Keeneland, Race 2 – 04/28/2023
By 2YO EdgeMan
KEE2:042823 – Wesley Ward missed his opportunity to hold his mind-boggling sixth baby trophy of the Keeneland Spring Meet on the absolute last jump at the wire. Congratulations to #14 Tito’s n Kenz who got into the main field, off the AE list, because of all the defections when the event was moved from the turf to the main, muddy track. The official winning margin was a nose in this race which was shortened to 4 ½ furlongs. Declan Cannon picked up the riding victory and Luis Mendez avoids a shutout with the juveniles for the meet.
The timer stopped at 53.34 and the EBSF checked in at a solid 83. The winner had a wide trip throughout, but ever-so-slowly wore down Bundchen and she paid a terrific $27.44 for those who plunked down two bucks to win on her. Yellow Sun Dress was running the best at the end and joined the blanket at the wire, but could only register a fourth place showing. Our pick – #7 Hollywoodboulevard – was one of the several that scratched. The victorious filly is by Unified and sold as a yearling to her owner, Gregs Pappas for $20,000 (9/30).
That’s wrap for the 2023 Spring Meet at Keeneland. There were some unbelievable performances, as typical for this meet. The reality is that April at KEE has never been a great meet for wagering opportunities on the babies, as WW absolutely dominates and I just can never finger his horses as my pick – that would be far too simplistic, but it is always filled with excitement and hope. We were unable to pick out any winners this April, but that’s OK (plus we had 3 out of 9 scratch out). We are confident that we’ll start hitting with some nice juveniles picks very soon. Hang in there with me!
“So, what’s next?”, all my Edgie pals are asking. We move on to Churchill Downs (and Belmont Park) as they’ve scheduled Race 2 next Wednesday (May 3) to be a 2YO MSW race with a hefty purse of $120,000 – and BEL is expected to pencil one in for the following day. Til then – take care…and thank you so very much.
