Race 4: #3 Ready Hero 20-1
I want to take a chance with a horse that should be a massive price in #3 Ready Hero (20-1). His recent form looks awful, but I think there’s a case to be made that he’ll turn it around today. All of his recent races have been on the synthetic, but he’s 0 for 10 on that surface and only hit the board once. He’s clearly a better turf horse finishing in the money in half of his turf starts, including all three career wins, so we should see an improved performance getting back to his preferred surface. He’s also making his second start off a long layoff and has been working quickly for this race including a sub 36 blowout a couple weeks ago. Hopefully that time off did him some good and he can get back to those good turf races from last year.
I thought his last race was better than it may appear. After breaking slowly, he made a huge move on the turn making up over six lengths on the leaders, but could not sustain the rally and flattened out. The speed completely held together that day and the layoff probably took its toll too, but I thought it was a useful prep for a return to the grass. This race appears to be loaded with early speed as there’s at least four horses who should have their sights on the front end and several more that want to be forward. That should be just fine for Ready Hero who likes to come from the back of the pack and has some of the best late pace figures in the field. He should be able to save ground from the inside and he’s 2 for 3 at this tricky distance. I think he’s got real upset potential in this spot, assuming the pace heats up like it appears, and he’s certainly a horse you can use underneath at a giant number.
