Horses To Watch Saturday at Kentucky Downs

If you call yourself a racing fan, you are required by law to dig in and at least watch Saturday’s deep card at Kentucky Downs.  You may even want to place a wager or two.  Here are some horses to watch.

Race 6- Juvenile Turf Sprint

I don’t know who will go favored in here but I know it will NOT be 5-Carter Cat.  He just lost on the level to 2-Chattel in the Skidmore at Saratoga, and that one looks live himself.  We also have a Euro and two Wards, one of which ran at Ascot.  Any one of four or five could take the big money, but let’s go back to Carter Cat for a moment.  He ran in that key Churchill Downs maiden race we’ve talked about a lot here at LoneSpeed. The 3rd place finishers in that race, Forloveofcountry, just ran really well again at Del Mar, this time in a juvenile stakes race.  Others have come out of that same CD race to do well.  But what intrigues me about Carter Cat is that his connections seems hell-bent on keeping him on the grass.  This is the fourth time in five starts that he has been ENTERED on the turf.  In two of the three, the races came off the grass.  And his lone start on grass was also his lone finish out of the exacta in the aforementioned Skidmore.  So you make the call here.  They seem to think he wants to be on the turf.  And who am I to question Asmussen?  I’ll bet we see better than 8-1 on this guy.

 

Race 7- Ladies Turf

If you come to the conclusion that they might just go a tad too quick in here early, make sure you give a thorough examination of 7-Hallie Belle before deciding where to land.  Normally I don’t give much credit to any horse that goes from the east out to California and can’t win.  But Hallie Belle might get the pace set up she needs in here, and she can close fast on her best day.  At 8-1, she is worth a look, and then a second look.  I think she’ll be right there at the end.

 

Race 8- Ladies Sprint

Expect 6-Lull to get the bulk of the wagering attention by virtue of her two wins here and the fact that she is the reigning champion of this race.  She’s a deserving favorite.  But I’m wondering if she can run with 1-Brielle’s Appeal in the early going, and if the answer is no, can anyone catch Brielle’s Appeal late?  Brielle’s Appeal has two open-length wins against moderate sized fields going 5 1/2 furlongs, and she has a win here going today’s distance.  At the very least, she’ll give you a thrill for your money.  And maybe they don’t catch her.