Arkansas Democrat-Gazette handicapper Rick Lee is attaching a confidence rating next to his top selection in each race. Readers should consider selections with:
*Educated Guess
**Things to like
***Plenty to like
****Confident choice
LEE’S LOCK Proud Image in the second. BEST BET Alpha and Omega in the sixth. LONG SHOT Donna’sdramaqueen in the third. SATURDAY’S RESULTS 3-9 (33.3 percent). MEET 34-108 (31.5 percent).
Exotic wager possibilities
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette handicapper Rick Lee seeks out horses who make good “key” horses in multi-horse and/or multi-race wagers, commonly called exotic wagers.
Field sizes diminished Sunday, providing lesser opportunities, but let’s start with a daily double using a couple of horses in the first and Proud Image, which appears to be a solid “single” in the second. The sixth drew a large field and Alpha and Omega is a probable winner and may not go favored, so a player can go a little deeper in the bottom of a trifecta or superfecta ticket.
1 Purse $22,500, mile, 3-year-olds, maiden claiming $25,000. **STAR STRUCK STEVE finished fourth of 11 in a useful sprint tuneup, and she is bred to route and represents a high-percentage stable. NO FUNNY BIZ was unable to overcome early trouble in a seventh-place debut, but she likely benefits from the experience and is wearing blinkers for the first time.
PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS
4 Star Struck Steve Vazquez Villafranco 5-2 2 No Funny Biz Santana Gorder 8-1 7 Giant’s Quest Landeros Hawley 4-1 6 Rag’s Boy Felix Smith 7-2 3 Devil’s Hand Loveberry Milligan 8-1 1 Secret Indulgence Birzer Sims 5-1 5 Uncle Silas Esquivel Mason 5-1
2 Purse $18,300, 6 furlongs, 4-year-olds and up, Arkansas-bred, claiming $6,250. ****PROUD IMAGE was pressured on the lead and held on gamely in a photo-finish defeat Jan. 16, and a double drop in class should put the three-time Oaklawn winner back in the winner’s circle. KATE’S FOREST has moved into a winning barn after a recent third-place finish at Turfway, and his dirt races last summer at Mountaineer were good efforts. MYSTIC THUNDER pressed the pace in a second-place finish at this same level and is eligible to move up in his second start after a freshening.
PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS
9 Proud Image Berry Broberg 2-1 1 Kate’s Forest Thompson Glyshaw 8-1 5 Mystic Thunder Corbett Hale 4-1 3 Bull Special Laviolette Seagle 9-2 4 Blushing Romeo Santana Ice 5-1 8 Tis’ Timeless Birzer Roberts 10-1 7 Red Yacht Landeros Hawley 12-1 6 Cinnamon Snapp De La Cruz 10-1 2 My Nephew Matt Mello Martin 20-1
3 Purse $18,500, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, maiden claiming $16,000. **DONNA’SDRAMASQUEEN had to overcome a poor start in a fast-closing second-place finish, and the lightly raced filly is eligible to improve with a clean start. COMPOSE finished 1 length behind the top selection while forwardly placed, and the beaten post-time favorite was claimed and moving from one strong stable to another. SPECTACULAR PROOF earned the fastest Beyer figures in the field while campaigning in Southern California, and she is a logical contender if she holds form for new connections.
PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS
7 Donna’sdramaqueen Roman Seagle 4-1 3 Compose Castanon Cox 7-2 5 Spectacular Proof Corbett Mooney 8-1 6 Don’t Maker Mad Santana Asmussen 2-1 2 Star of Edmond Loveberry Petalino 9-2 8 Divine Decree Vazquez Glyshaw 10-1 1 Silky Lady Franklin Jackson 12-1 4 Xenia Onatopp Ocampo Milligan 10-1
4 Purse $20,000, 1 1/16 miles, 4-year-olds and up, claiming $10,000.
**DEVIL AND A HALF has not raced since June but was a decisive winner of his last start at Arlington, and the four-time winner at Oaklawn simply loves this track. LENAPAH earned competitive two-turn Beyer figures when competing at Hawthorne, and he benefits from a competitive fourth-place finish here just 13 days back. ANOTHER GEAR raced evenly in a useful race after a four-month layoff, and he figures closer to the leaders in a field with little early speed.
PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS
2 Devil and a Half Esquivel Robertson 2-1 5 Lenapah Birzer Ritter 4-1 8 Another Gear LQuinonez Biehler 9-2 4 One Voice Santana Lauer 6-1 1a Mr. Handsome De La Cruz Puhl 6-1 7 Upright Stuff Borel Morse 8-1 3 Wild by Nature Corbett Mooney 12-1 1 Kelly Rock De La Cruz Puhl 6-1 6 Consolidation Hamilton Von Hemel 10-1
5 Purse $18,000, 6 furlongs, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up who have never won two races, Arkansas-bred, claiming $10,000.
