US Racing Betting Tips: Our trader previews Gulfstream and Tampa Bay
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We’reback Stateside on Friday night with five more meetings from the United States.
Our man onthe trading floor has kindly run through the action from two of those cards,Gulfstream and Tampa, and picked out his race to watch across the evening too.
GulfstreamPark
Luis Saez isstill very much the man in form at Gulfstream. The Panamanian ace continues torack up winners and has maintained a near 20% strike-rate so far this season.
He’s got an extensive book of rides for some top trainers, and two that could be worth paying close attention to are Hartling (18:34) for Michael Pino and Eve of War (21:46) for Todd Pletcher. Both fillies are seeking redemption having been good winners before both coming unstuck last time out.
Hartling hada rare blip last time where she was beaten on the turf course. Before thatthough she’d run up four smooth victories including three on the dirt. Herexpert handler looks to have found a good opportunity to get this three-year-olddaughter of Mucho Macho Man back on track in what looks an open race.
Eve of Warcontests a much stronger race containing two ex-Jessica Harrington imports. Shetrounced her opposition on her first start, bolting up by 7½l and looking likea very good horse. Things went wrong a few weeks later, though, when shestumbled at the start and was never in contention.
Legendarytrainer Pletcher is clearly seeking to get her back on track with this switchto turf. It would be no surprise to see him get it right, but the stiffcompetition posed by Secret Stash (3rd in the Florida Oaks) makes this a toughcontest.
Saezbooked rides: FirstIn Line (18.00), Hartling (18.34), Borrowed Angel (19.39), Frenchmen Street(20.11), Simple Story (20.43), Combination (21.15), Eve of War (21.46),Graceful Princess (22.17), Fifty Cents (22.47)
One horsethat might be familiar to racing fans is Shrewdness. Formerly owned byThe Queen, this daughter of Lawman was trained by William Haggas in the UK andmakes her second start in the US for trainer Patrick Biancone.
Some mightconsider her first run (beaten only ¾l) to be an excellent one considering thatcame after almost six months off the track and she might not have been fullytuned up.
However,that race was on the turf and this is a different proposition entirely. Sheisn’t bred for dirt and even though Biancone has a good record switching horsesfrom one surface to another, it does pose a serious question.
Shrewdness’only win in the UK did come on the dirt at Wolverhampton, though, and there issome hope she might take to the mud. She isn’t the only former Haggas in-matein the field either.
WhisperingBeauty also used tobe in the care of the Classic winning trainer and arguably achieved more. Inthe UK she managed two wins at novice level and has run well on her two startsin Florida.
This is alsoher first attempt on the dirt surface and again there are questions about howwell she will handle it. Brendan Walsh hasn’t had much success so far with hisrunners this season and a win for his filly here would be very welcome. Thereal question is, will either of the former UK-trained horses be able to shineon the dirt?
Tampa BayDowns
AlthoughDaniel Centeno is the hottest jockey at Tampa right now, Samy Camacho continuesto ride at the top of his game and has more bookings on the card.
He looks to have some excellent chances, the best of which could be Sunset Empire in the first race (17:24) and Fort King in the last (20:58). The former has three wins and two seconds from just eight starts at the Florida track and Camacho has a great record when teaming up with Anthony Granitz.
While the five-year-olddoesn’t have the most impressive recent form figures, the switch back to dirtand big class drop could see him in a much better light. On the otherhand, Fort King comes into this race off the back of a win under Samy lasttime.
The pairobviously get on well together and no doubt his pilot will be hoping for arepeat performance. They’ll face strong competition from likelyfavourite Bueno Bueno Bueno, but there is no substitute for apartnership who get on well and a jockey full of confidence.
Camacho booked rides: Sunset Empire (17.24), Majestic Melody (17:52), Silent Mischief (18.21), Baci (18.52), Lady Breanna (19.25), C’Era Una Volta (20.26), Fort King (20.58).
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
