Race 7: #2 Moon Landing (6-1)
I like #2 Moon Landing (6-1) in this spot. I know he’s far from the most consistent runner, but his good races do give him a shot against this group. I think he ran well last time when he set a fast pace and “won” a three way pace battle , but couldn’t see out the final furlongs and faded to fifth. The cutback to seven furlongs today should be right up his alley and note his sole victory came in an elongated sprint such as this one. He should get a great trip stalking the runner drawn directly to his inside and he’ll be able to save every inch of ground from this post. This will be his second start back after a brief freshening and an uncharacteristically fast workout indicates he’s feeling good and ready to fire. Again, he’s not the most consistent runner so be sure to demand every bit of this 6-1 morning line price, but I do think he’s got a big shot if he shows up.
Race 9: #4 Taquanyah (5-1)
We have a cool little handicap race in today’s ninth race that appears to be very evenly matched. I struggled to envision this pace scenario since there’s virtually no runner that is near the front end on a consistent basis. I would guess #3 Bizymaline or #8 Luz de la Una probably make the front end, but I can’t imagine they’ll go very fast and I won’t be surprised if this group is clumped together and it’s a mad dash for the wire in the final furlongs. I like #4 Taquanyah (5-1) on the cutback here (surprise!). She’s been in great form all year hitting the exacta in four of five starts over a variety of distances and surfaces. I can forgive her off the board finish last time since she had a wide trip and was against the race flow that day. Even then, she still managed to run a solid fourth so it wasn’t like she was a no-show that day. This will be her first synthetic sprint this year and I know her numbers over this trip aren’t great, but all of those came in 2022 and she’s clearly improved about 10 points this year. She should be within striking distance throughout and we’ll see if she’s good enough in the stretch.
Race 10: #12 Valyrian Sky (3-1)
A full of field of 12 lineup to finish off the week and there is A TON of (cheap?) speed signed on for this race. That includes #5 Sugar It’s Eli (5/2) who will likely take plenty of money after running an okay race at Saratoga this summer against much tougher foes. However, he’s another with early gas and I don’t love that he’s drawn in the middle of this field where he’ll be hounded from all sides throughout. He’s also not a standout on figures by any means so I’m willing to take him on a short price. I prefer the likely second choice in #12 Valyrian Sky (3-1), wheeling back in just nine days. At this point we know what he is as this will be his eighth start of the year already, but at least he’s consistently run figures that are fastest enough to win this race. I also like that he’s really the only runner that’s proven he can pass rivals so I’m willing to forgive his last couple starts when he was too close to the lead and couldn’t find more late. He should get a great set-up from a pace perspective and this outside draw ensures he shouldn’t encounter much trouble when it’s time to make a bid. At this point Valyrian Sky has a clear edge in the speed figure department over his rivals so I think 3-1 or 5/2 is probably a fair price on him in this bulky field.
