Top pick: #13 (CUNNING RIDE) (4-1) - Lightly raced gelding dueled and held gamely to finish second here at this level going 5.5 furlongs on Aug. 16th. Solid effort came fresh off a 70 day break, and trainer Mark Glatt brings him back in nine days for this appearance. On the also-eligible list, he needs one scratch in the main-body to get in.
2nd pick: #1 (Mudflats) (6-1) - Grey gelding raced a bit rank last out facing much tougher here on July 28 in his first since April 13. Trainer Doug O'Neill adds blinkers, drops him into a career soft spot, and 3yo by "Tapit" had an extremely fast work here eight days ago. Strong win candidate.
3rd pick: #12 (Lico) (15-1) - Longshot tired badly facing tougher going a mile here 11 days ago, and trainer Cody Autry brings him back quickly, drops him down to a new low, and shortens him up to one-turn. Dangerous at a big price.
4th pick: #10 (Valid But True) (6-1) - Speedy and lightly raced gelding tackles winners for the first time following a gate-to-wire maiden win here on Aug. 11th racing for a #20K tag. He has plenty of room for upside, and a good post to "'gun" from.
5th pick: #2 (Suances Candy) (5-1) - He is what he is at this point, a runner who tends to race evenly, and his barn will be cutting back in distance for this attempt. Fits on "figures," but unlike several of the other picks, he has little room for improvement.