Top pick: #2 (HELLO FRANKIE) - Gelding was competitive last year as a 2-year-old in a pair of stakes at Hastings Park restricted to British Columbia breds and showed good early speed while racing wide in a contest at Santa Anita April 1st racing for a $75K tag. Freshened up since then by trainer Troy Taylor he drops him to a new low and races him without blinkers for the first time.
2nd pick: #6 (Patriotic Lion) - He's "burned" a lot of money in his 10 starts as he's been favored in five of those. Son of "Lion Heart" runs off a 7-week freshening and he'll be racing on a "poly" surface for the first time. He also runs with the "hood" removed and that should help him relax a bit more.
3rd pick: #4 (Additional Demands) - Debuting 4-year-old is in the barn of Jeff Mullins (24% first out) and has been in steady training since early February. Initially prepared at santa Anita, he has a trio of local drills including a sharp half-mile from the gate April 29th. Looks ready to contend first out.