MJC analyst Gabby Gaudet will share her longshot and exotic plays with The Racing Biz each Saturday. Photo courtesy of the Maryland Jockey Club.
In the latest edition of our weekly feature with Maryland racing analyst Gabby Gaudet, she plays a Pick 3 and digs into an allowance race.
RACE 7
The skinny: Three-year-old fillies going six furlongs in a first-level allowance.
Notably: The field includes three stakes winners, plus a stakes-placed horse — but the favorite’s only race was a maiden special weight event.
Gabby’s take: “With younger horses, I don’t put a huge amount of stock in speed figures because they can drastically improve from one race to the next.”
[boxify cols_use =”3″ cols =”6″ position =”right” box_spacing =”5″ padding =”3″ background_color =”gray” background_opacity =”10″ border_width =”1″ border_color =”blue” border_style =”solid” height =”220″ ]GABBY’S PICK THREE TICKET
- Race 7 – 2, 4, 9
- Race 8 – 6
- Race 9 – 1, 4, 6, 7
- Ticket cost ($0.50 unit): $6[/boxify]
SCOPING OUT THE SEVENTH
[su_list icon=”icon: check”]- The particulars: Fillies, 3yo, 6 furlongs
- Conditions: Allowance for horses that haven’t won one race other than maiden, claiming, starter, waiver claiming, or Md.-bred/Md.-sired stakes
- The favorite: #2 Streamsong was visually impressive in winning a maiden special weight at first asking and earned a gaudy 79 Beyer speed figure. “She’s good-looking, and it looks like she has it all together mentally,” says Gabby. That’s the good news. The questions for this daughter of Kodiak Kowboy, trained by Tim Keefe: it’s unclear how good a field she beat, and the one horse to run back, Preseli’s Pulpit, who finished second to Streamsong, was a disappointing third at even-money. Bottom line: “4-5 is tough to take,” says Gabby. “She should win, but you never know.”
- The head case: #4 Mondor (8-1) won by 10 at first asking against maiden claimers in September, followed that up with a couple of good efforts, including a near-miss second to the talented Miss Bullistic in the Donna Freyer Stakes at Parx — but then was a distant seventh as the favorite against allowance foes for trainer Donald Barr. “I could see a change in her from her first start at Laurel,” says Gabby. “She was very nervous in the paddock last time, and it transferred into the race itself. I’m going to be looking for improvement in her behavior in the paddock.” On the positive side, trainer Donald Barr has been in the midst of a lengthy good streak, including three wins from seven starts so far in 2015. Bottom line: “She’s capable of better,” says Gabby.
- The stake winner: #9 Spotted Heart (5-1) has won two straight, most recently the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship in late December. That makes her one of three stake winners in the field (Also, My Magician, Maryland Million Lassie; Sara Rocks, Tri-State Futurity). And it marks her an improving filly for trainer Mark Shuman; it was her second straight win, both at long odds. “Something’s clicked with her,” says Gabby. Her maiden breaker came in her fifth career start. Her speed figures are a little light, with a career best of 59, but the Lassie, in which she ran fifth, has been a productive race (four next-out winners), and it’s possible that the Juvenile Filly Championship will be, as well. In other words, the speed figs don’t tell the whole tale. Bottom line: “She’s one that’s definitely improving,” says Gabby, “and I like the two good works she’s showing since that last race.”
STREAMSONG — 1/8/15
In the video below, Streamsong (#5, on the rail and towards the rear) moves up along the rail into contention, tips out, and mows down Preseli’s Pulpit to break her maiden. She is favored to win again today.
[su_video url=”https://www.theracingbiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/streamsongstretch.mp4.mp4″ poster=”https://www.theracingbiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/never-8656.jpg” title=”Streamsong wins at first asking 1/8/15.” width=”420″]“Good luck!”
(Featured image, of Ben’s Cat, by Laurie Asseo.)
