Racing returns later today for the final five-day week of the year at beautiful Keeneland Race Course. The eight-race card that kicks off at 1PM eastern not only includes a $20,386 carryover in the Pick 6, but also offers horseplayers another crack at 1/ST BET and Xpressbet’s Keeneland “Wins-Day” promotion. The no-brainer promo rewards our customers with a 20% bonus on Win bet payouts at Keeneland on Wednesday’s up to $20. Check out the promotional landing page for details and be sure to register if you have yet to do so. Here are a few horses I like most later today in the Lexington area.
Race 3:
The Pick 6 kicks off with this open $16k claimer at six-furlongs over the main track where there is a lot of early speed signed on. #4 Decatur Street, #5 Machine Gun Man, #6 West Coast Bull, #7 Eli’s Promise, and #9 Lucky Shot all like to find a favorable forward position. This should set things up perfectly for class dropping favorite #8 Show Time. The son of Into Mischief takes a huge drop-in class for trainer David Jacobson after failing badly as the 3-5-public choice in a starter allowance at Churchill Downs in late September. The effort was somewhat puzzling, but still would have been good enough to dispose of this modest bunch. The 7YO gelding has run well in both starts over this surface and has shown a nose for the wire evidenced by his 10 for 31-career record. He will be a short price, but should be very tough to deny assuming he does not regress even further off his last run. A single to kick off a very challenging Pick 6 sequence.
Play: #8 Show Time (3-2 ML)
Picks: 8-7-3
Race 5:
This MSW event for 2YO fillies at 6.5-furlongs over the main track is filled with mostly first-time starters and appears relatively wide-open. 7-2-ML favorite #8 Psalm Beauty makes some sense in her second career start after a late running runner-up effort at Saratoga to kick off her career, but there is a solid chance one of the debut runners is more talented and faster than this daughter of Jackie’s Warrior. I am hopeful it is #11 Maranello. The $2M Keeneland September ’25 purchase did not draw too favorably with the far outside in her first start since there is the chance she breaks outward towards the open space instead of sharply, but if not appears live at first asking. Trainer Brendan Walsh sports a 3-19-record with a $3.59 ROI with 2YO debut runners over the Keeneland dirt over the last five years. I am looking forward to seeing the pricey filly’s debut later this afternoon.
Play: #11 Maranello (6-1 ML)
Picks: 11-8-4
Race 6:
The pace should be contentious in this second-level allowance event at 1 1/16-miles over the Keeneland sod. This should bode well for #9 Ironsides. The son of Midshipman gets a class test after rattling off three wins in a row this summer for trainer Fausto Gutierrez. The class hike is always a question, but this guy is battle tested with 40-starts under his belt and victories at three different venues before heading west to the Blue Grass State for his third try over this surface. Gutierrez lures Jose Oritz on this 6YO gelding that lacks speed, but has been the most consistent off-the-pace runner in the field. Hopefully, the out-of-town form translates to Kentucky where there is no doubt that the competition gets tougher. The 8-1-ML offering seems fair though against a solid, but non-spectacular bunch.
Play: #9 Ironsides (8-1 ML)
Picks: 9-2-8
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