Beautiful Arlington Park Opens Today

Ahh, the Summer horse racing season is upon us.  Arlington Park opens today and Kentucky Derby 136 is Saturday at Churchill.  Let the horse racing weekend begin!!

Churchill Downs Race 9 {1 mile~Turf~3 year old Up~Allowance}
A nice full field for this Turf allowance and there is a great deal of parity among today's starters.  The edge goes to Whirling Thunder (Lanerie / Kenneally) with a decent last out speed number, two race progression, and two athletic works.  He likes the Churchill course and sports the highest (tie) speed number at the distance.  Harken Up (Castellano / Wilkes) will be going from dirt to turf with the highest last out speed number and two limber workouts.  He will challenge for the victory.  Quite A Handful (Maragh / Hansen) looks good with 100% in the money at the distance, a two race progression, and two robust, peaking workouts.  Indomable [GER] (Leparoux / Motion) is the unknown quantitiy in this race as it will be his first in the U.S.  He shows a 100% in the money record over the surface and at the distance in his native Germany. He is trained by Graham Motion, one of the best Turf trainers in the world.  He goes out with three hardy workouts.  He may need his first American race, but it is safe to place him in our superfecta.  Let's play Churchill.

$2 SHOW:  #1 Whirling Thunder
$2 SHOW:  #2 Harken Up
$1 Superfecta (10 CENT if available):  #1 Whirling Thunder / #2 Harken Up / #5 Quite A Handful, #7 Indomable [GER] / #5, #7

Arlington Park Race 9 {1 mile~all weather track~3 year old Up~IL~Maiden Special Weight}
The beautiful Arlington Park opens today.  Right now it is breezy and light showers are moving through.  forcast is the same later this afternoon at first post.  A full field of twelve goes to the gate, including three first time starters (FTS).  These are always tough to handicap, especially on Arlington's polytrack.  We have to give a slight edge to Burning Crusade (Perez / Block) as a FTS.  The stat that pops out is trainer, Chris Block has a 23% win record with first time starters.  Couple that with the fact that Eddie Perez is coming off a break-out season at Hawthorne.  Like this 4-year old FTS chances.  Rob Young (Wade / Young) looks like he is ready to race over the polytrack surface with the second highest (tie) last out speed number which was at the odd 1 mile 70 yard Hawthorne route distance.  A fairly good workout heightens his chances.  A Lot of Honey (B. Meier / Dorris) is coming down from the same distance, has a five race progression, and a sinewy workout.  Two horse that will round out our 10 CENT Superfecta play that will be moving up in distance are Captain Jack (Diego / Granitz) and Sharp Roma (Hamilton / Yanez).  Both display strong workout tabs.  Bear in mind opening day at Arlington usually has some bombers as many horses are trying the poly for the first time.  Play it accordingly.  Let's have fun at Arlington Park.

$2 WIN / SHOW:  #7 Burning Crusade
$2 SHOW:  #8 Rob Young
10 CENT Superfecta:  #7 Burning Crusade / #8 Rob Young / #4 Alot of Honey / #5 Captain Jack, #6 Sharp Roma.


















Last Sunday's (4/25) Results
Calder R8.  Our first pick, Jet Propulsion, finished 8th.  Our second pick, Mambo Meister won (1st) for show money of $3.40.  Superfecta went 9-4-6-11.
Hollywood R8.  Our first pick, Great Siege [IRE], finished 6th.  Our second pick, Dark Islander [IRE], finished 7th.  Superfecta went 11-10-1-7.
Bankroll dips to $67.10.

Sun Drenched Horses Today

With a strong afinity towards turf races, we look at a couple Allowance races. One at Gulfstream and one at Santa Anita.

Gulfstream Race 8 {1 1/16 mile~Turf~3 year old~fillies~Allowance}
A very interesting race with several possiblities here.  Ms. Thanksgiving (Castellano / Terranova) holds a bit of tactical speed here which may bring her on to victory.  Martita Sangrita (Lezcano / Matz) will be the chief challenger. She has the highest speed number last out and has three decent workouts in preparation for the race.  Sparky's Dream (Desormeaux / McPeek) looks tough over the surface and will be moving up in distance.  Blasted (Rose / Motion) comes into this race 100% in the money lifetime, but it will be her first race on the turf.  She should not be overlooked as she is trained by one of the top turf trainers, Graham Motion.  Let's give Gulfstream a try.

$2 SHOW:  #12 Ms. Thanksgiving
$2 SHOW: #2 Martita Sangrita
10 CENT Superfecta:  #12 Ms. Thanksgiving / #2 Martita Sangrita / #8 Sparky's Dream / #7 Blasted

Santa Anita Race 7 {1 mile~Turf~4 year old Up~Allowance}
 A highly competitive allowance race in which any of the entrants are capable of pulling off a victory.  A slight edge goes to Red Alert Day(GB) (Talamo / Drysdale). He has a good last out speed number, great race progression and a stellar workout tab.  Additionally, he loves Santa Anita.  Yorktown(FR) (Rosario / Motion) has been well prepped for this race with a couple of solid workouts.  Mozante (Gomez / Mitchell) has the highest speed number at the distance, the highest speed number last out and four solid workouts.  Should provide a strong challenge.  Dakota Phone (Bejarano / Hollendorfer) shows the best group of workouts for this race.  Let's play Santa Anita.

$2 WIN / SHOW:  #3 Red Alert Day (GB)
10 CENT Superfecta:  #3 Red Alert Day (GB) / #1 Yorktown (FR) / #2 Mozante, #6 Dakota Phone / #2, #6
















Last Sunday's (1/10) Results
Our first pick, Mambo Meister, finished 3rd for $2.60 in show money.
Our second pick, Danak (IRE), finished out of the money in 6th.  Superfecta went 13-7-11-4.
Bankroll sits at $11.70.