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Laurel Park: Spot plays and horses to watch, November 10

by | Nov 10, 2017 | Breaking, Handicapping, Maryland

Rapid Dan

Rapid Dan (#2) cruised to victory in an allowance at Laurel Park. Photo by The Racing Biz.

Gary Quill is taking a brief hiatus from his GQ Approach full-card picks and analysis. In his stead, we present daily spot plays and horses to watch. Good luck!

First post today is 12:30 p.m. The late Pick 5 has no carryover. The Super Hi 5 has a carryover of $1,959.66. The Jackpot Rainbow Pick 6 has a carryover of $1,908.95. Ten races are on the card. Laurel Park is off the turf today; all races will be run on the main track.

  • The first race is a $25,000 maiden claimer for two-year-old fillies, and #8 Greasedlightning (8-5) figures to be a handful in here. She has run pretty good races at higher levels which catching a bunch of talented runners, including the stakes-placed Pikachu Princess, stakes winner Enchanted Star, and two-time winner Margie’s Money. She also figures to be bet like a good thing. A horse we’re just a bit intrigued by is the longshot Tim Woolley trainee #7 All About Bleu (15-1). The Scipion filly had the worst of the trip in her debut, getting steadied just out of the gate and again near the half-mile pole. The latter seemed to cause her to fade from the scene altogether, but in the lane, when well wide, she ran on willingly enough, making up some ground and passing a couple of horses. She gets Lasix today for the first time, and we’ll be curious whether her late exertions in her debut suggest she might have a little bit more talent, or whether she was merely passing worse horses. Top local rider Jevian Toledo is up — a positive sign.

  • The eighth is a six-furlong entry-level allowance sprint on the dirt for older runners that’s attracted a field of eight. The horse of interest here is the Charles Town shipper Lewisfield (5-2). The Jeff Runco trainee has certainly suggested he has plenty of talent, winning two of three; he broke his maiden by a Secretariat-esque 20 lengths at Charles Town and followed that up with an easy win (at 10-1 odds) against Maryland-bred allowance foes locally. None of four to run back from that last has won their next start, but since — oddly enough — all four made their next starts on turf, that may not be all that meaningful. He’s been away for almost two months but shows three works in the interim. Runco’s go-to rider Arnaldo Bocachica comes in for the ride, and the question on the table is, Is this guy the real deal?

  • The ninth is a $25,000 maiden claimer with a field of 10 going 5 1/2 furlongs on the main track, and the favorite here is the Scott Lake trainee #8 Homer Haps (5-2). He’s a runner who ran second on debut against maiden special weight company, and while his two follow-ups were less impressive, that first race suggests he has some talent. The bad news is that his last race took place nearly a year ago. The good? Trainer Scott Lake wins 15 percent of the time off such lengthy layoffs and has an ROI of $4.10 (greatly helped by a 61-1 winner last year at Parx). Not inclined to take favoritism on a horse off a year? Howzabout #1 Into Belief (6-1) for trainer Jaime Mejia? Sure, Mejia never wins — four percent this year — and he’s legging up rider Christian Dominguez, who also never wins — one-for-38 in 2017 — but this horse ran a good one last out. Facing $40,000 maiden claimers in his first start in seven months, he zipped to the early lead and held on for a long time before fading late to third, beaten just a length — at 34-1 odds. The runner-up that day returned to be second against similar, and a repeat of that could make him tough in here. The odds are square, and since he’s part of a coupled entry, you get a twofer.