Perhaps you’ve noticed that value has become a scarce resource betting on racehorses. The “dumb money” has left the pools, replaced in great part by computer algorithms. It also feels like heavy favorites are heavier than ever. Let’s try to beat a couple of them.
Los Alamitos Futurity
Litmus Test takes all the action in the Los Alamitos Futurity. He probably merits odds-on favoritism – probably.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The $125,000 Tropical Park Derby and its filly counterpart, the $125,000 Tropical Park Oaks, should provide bettors with serious handicapping challenges when bringing together full, graded stakes-caliber fields on Saturday’s excellent 11-race program at Gulfstream Park.
For the first time, Litmus Test will be at the center of attention in a stakes in Saturday’s Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity.
Litmus Test was 15-1 when he finished fourth of six in his stakes debut in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity at seven furlongs on Sept. 7. On Oct. 4, Litmus Test finished third by five lengths at 9-1 behind odds-on favorite Ted Noffey in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland.
Timing is everything in horse racing, in which an entire season might be spent in pursuit of a specific target, and where the difference between victory and defeat might be measured in hundredths of a second. The second edition of Turfway Park’s Synthetic Championships on Saturday night provides more proof that time, and money, are everything.
The winning streak – 15 races over 22 months – is reaching record-breaking territory.
No sprinter in Hong Kong or Australia can keep pace with the 5-year-old gelding Ka Ying Rising, who will be a short price to record another victory in Sunday’s Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
A mere head separated the Louisiana-bred 3-year-old fillies Secret Faith and Blue Fire when they traded decisions last season at Fair Grounds. But when the pair squared off again last month, in the Delmar Caldwell Memorial, Secret Faith, the winner, had more than 18 lengths on Blue Fire.
Surely that gap narrows Saturday on Louisiana Champions Day in the $150,000 Ladies Sprint, where Blue Fire, who went off favored last out at even money, is the value this time after her dismal run.
For a Quarter Horse gelding who has won half of his 22 starts and earned more than $1 million, there is an aura of underachievement surrounding the career of Jeriko.
Three times in the last two years, he has been favored in major stakes at Los Alamitos or Sunland Park and lost after troubled starts.
There was no such issue in a time trial Nov. 16 for Saturday’s $700,000 Champion of Champions at 440 yards Los Alamitos.
The Fair Grounds morning line lists Touchuponastar as the 2-5 favorite for the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic on Saturday. As if.
In two starts following his annual summer break, Touchuponastar has won the Gold Cup at Delta Downs as the 1-10 favorite and the Delta Mile at 1-20. A year ago, he won his third straight Champions Day Classic at 1-5, same price as in 2023.
It’s not that you should relent and take the miniscule win price on Touchuponastar. But do take a moment to appreciate just how good this horse is.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The presence of Skelly in the $150,000 Ring the Bell Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Park makes identifying the speed of the race a breeze. He’s super quick and has racked up $2 million in earnings by using his speed.
But there’s never a guarantee on how a race will take shape, and sometimes that has to do with the big, green monster – the starting gate.
