Friday’s Race Selections: Value to be had in Churchill’s Graded Stakes Undercard

By Rick Francis —-

Race 5) 7 Furlongs Eight Belles S. presented by Derby City Gaming Grade II. Purse $250,000 FOR FILLIES, THREE YEARS OLD.
Post Time: (12:35)/11:35/10:35/ 9:35
ADVANCED FORECAST: Showers And Thunderstorms Likely, High 78, Low 63

9) Mother Mother (Baffert/Geroux); won the Rags to Riches here in October and exits a head second at Keeneland in the Grade 3 Beaumont; most accomplished stakes player in the field.

4) Break Even (Cox/Bridgmohan); Country Day filly is a perfect 3-for-3 with two of those victories coming over “off-tracks”, a condition she may in this.

5) Bell’s the One (Pessin/Lanerie); after winning four straight to open her career, she wanted nothing to do with the Grade 1 Ashland field last out, easing up.

6) Del Mar May (Baltas/Rosario); fired off the bench last out in very impressive fashion, besting a solid group at Oaklawn.

Selections: 9, 4, 5, 6

Race 6) 1&1/16th Mile. (Turf) Edgewood S. presented by Forcht Bank Grade III. Purse $250,000 FOR FILLIES, THREE
YEARS OLD
Post Time: ( 1:17)/12:17/11:17/10:17

1) Newspaperofrecord (Brown/Ortiz, I.); BC Juvenile Filly Turf champion makes her 2019 debut and judging by her work tab, she’s ready to fire. Many would think you “need” one, but not in this case.

2) Cambier Parc (Brown/Ortiz, J.); stablemate is the main threat and exits a gut check win in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride; though contrary to headline, not much “value” here.

5) Concrete Rose (Arnold/Leparoux); rebounded from her BC Juve turf effort to take the G3 Florida Oaks at Tampa; Leparoux staying a plus.

4) Fortunate Girl (Casse/Geroux); following a failed main track start at Fair Grounds, Hard Spun filly returned to the turf and put together a couple of sold efforts, a near miss second and cruising past a pricey allowance field at Keeneland.

Selections: 1, 2, 5, 4

Race 7) 1&1/16th Mile Alysheba S. presented by Sentient Jet Grade II. Purse $400,000 FOR FOUR YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD
Post Time: ( 2:00)/ 1:00/12:00/11:00

10) Silver Dust (Calhoun/Gilligan); has shown marked improvement in each of his last seven starts, including a win in the Grade 3 Mineshaft and a gutsy second in the G2 New Orleans Handicap; sports a pair of wins and three seconds at the distance; blows up multi-race wagers.

1) McKinzie (Baffert/Smith); the logical favorite, but believe his last two, though “all-game”tries, takes it out of him.

8) Seeking the Soul (Stewart/Velazquez); 6-year-old knows how to rebound in these spots, and that’s what he’ll have to do following his dull effort in the Dubai World Cup.

2) Tom’s d’Etat (Stall/Bridgmohan); ran to his 20-1 odds last out in the Pegasus finishing a well back 9th; too short a price for top spot shot.

6) Instilled Regard (Brown/Ortiz, J.); exits a neck second over the Keeneland lawn; Brown with the surface switch angle, 29 percent.

Selections: 10, 1, 8, 2, 6

Race 8) 1&1/16th Mile. La Troienne S. presented by Inside Access from Chase Grade I. Purse $500,000 FOR FILLIES
AND MARES FOUR YEARS OLD AND UPWARD
Post Time: ( 2:53)/ 1:53/12:53/11:53

2) Blue Prize (Correas/Bravo); on the shelf since BC Distaff last November; however there’s a long work tab and and a very impressive Churchill record to view,(6 3-2-0 $430k)

8) Golden Award (Mott/Ortiz, J.); lightly raced 4-year-old out of Medaglia d’Oro weakened as the race fave last out in the Doubledogdare and trainer Mott with a last out beaten favorite, 23 percent.

1) She’s a Julie (Asmussen/Santana); exits a determined win in the Grade 3 Bayakoa at Oaklawn but just can’t put back-to-backs.

3) Divine Miss Grey (Gargan/Franco); another who exits a stakes score and is another that two wins in a row escapes.

Selections: 2, 8, 1, 3

Race 10) 5½ Furlongs. (Turf) Twin Spires Turf Sprint S. presented by MassMutual Grade II. Purse $250,000 FOR THREE YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD
Post Time: ( 5:04)/ 4:04/ 3:04/ 2:04

6) World of Trouble (Servis/Franco); could be a multi-race single but will be sandwiched by speed from the inside and outside which could leave him vulnerable late in a contested pace; nevertheless, you’ve got to include in all plays.

1) Bound for Nowhere (Ward/Ortiz, I.); aforementioned’s inside threat but he was susceptible last out when setting a very quick pace and getting run down late in the Shakertown; Ward with a beaten fave next out, 21 percent.

8) Undrafted( Ward/Garcia); 9-year-old has been on the shelf since winning here last November; owns three firsts and a pair of seconds from five Churchill turf starts.

5) Chaos Theory (Walsh/Castellano); a transfer of his Fair Grounds turf form, 3 wins from 4 starts, and you’ll have just that, CHAOS.

Selections: 6, 1, 8, 5