1-for-2 on Thursday, with RUTHIN winning impressively @ $3.20. CARTEL QUEEN finished second in the other race, won by honorable mention GOLDEN BELL.
Keeneland – Race 2
#3 HEADLINE REPORT (8/5 ml)
Ward firster by the well-regarded freshman sire Gormley tied for the fastest furlong at the March OBS (9.4), after which he sold for $550k (a whopping 110 x the stud fee). More recently, he turned up at Keeneland with an eye-catching best-of-18 gate drill where he outworked OVERBORE, who you may remember was tons the best last weekend, completely blowing the break but nearly winning anyway after a sensational stretch rally. On top of everything else, Ward made an appearance on the Steve Byk show a few weeks ago where he was of course asked about his Keeneland 2yo’s, and when asked which horses we should be watching for, he mentioned one horse by name – HEADLINE REPORT. Obviously appears very tough to beat here, but will be no secret.
Keeneland – Race 3
#5 WILD FOR WYCLIFF (5/1 ml)
Tom Amoss trainee has shown high speed in all three starts @ Fair Grounds, while facing strong fields (keep an eye on last race winner TULANE TRYST, nice horse). He does appear somewhat like a pop-and-stop type, but as mentioned he’s been facing stiff competition, so I think he should be given the benefit of the doubt, especially shortening up into a turf sprint, where speed obviously plays very well. Should offer a good price here thanks to his late lapses, combined with the presence of a Ward entrant (AFTER FIVE) who is actually dropping out of the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint. Good chance at wiring the field here.
One longshot to keep an eye on here is VASSAR’S BOY (10/1 ml), who comes into this race off 3 straight drills with DANCE SOME MO, who was last seen running a close second behind SIFTING SANDS on March 13 @ Tampa (in 1:35.03). Rider Luis Saez gets the call, and he’s hit at 21% for Graham Motion for a flat-bet profit (from 19 starters).
Also be aware of THREE AMIGOS (8/1 ml), who ran a nice second in an MCL50 @ Gulfstream and now shows up without a tag, having worked in company back on March 5 with the older turf import FAMILY WAY, who ran second by a length in an allowance race here yesterday. THREE AMIGOS then came out of that drill to work a couple of times with the older stakes horse QUEEN MEDB.
Maiden Focus record:
Win record: 32-for-131 (24% winners)
Total mutuels: $264.80 ($8.28 average win price)
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