Oak Room could offer value

A couple horses that last raced at Oaklawn can help you hit the late pick four Sunday at Churchill.

Oak Room, a second-time starter, is a live shot in a very deep maiden special weight race to kick off the sequence in race 7. Charming Lady, who figures to be a shorter price than Oak Room, has an excellent shot to win race 8 as the late pick four gets tougher and tougher in featured race 9, a second-level turf-route allowance, and race 10, a $40,000 claiming sprint.

The pick four starts at 4:08 p.m. Eastern, the 10-race card at 1 p.m. There’s a 40 percent chance of rain Sunday in Louisville and a decent chance of precipitation all weekend, so plot turf handicapping accordingly.

Oak Room got only a 67 Beyer Speed Figure for his only start, and perhaps the number will offer more guidance than anything else, but the details of Oak Room’s performance merit attention. A Juddmonte Farms homebred trained by Brad Cox, Oak Room bungled the start and wound up last of 12 down the backstretch of a sixfurlong maiden race April 11 at Oaklawn. Oak Room kicked into gear around the turn and ran his fourth furlong in 12.09 seconds, nearly a fifth of a second faster than any of his 11 rivals, and got his final furlong in 12.14, fastest in the race by a fourth of a second. Skol Factor, a talented colt coming out of a super-key maiden race, won off by more than six lengths, but a half-furlong past the wire Oak Room had exploded past Skol Factor, galloping out far in front.

Sunday’s maiden race looks loaded and is open to older horses, but that also helps the price – in the win pool and the pick four – available on Oak Room.

Charming Lady has a longer résumé than Oak Room, with four starts behind her, and her connections appear – for now, at least – to have abandoned efforts to make Charming Lady into a route horse. Charming Lady, a Ghostzapper filly trained by Tom Amoss, overcame a challenging trip to score a going-away debut victory sprinting at Fair Grounds, after which she proved less effective in a pair of route races. Amoss cut her back to a sprint April 26 at Oaklawn, and Charming Lady ran a winning race, finishing at least three lengths clear of 10 horses while beaten only by Edgeway. Edgeway won her career debut with a 94 Beyer and returned with a fine third behind sharp fillies Kimari and

Frank’s Rockette in the Purple Martin Stakes before beating Charming Lady. Sunday’s race has capable entrants, but none of Edgeway’s talent.

Featured race 9 is open to $62,500 claimers as well as second-level allowance horses, carded over nine furlongs on turf, and restricted to fillies. A dozen can start in the race, which drew of 16 entrants, including three also-eligibles and main-track-only High Regard. Mercilla, the tepid 4-1 morning-line favorite, drops from graded stakes competition while making her first start since Nov. 30 and has little to no edge over several others in a race where pick four players could cast a wide net.

◗ Race 6, also carded for turf, is a female-restricted first-level allowance that figures to have graded stakes-dropping Sister Hanan as a favorite.