Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
ANALYSIS
FIRST RACE
TRY’N SMART’N UP improved while only secondbest to a heavy favorite in his lone start for a tag three back and he has since held his form going longer in his last two, including that last one when showing more speed; cuts back to a one-turn mile and drops back down for his NYRA debut. RIDOLFO stretches back out from his outside draw and does so in a spot where he may play out as the main speed; has run well over this distance in the past. DA BERG’s lone start over this distance came way back in his second career start vs. much better horses; stretches out for the first time vs. claimers with enough speed to keep up early.
SECOND RACE
STARTING POINT was claimed back in October out of a game runnerup effort on dirt and has made noth starts since on the grass, including the maiden win vis disqualification; back to dirt for Gargan, who has won with 9 of his last 14 starters. WILD WEEKEND has never run on dirt but he has the pedigree for it, being out of a dam whose eight career wins all came on the main track, including a Grade 3; switches over after running well in three starts on turf. QUIET OUT EAST seems to handle both turf and dirt equally well but required the class drop to finally break through two starts back on the grass; returns to dirt for his second start off the claim by Linda Rice.
THIRD RACE
MR. FIDGET never landed a blow in his debut but there were plenty of excuses to be had while going a tough distance over a wet track, and doing so for a trainer who tends to point for second out success anyway; expect better in his second start, especially if the track is fast. TITAN’S WILL has had the most chances in this field but he has run well while finishing 2nd in each of his last two over a fast track; had finished well enough in those races to suggest that he can get the mile. POLITICAL exits the same race as the top one, where he was outrun early before making a mild run into the stretch and then flattening out; trainer has been sending out nothing but live horses for a while now.
FOURTH RACE
INFORMED CONSENT debuted for $20k despite being a $400k purchase and he never factored in his debut after getting outrun early over a wet track; was racing on late in that spot, suggesting that he may do better with some distance, and he has found the right field to stretch out against. TRUE BLUE GIANT never developed after showing some brief early potential but he did break his maiden immediately upon getting some class relief on this circuit; returns from the Finger Lakes, where he has been routing right along for a very underrated trainer. OVERBOLD was okay on turf while showing some speed; made his dirt debut last time and was done early after contesting a fast pace; drops again second off the claim.
FIFTH RACE
GHOST FIGHTER made a promising run in his debut despite breaking slowly and getting outrun early over a short sprint distance, then weakened late in his second start after chasing a good winner; returns from a layoff with forward to go for a trainer having his typical strong winter meet here. MR PHIL has experience, as well, and he has run well in his last two starts while settling for second-best each time; will likely be an interesting price in this race. ITS A WRAP debuting for a trainer who is struggling a bit right now, and one who doesn’t push for firstout success, either; is by a sire who wins with 17% of his first time starters and is out of a dam whose four career wins all came sprinting on dirt.
SIXTH RACE
MISS MI MI ran the best race of her career three starts back for Gullo then returned to his barn to win again over this track last time; off the claim for Rudy this time looking to keep it going while taking a slight step up in class. FRIEND OF LIBERTY has the back races to be very tough in a spot like this one but she is returning from a long layoff for a trainer who doesn’t have great numbers with returnees like this, and who has been struggling at the meet; tough in here if ready while racing for $20k for just the second time in her career. NO DEAL had gotten back into good form over this track late in 2018 and she held that form into the first part of 2019, before stepping up in class over the summer; tries to get back on the beam off the claim after failing to run well last time.
SEVENTH RACE
PEGGY SUE kept coming up short vs. weaker horses while going 1-12 last year, but she has apparently turned things around lately, winning two in a row with improved figures while claimed both times; re-claimed by Rice after getting control of a rated pace last time, and she is perfectly drawn outside with tactical speed as she looks for three in a row. ELEGANT ROSE has run well in all four starts since arriving back in NY and she has the speed to be a forward factor from the start, though WINIFRED J should also be going directly to her outside; good effort last time despite getting run down by repeat winner Prairie Fire. WINIFRED J has come back to dirt recently with a pair of solid efforts vs. allowance horses while using her speed; won’t expect a change in tactics now.
EIGHTH RACE
TIZ KAZ NOW debuted in a tough MSW field last month, where he showed early speed up the rail before proving to be no match for a sharp winner in Convict (79 Beyer); drops for his second start while breaking from the rail again. CATZALIONBYTHETALE debuted for this tag and was outrun on the outside from the start while failing to make an impression; expect better from second-time starters out of this barn and the addition of blinkers may be a positive sign. I PROWL ALONE a stablemate of CATZALIONBYTHETALE’s making his career debut in this spot; dam has dropped four prior foals to date and three of them are stakes winners.