Plainsman appears primed for big effort

After a few weeks of lean stakes action following the Breeders’ Cup, the Thanksgiving weekend provides handicappers a wealth of opportunity from coast to coast. There are plenty of races to choose from Saturday, but I think my spread is enticing – a 3-year-old route in New York on the main track, a 2-year-old route in Kentucky on the main track, and a route for 3-yearolds and up on grass in California.

Discovery Stakes

Many people will be drawn to Chad Brown’s entrant Gronkowski, but it’s difficult to have any faith in him after two consecutive non-efforts. The effort he delivered in the Belmont Stakes had the racing world believing he’d be one of the best 3-year-olds over the second half of 2018, but after an eighth-place finish in the Travers and a subsequent sixth-place finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, it’s hard to take him at what’s likely to be a short price Saturday.

An alternative to Gronkowski is Life’s a Parlay, but I wasn’t enamored with his return effort at Belmont Park.

A horse I believe could be sitting on a career effort is Plainsman for trainer Brad Cox. After consecutive victories against older horses in one-turn races, this son of Flatter will return to a twoturn event for the first time since Sept. 1 at Saratoga – a race in which he was spun nearly 10 paths wide off the far turn and still rallied strongly to finish third. He has paired up Beyer tops (96) in his last two starts, and that leads me to believe Plainsman is ready to fire a strong shot Saturday at Aqueduct.

Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes

The second- and third-place finishers in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile return in the Kentucky Jockey Club, and they deserve to be considered the horses to beat.

Knicks Go and Signalman both ran creditable races on Breeders’ Cup Friday earlier this month – especially Knicks Go, considering he was the only part of the pace hanging around at the end.

After such a hard effort by Knicks Go, I believe it’s fair to wonder if that took some of the starch out of him and makes him vulnerable Saturday.

As for Signalman, he did finish nicely on Nov. 2, but he received a beautiful ride from Brian Hernandez Jr. and was the beneficiary of a swift pace to run at from the back of the pack.

I’m interested in Dunph for trainer Mike Maker. Dunph is making his first start against graded stakes company. A son of Temple City, this gelding owns a perfect 2-for-2 record, winning by a combined 16 1/4 lengths. He’s already proven going two turns, and his Beyer Speed Figures are respectable. He’s been visually spectacular, but he’ll get the acid test Saturday afternoon.

If Dunph goes off at odds of 6-1 or greater, I’ll be betting him to win.

Seabiscuit Handicap

Synchrony ships in from the East Coast and Pincheck from Europe for this race, and they should be viewed as primary win contenders.

If you’re looking for an alternative at a more attractive price (like I am), you’re going to be stuck taking a horse that’s been based in Southern California for some time. That said, I believe there’s a horse that is in career form, and much of that has to do with his recent move to a new barn.

Ohio has always hinted at ability since migrating from South America, but he’s notoriously difficult to ride and had always seemed to find one or two better than him in stakes races. After being claimed for $50,000 three starts back by trainer Michael McCarthy, this son of Elusive Quality exploded in his next start, a $28,000 claiming event at Del Mar. The effort was so impressive that he was thrust back into stakes company most recently, running a respectable third behind Sharp Samurai and Fly to Mars in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita.

The City of Hope didn’t feature much as far as pace is concerned. If the pace in the Seabiscuit is honest, Ohio should be rolling late at what should be a decent price.