Race 6: #6 Treasure King (4-1)
#6 Treasure King is worth a look in this spot, showing up in a claimer for the first time. He’s making his second start up here after having a rough trip against tougher last time. He was towards the back throughout in a race that was dominated by speed, and it didn’t help that he was wide on both turns. I thought it was encouraging that he still managed to pass a couple of rivals despite the trouble, and he should take a step forward for his second start in Canada. Based on Timeform US pace figures, I love his combo of tactical speed and finish, especially in a race that’s difficult to predict the pace scenario. His versatility should allow him to adapt no matter how the pace turns out. His best races put him right there and he should be tough against these rivals.
Race 8: #11 Blue Max (10-1)
A field of 12 will line up to go six and a half furlongs on the synthetic in what should be an extremely competitive race. But as large as this field is, there’s really not a whole lot of early lick in this spot so I looked for someone that should be forwardly placed throughout. I settled on #11 Blue Max (10-1) who should be a good price. He has some questions to answer as this isn’t the easiest post and he has a potential pace rival drawn directly to his outside. However, he’s in excellent form right now as he has yet to miss the board in four tries over the synthetic this year. His most recent effort came against slightly lesser, but it was a good one where he went wire-to-wire at this distance. He earned a competitive figure for that performance and note his early pace rival finished up the track so you could upgrade that performance even further. I love that he’s improved his Beyer figures in four consecutive starts so there’s no reason he can’t improve again today and he offers excellent value at anywhere in the vicinity of the 10-1 offered on the morning line.
