Finest City carries the distance in Grade 1 La Troienne

By Rick Francis —-

Finest City; All photos by Benoit

CHURCHILL DOWNS

Race 5) 1ˆ Mile. -G1 La Troienne S. Presented by Spirited Funds Purse $300,000 FOR FILLIES AND MARES FOUR YEARS OLD AND UPWARD Post Time: (12:35)/11:35/10:35/ 9:35

Eskenformoney (1), Pletcher/Castellano; 5-year-old has hit the board in 9 of 11 contests at this distance, but with only one win; trainer/jock tandem hitting at 26 percent on the year and can never be overlooked.

Impasse (2), Lukas/Franco; Quality Road filly exits a victory over minor Oaklawn OC’s, and 4-year-old has yet to post a speed figure to top these, that being said, it’s a D. Wayne Lukes starter.

Big World (3), Amoss/Geroux; La.-bred filly has won 4 of 5, 3 straight, and with the exception of her last score all have come facing state company; exotics player at a price.

Paid Up Subscriber (4), Brown/Rosario; makes her second start in the Brown barn; is a perfect 3-for-3 here including the G2 Fleur De Lis last June. Poor trip cost her last out sprinting 7 furlongs, the return to routing makes her a win factor.

Romantic Vision (5), Arnold/Hernandez, B; Lemon Drop Kid 5-year-old sandwiched a pair of Keeneland scores with a fifth place effort here in the G2 Falls City, an effort that brought her to within 2&1/2 lengths of the winners; I don’t see it, but with track conditions???

Streamline (6), Williamson/Landeros; G2 Azeri winner finished third last out to a couple of Oaklawn beasts in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom; they’re not here today, and with a perfect 9-for-9 in the money record at this route, jump.

Factory of Faith (7), Sharp/Ortiz, J; Sharp takes over the coaching duties of this mare by Bluegrass Cat, and maybe he can find which surface and route is her calling; owns a win and place over the “off-going”.

Finest City (8), Kruljac/Smith; reigning Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint champ exits a tough second in the G1 Santa Margarita, her first route attempt since a couple of turf starts at Del Mar late last year. She also posts a score over wet conditions, but how low do you go with a sprinter routing; take it.

Go Maggie Go (9), Romans/Saez; Ghostzapper filly make her first start of 2017 after a pair of disastrous starts to end 2016; filly will have to beat me.

Selections: 8, 6, 4, 3