SLEW'S FAST HORSES FOR THUR. 03/28

Aqueduct - 1,2,3
Gulfstream - 1,5,7,9,10
Santa Anita - 1,2,4,5,6,7,8
Fairgrounds - 8,9


I made a change to the Slew listings and today's (3/27) 7th race at Gulfstream Park is the reason why. With only a cursory interest in today's scratched Key Horse Let It Rock I really had no place to go except to the 7th race. The change in Slew's listing allows for horses with consecutive FAST races to, for the first time, have both listed.

Today, that horse was Rule Number Six. Well, rule numero uno is to take that seriously. And at $36.00 to win, I'm glad I did. Rule numero dos is to box the top three horses of which Rule Number Six was one, and collect $200 for each $12.00 investment. If you go to the website you can read the notes I put up regarding the change. The link is on my little 'bulletin board' area on the download page. You can also check the result for today to see how it looks on paper.

Now, to Thursday. Once again, we have a Key horse running.


CURRENT KEY HORSES (< 90 DAYS)

Flower Mart - GP ( 5) GP 01/10/13 # 6

Flower Mart was one of the maidens highlighted in my Gulfstream Park review...part deux. This one ran behind Why Katherine on 1/10 in a race I found a bit odd. Here are my notes:

January 10, 2013 Race 6 - A MSW for the girls 4 & up at a mile. Breaking from post 2, Why Katherine (Attard/Castellano) gained inside advantage and led all the way. The race within the race was between Spring Reason (Sheppard/Rosario) and Flower Mart (Clement/Lezcano) as they fought to catch the front runner who put up final furlongs of 11.54 and 11.86. You try running that fast, Paco. It ain't easy. Or try chasing someone running that fast. That ain't easy either! But here is what intrigues me about this race: the rail was out 84 feet and the run-up was 135 feet. That is 45 yards before they tripped the timer. And 84 feet puts the turf course somewhere around North Miami Beach! I'm wondering if there was an unfair advantage to the inside runner Why Katherine and whether the place and show horses ran a better race than it will look on paper. I'm also wondering what the bettors will think next time when they see that Spring Reason finished 10th in her last (3rd) MSW start. And we know that Mr. Sheppard is never in a rush. It should be noted that Flower Mart was odds-on and Spring Reason was 2-1. With all deference to the wonderful Paul Harvey…

I have a feeling this story ain't over.

Well, the story ain't. Over. Mr. Sheppard was in a rush, ran Spring Reason back in 23 days and she flopped. Why Katherine ran 9th in an allowance try on 2/8 and was immediately dropped into a claiming race - albeit a high level one - for 50K which she won paying $7.20. Adds just a little spice I think. That allowance race was only 28 days after the maiden win. Flower Mart has had over 70 days to regroup and it is also Clemente pulling the strings here. With a cheap claimer in front and an $80K Alw. after, surely you can find a setup on the one hand, or a hedge for a low price on the other.

I'm working and after hitting a surprise package today, I'm done until the Florida Derby, as this one doesn't break my no betting while I work rule (rule numero tres).

But for the right price, she might be worth a look. Especially if you can figure a price as a setup from the claimer.

Whatever you play, enjoy the Thursday racing, good luck and good 'capping!