Top pick: #6 (LATE STARTER) - Gelding was claimed in late March at Gulfstream by trainer Rick Dutrow for $35K and has been freshened-up for the past 2 1/2 months. Gelding has been working sharply for his return and earlier this year had run competitively in several special weight contests that had much tougher fields. One-run type has John Velazquez aboard and Dutrow is winning at a 32% rate with fresh claims and is 30% off of long layoffs.
2nd pick: #10 (Upkeep) - Well-bet in both starts, he ran a big race when debuting at Gulfstream March 31st. Son of "Street Sense" broke sharply from an outside post and stayed on gamely to miss by a 1/2 length. He ran poorly here at this distance last out, but had an intimidating inside post and should like this outside draw much better. Trainer Chad Brown drops him into a claimer and I almost made this 3-year-old the top choice.
3rd pick: #7 (Transpledent) - Son of "Sky Mesa" raced evenly here at this distance on the dirt April 27th and has been working swiftly since. Trainer John Kimmel (6 for 21) at this meet, drops him into a claimer and switches him to the grass. "Live" price play.
4th pick: #9 (Dendrite) - He has consistently shown early speed and will drop back down a bit this afternoon. Colt has finished second and third in his two previous races at this price and can be in this from gate to wire.