Ellis Park, Race 1 – 06/10/2023
By 2YO EdgeMan
ELP1:061023 – Juan Alvarado dropped #8 Kiss down into a Maiden Special Weight event and the decision paid off as she scored by a neck over a game filly – #4 Zadorsky (owned in the Game of Silks by VShakerfarms). Cristian Torres got the eventual winner out of the gate in good fashion and they dashed off to claim a length to length and a half advantage going around the turn. As they straightened out and turned into the stretch, Zadorsky dug in and drew level with Kiss at the quarter pole, but the victress was tough as nails and regained a short lead with a 1/16 of a mile to go and battled on to reach the wire first in a time of 57.68 for the five furlongs. She paid a reasonable $7.30 while earning a less than stellar E-Speed Fig of 66. My pick – #14 Wee Bit O Mischief – had an even trip and checked in 6th. Learnings – Clearly Alvarado had tons of confidence in his filly as evidenced by her debut start in a stakes race down in Florida. Additionally, the experience of that race with ‘the big girls’ had to be extremely helpful as she was taking on mostly first-time starters today. I thought that she’d get bet heavily, but going off at 5/2 was more than fair for this gal.
Back at it tomorrow up at Belmont – Race #7. Please look for our ‘Picks, Plays and Pontification’ on this fantastic site. Enjoy!!