**IMPETUOUS BAY was beaten a neck while 6 lengths clear of the third-place finisher in her return to the races, and the beaten post-time favorite should make amends in this state-bred conditioned claimer. ME ‘N AMANDA has earned three consecutive in-the-money finishes at this condition, and she appears better on a fast track than a wet one. DOWNERS GROVE crossed the wire third-best and one position behind the top selection.
PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS
2 Impetuous Bay De La Cruz Martin 9-5 7 Me ‘n Amanda BQuinonez Rowland 12-1 6 Downers Grove Loveberry Witt 5-2 5 Ivy Jo Mello Martin 6-1 4 Kathleen Berry Whited 8-1 3 Hot Shoes Flores Cannon 10-1 1 Key Agent Birzer Ice 8-1 9 Where’ssheat Kuntzweiler Hornsby 15-1 8 Bella Afleet Rodriguez White 15-1
6 Purse $20,000, 6 furlongs, 4-year-olds and up, claiming $10,000.
***ALPHA AND OMEGA is a multiple stakes winner in Oklahoma, and he is dropping to the lowest claiming price of his career after being pressured through a rapid pace opening weekend. HUNTERWOOD defeated entry-level allowance rivals last fall at Remington, and the proven two-turn runner will have to come from well back to win at today’s sprint distance. SHRADED EAGLE has not raced in 11 months, but he has the speed and class to win and trainer Ron Moquett has had his runners ready at the meeting.
PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS
3 Alpha and Omega LQuinonez Von Hemel 3-1 4 Hunterwood Vazquez Villafranco 2-1 6 Shraded Edge Bridgmohan Moquett 6-1 8 Storm Devil Birzer Von Hemel 6-1 1 Lawyer Clyde Santana Chleborad 5-1 9 Runstevierun Thompson Hellman 12-1 2 Wild Student Franklin Glyshaw 20-1 5 Lake Creek Kuntzweiler Hornsby 12-1 7 Sequoia’s Cue Rodriguez Shumake 30-1 10 Jenny’s Touch Wethey Frazee 30-1
7 Purse $60,000, 1 mile, fillies, 3-year-olds, maiden special weight.
***MALIBU BREEZE proved best of the speed in a thirdplace debut despite early trouble, and she was bet down hard and now it appears justifiable. BON HEIR made a gradual gain up to third in an encouraging career debut, and she figures even closer to the front in her first route and is bred to run this far. CATTY N SASSY finished fifth in her sprint tuneup despite trouble at the break and again into the stretch, and she finished third in a one-mile start as a juvenile at Laurel.
PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS
4 Malibu Breeze Bridgmohan Catalano 9-5 7 Bon Heir Vazquez Gorder 5-1 9 Catty N Sassy Esquivel Robertson 8-1 10 Distraction BQuinonez Hartman 9-2 1 Harlans Belle Court Cox 10-1 5 College Holly Landeros McPeek 8-1 6 Luvthatmustang Santana McNair 10-1 8 Tuscany Rain Castanon Arnold 12-1 3 Queen Buxley Thompson Vance 15-1 2 Wicked in Heels Johnson Hartlage 20-1
8 Purse $32,000, 6 furlongs, 4-year-olds and up, claiming $40,000.
***AMMAROO finished second in a very fast optional claiming race, and the horse-for-course is dropping into a claiming race and should prove difficult to contain inside the final furlong. WALT earned a strong Beyer figure in an “open” allowance sprint at Remington and showed a fondness for this track when second in the 2014 Smarty Jones. STEELMAN RUN is void of speed but produces a consistent and powerful late punch, and the pace figures to be an honest one.
PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS
2 Ammaroo Mello Villafranco 2-1 3 Walt Berry Hartman 3-1 4 Steelman Run LQuinonez Broberg 5-1 5 Power World Landeros McPeek 6-1 6 Plenty Elusive Castanon Cox 4-1 1 Visionary Ruler Bridgmohan Becker 10-1 7 Rhetorical Borel Gustofson 12-1
9 Purse $22,500, 6 furlongs, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, Arkansas-bred, maiden claiming $25,000.
***SWAN DEER contested a fast pace in a deceptively good fourth-place finish, and a drop into the maiden claiming ranks will make her difficult to catch. MORE THAN KRAZY was forwardly placed while caught wide in a clear second-place finish, and she is switching to a winning journeyman rider. MISS SEVEN K raced competitively against similar last spring at Oaklawn and appears to be working well for new connections.
PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS
2 Swan Deer Laviolette Smith 8-5 6 More Than Krazy Court Gonzalez 3-1 7 Miss Seven K Wethey Cline 5-1 4 Tinsley’s District Thompson Roberts 10-1 1 Nicoles Bullet BQuinonez Cline 8-1 9 Shesaheifer Mello Martin 12-1 8 Innocent Storm De La Cruz Wolfe 12-1 5 Espera Flores Dixon 12-1 3 Endless Bloom Berry Whited 20-1