Churchill Downs, Race 1 – 06/01/2023
By 2YO EdgeMan
CD1:060123 – After a lackadaisical break, our pick #3 Call Me Andy started to get it into gear down the backstraight before collaring the pace setter and eventual third place finisher – #5 Sonofaship – near the head of the stretch and then ran on to graduate by three parts of a length. Longshot – #4 Top of the Street – made a late move along the inside to claim the runner-up spot. Tyler Gaffalione made the right choice to climb aboard this Midshipman colt for Brendan Walsh who polished off the five and a half panels in 1:04.95, which checked in at a reasonable 79 Equibase Speed Fig. This guy’s morning line odds of 5/1 were cut in half by the time that all the betting ceased (clearly the number of Edgies is growing rapidly) and he paid $7.52 for each $2W ticket placed on him. Learnings – The key angles here was Gaffalione’s decision to ride this colt, his two half siblings that scored at the graded stakes level, solid trainer stats at CD Spring and the fact that he was the highest selling yearling by his sire last year.
R1 at Belmont on Friday just doesn’t look very interesting with only six horses entered and Pletcher having the 3/2 morning line favorite. So that’s it for the weekend, but we are already looking forward to more juvenile racing action next week. As always, stay safe and be kind – you never know what someone else may be going through.
