At Parx yesterday our selection, Phil Dancer got the odds we wanted and more importantly we got the result too! He ran an excellent trip and scored a $14.20 winning ticket. With a $12 win bet that would have been a $85.20 return for a net profit of $73.20. Today we head back to Chicago to Hawthorne for the 6th race. It's an Allowance event ($35,000N1X) for state bred fillies and mares, 3YO and upwards going a mile on grass.
This is one of those fields you could call lesser of evils, for no one here looks like a clear winner. I'm leaning towards #2 Little Frances ML 5/2 (should be more like 3/1). I normally don't like first time starters on grass but its hard to ignore her winning longer here at Hawthorne back in November. This also will be her second start as a 4YO and under Michael Reavis, who is an outstanding trainer here in the Midwest. She has held her own in this level on dirt, her running style works well here and Thornton is on board again. You can also add in the "blinkers off" and you have an interesting opportunity. The issue will be the odds, she will get bet down with the #5 Prima Donna Pirate ML 2/1 and that will take care of that.
For this race, I'll go outside. #4 Lefty's Legacy ML 10/1 (that's a fair price) will be my pick. Taking a maiden winner is always risky but she broke her maiden at this distance on grass at Hawthorne a week back. Frank Kirby spins her right back in her first non winners of one and she showed big improvement in her speed fig's. Kirby is one of the better trainers and to wheel her right back shows she has more in the tank. She is the lone speed here and could find herself going wire to wire against this crowd.
Now if you want to go for a real dark horse and a big price, I'll take the #7 Live Today ML 20/1. This 5YO has had a rough go the last two years racing in dirt sprints outside of Illinois. Going back to her 3YO career she won at this distance on grass at Arlington under Christine Janks, who she rejoins with again today. This mare showed promise back then and sadly got lost in the claiming shuffle. So there is a big angle here with a new trainer (who had done well with her in the past), jockey switch, surface/distance change and adding blinkers. Janks has been working her steadily and could get up for a piece of the action. I'll be rooting for her to find her way back, hoping the past two years didn't destroy her confidence or heart for racing.
