And Away We Go...

We were having a rough day in the early going at Aqueduct which is understandable since our selections which were made Thursday night for a fast surface were blitzed with the heavy rains that came on Friday night.

However I am sure everyone ended the day with big smiles as our 8th Race selection of Dinah scored at a $36 return!

Now That's What I'm Talkin' Bout!

Analysis of The Ark

This years edition is about as wide open a race as you will find. And this being the case I believe it's the perfect situation for a bomb to land in the Exacta at the very least. Here are my top contenders and Exacta horses:

King's Silver Son has not run a bad race in 7 career races although he has only 1 win. I guess the Blinks are not an option? He should still run another big race but I don't have confidence in him getting up for the win.

Liberty Bull looked good in winning the Win Star Derby last time out at 1 1/8th miles as he came home in a quick :12 1/5 seconds. Today is his acid test. Today we see if he belongs in Kentucky.

Ablaze With Spirit is part of the field and I feel he has a legit shot at this. He is a strong finisher and in fact came home in :12 2/5 seconds last time out in the Win Star Derby. He can surely hit the board at a big number.

Gayego ran well as a 2-year-old and figures to comeback off his solid effort in the San Felipe with another big effort. Most might feel he is basically a middle distance horse at best so here again Today is his acid test. He must prove he belongs in Kentucky.

Blue Grass Analysis

OK, last week we gave out the winners of The Wood and The SA Derby right here on the Blog and this week we will try and give out the winner of The Blue Grass.

There are several horses in here that figure to run improved races off their last efforts. Cowboy Cal, Monba, Halo Najib, and Medjool are strong contenders and could run the race of their young careers in this spot. However I feel the horse that has raced, trained and turned in the best efforts among this field is Pyro.

It seems Pyro has matured as a 3-year-old and has gotten better with each passing race. While being bred to run all day he hasn't run a bad one yet and in this spot I can't see him being too far off at the wire.

Blog Scores

Alright, we did well in The Wood as we got Tale of Ekati home with a $19 return and we also had Colonel John in the SA Derby.

Stay tuned for more Freebie Blog Selections & Analysis along with Select Spot Plays from Aqueduct.

This Summer is going to Sizzle!

Analysis of The Santa Anita Derby

Colonal John showed some nice potential as a 2-year-old by finishing very well in all 4 of his starts. His comeback effort last time out was very good where he battled for the early lead under slow splits and then was dead game to the wire in a quick finishing fraction of :11 4/5 seconds. This effort puts him in position to be considered a real player not only for today but also in Kentucky. I am expecting another big effort today and quite possibly even better than his last one.

El Gato Malo has shown his best races to date are at 1-mile however he should be given a 2nd chance at trying 1 1/8 miles since his initial try was off a 5-week hiatus and he did finish strongly in a personal fraction of :11 3/5 seconds. Seems to be the main rival today with a chance to win it all.

Polonius gets his acid test today as he gets thrown in much deeper and much longer in this spot. Has talent and is well bred so we'll see how he handles the jump up in class and distance.

Analysis of The Wood Memorial

War Pass comes in off his worst performance and everyone is wondering was his last effort for real? The possibility of a low grade fever prior to the race stated by the owner following the bad effort which then was followed by his trainer stating there wasn't anything wrong with War Pass prior to the race means he had no real excuse.

Anyway, in this spot War Pass figures to have some company on the front end in the likes of Giant Moon and Inner Light, both of which I don't feel can win but they can make the early pace quicker than comfortable for War Pass. And this could set the race up for a horse sitting in mid-pack such as Tale of Ekati or quite possibly for the strong-late finish of Court Vision.

Tale of Ekati showed some promise as a 2-year-old but was flat headed into The Breeders' Cup as his trainer stated that he might not have been fully recovered from being sick and missing training headed into the race. His recent comeback effort was also poor so today is probably his last chance at earning a shot in Kentucky. He needs to run a big race and he figures to be right in the hunt headed for home. His last 2 works were his best in some time.

Court Vision has already won at today's distance and is the strongest finisher in the field. He figures to improve off his last effort which was his first following his layoff. Mott is excellent at getting his horses ready for top efforts and I expect another strong finish today.

Unless the rains come and totally spoil the surface I feel it will be very hard to keep Tale of Ekati out of the Exacta.