Tom Leach

Tom Leach is “the Voice of the Wildcats” for football and men’s basketball and a contributor to Keeneland.com as well. He is a two-time winner of the Eclipse Award for radio coverage of thoroughbred racing. During race meets, check out Keeneland’s You Tube channel for his trainer and jockey interviews ahead of major stakes races and listen for the weekly “In The Money” podcast with Tom and Jim Goodman at keenelandselect.com. You can follow Tom’s coverage of the Cats at tomleachky.com




Sunday, April 21, 2013

Race 1:  Twining Hearts (4) drops in class and gets Leparoux in the saddle and gets the call in the opener.  Fluent (2) and Fort Morgan (1A) are viable contenders and  Roughneck (7) is a good longshot play.  EXACTA BOX: 4-2-1-7

Race 2:  tough race to sort and I went against my better judgement and picked Tattaglia (10), because of the superior Beyer fig and the fact that Asmussen uses his go-to jock.   However, Asmussen points his horses for Churchill and horses coming off Oaklawn have not done well here, so those are reasons why I would spread out some in this race.  Overt (5) is an intriguing price play and first-time starters There’s Two (11) and Schmooze (6) are worth a look.  EXACTA BOX:  10-5-11-6

Race 3:  Kingsford Drive (2) looks like a solid favorite but the inside two posts have not done well in sprints and that could make this one vulnerable.  Highlight (8) is my pick—the move up in class suggest trainer confidence as does the switch to a higher percentage rider.   Outofsightoutofmind (11) has won here, as has Fish (7) so they would not be surprises at big prices.  In races like this, I like to do an exacta box of the horses who have won over this track.   EXACTA BOX:  8-2-11-7

Race 4:  Costly (7) just won impressively here on Wednesday and this quick turnaround suggests a confident trainer who is trying to maximize his recent investment.  Revenue (6) is the logical favorite.  EXACTA BOXES:  7-6, 7-2

Race 5:  Code of Conduct (1) comes off a strong win at Gulfstream Park and might just be good enough to handle this class rise.   I’ll take this one for the price.  Red Strike (3), Humble and Hungry (2) and Any Given Royal (9) are logical contenders that I will key with my top pick.  EXACTA BOXES:  1-3, 1-2, 1-9

Race 6:  Barrio Bay (9) was claimed by Maker off a lifetime best at Gulfstream and will be hard to handle here.   Dynamical (10) has the class edge if ready to run and I think one of these two wins this race.  Key to Fame (11) is worth a look at a big price, more to hit the board than win and Beatnik (6) has run well on synthetics.  EXACTA BOX:  9-10-11

Race 7:  a really tough one to decipher so I would want to spread out here and give myself several chances to win.  If forced to settle on one, I’d lean to Three Hearts (2), who could improve second off the layoff.   So Do Prayers (10), Dance Again (6) and Neith (11) are worth a look.  EXACTA BOX:   2-10-6-11

Race 8:   Successful Dan (1) is 4-for-4 here.  The only question mark is that his figures have tended to be better second or third off the layoff than first time out.  Boisterous (7) is the only logical alternative.  EXACTA BOX:  1-7

Race 9:  Caxambas Pass (3) was a little rank last time but perhaps can settle a little better at this longer distance and if so, could be dangerous at a price.  He’s my pick.  Tanzpiel (4), Glorious Chant (12) are logical contenders and French Lick (10) is a live longshot off an improved effort last time.   EXACTA BOXES:  3-4, 3-12, 3-10

Best exacta race:  9^th

50-cent Pick 4 for $50 or less:  (starts in race 6)  9/10 with ALL with 1,7 with 3/4 = $44

 

 

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