An awesome Memorial Day weekend is being forecast weather-wise and there’s some nice racing on tab in the area for those not going “Downy Ocean”. On Saturday, Fair Hill holds their annual one-day meet featuring various steeplechase races. This event provides a great family atmosphere. It’s a wonderful way to introduce the entire family to the “Sport of Kings”. I highly recommend it. Gates open at 10am. First race Post is 1pm. For more information go to
www.fairhillraces.com.
Recapping Day 20 (May 22nd)…
Best Bet, Dattts Awesome (# 3; 7th race; 8-5 M/L) wasn’t!!! The fact he was only sent off as the 5-2 second choice would have tipped me off that he wasn’t ready today. He never broke and ran 5th out of 7 runners the entire race, earning that dubious comment “No Factor”.
Longshot, Desperado Kid (# 7; 2nd race on the turf; 8-1 M/L) was bet down to 4-1 and ran a nice stalking race. Unfortunately, he never found 3rd gear and finishes evenly, getting nosed out for second, paying $4.80 to SHOW.
My office shuts down a few hours early every Friday leading into a 3-day holiday weekend, so I’m going to take a detour on the way home and catch the last couple at Old Hilltop. Here’s who I like for the Day 21 (May 23rd) of the Pimlico Spring Meet…
Best Bet: Bond Fire (# 3; 8th race; 9-5)
This field of seven going 1 1/16 miles on the main track is filled with early speed. This lightly raced 5 year old has shown the ability to come from off the pace without much effort. Even though he is making his first start in 370 days, the A.M. work tab indicates he’ll fire at first asking. Pino takes the mount… the only one of him on today’s card.
Longshot: Peggys Run (# 7; 7th race on the turf; 20-1)
Picking her is a real stretch, but I think she has a shot at completing your exacta or triple. Seven of the twelve starters here have only beaten maidens whereas Peggys Run has 2 wins in 21 lifetime starts. She’s been on the board in 3 of 4 efforts on the Pimlico grass. Today is her second start of 2008 after displaying a nice closing kick in her debut. I’d like her even more if the race was 1/16th longer, but we’ll take what we can get… and we’ll get double-digit odds on her.
Good Luck with your selections today!