Race 1
#5 Major Kong: Genaro Garcia claimed this five-year-old for 8K two back and ran fine in debut for the new barn running third and up against blue fractions. He ran even, his Beyer’s fit here, and he can be very dangerous if he can replicate any of his synthetic races.
A=5
Race 2
#5 Strike That: That last race was a disaster losing the rider midway through. I like that Diodoro thought the horse was good enough for a stake with horses like True Timber in the race. This five-year-old ran well at the 62.5K level at Saratoga the past year, so the drop for me isn’t concerning.
#6 Town Champ: Trainer Greg Compton has turned this horse’s form around in the last two races. He ran a solid second for 50K and now takes the next logical step up the class ladder. He also loves Oaklawn being a perfect 6-6 in the exacta, with 4 of those races being wins.
A=5-6
B=4
Race 3
#5 Cash Light: this race is super tough and I didn’t like anyone, so taking a stand with these two. The trainer is not that good with first-time starters but has three excellent works out of the four he has recorded. She is the first foal to run for a dam that was 0-3 lifetime.
#3: Sire is an excellent 17% with first-time starters, and the trainer jockey combo is 29%, with a 3$ ROI. She is also a half to multiple stake winner Bye Bye J.
A=5-3
Race 4
#8 Vasariano: This Gelding broke the maiden for 50K three back and then improved nicely off that first race against winners; another jump of improvement puts this one right there with other contenders. Always nice to see Santana stay on, and it is also the first start as a four-year-old.
#7 JacksFireBalls: Back to back seventy Beyer’s for this son of Liaison, which puts him right at the cutoff line for having good enough speed figures. Thomas Van Berg is off to a good start at the meet with limited starters 2-6=33%.
A=8-7
B=6
Race 5
#4 Twisted Dixie: This four-year-old has the best class rating, having run second on debut last year at the level. Something went wrong as he was off all that time. I’m not worried about the layoff as he ran so well the first time out, and I love seeing the addition of blinkers to help him settle early.
#3 Jame’s Moonshine: 10 starts are usually my cutoff line to stop playing maidens, but this one has a couple of races that, if he gets back to them, can get the job done. This jockey trainer combo over the last two years hits at 27% with a 3$ ROI.
A=4-3
B=1
