Race 11: 4,8,12,14/2,7,10,13