Turfway Park Selections - 01/17/2024

Oh the weather outside is frightful and our picks might be too but we thought it might be a fun exercise to analyze tonight’s races at our favorite night track, Turfway Park. It should be the only game in town (unless it gets canceled last minute) which means the pools should be enticing.

We are not a tout newsletter, in fact, we kind of hate most touts! …But we do play the horses just like you. We’ll never charge for picks as they might end up costing you anyway. Let’s dive in!

PS: How about that AI image-generated pic of Turfway Park?! Too bad the grandstand is actually indoors.

Race 1

Honestly, we’re not entirely sure if we’ve seen a 5 ½ furlong sprint at this year’s meet yet but one thing is for sure… it’s hard to trust any of the horses that have already run. You could probably throw a flyer on the #5 Boyne Valley as John Ennis has been lighting up the tote board with a 9/5/2 record so far making him 56%.

We’re going to look elsewhere though and take a chance on a couple of first-time starters. Namely the #2 Just Like You and the #7 Outrageously. The latter of which will probably not go off anywhere near its morning line based on connections.

When in doubt, choose a non-loser!

Race 2

One thing we’ve noticed on these mile routes is that the outside posts aren’t doing so hot. Posts 10 and out are a combined 1 for 23 so far this meet.

We’re willing to give the #2 Back Up Ghost another chance with Luan up. This horse only raced 3 others at Belterra and was a bit green early on but showed interest late in the race. The recent works look solid for this level. Won’t be much of a price but if you want to try elsewhere…

Consider the #4 Delovely, who is at the very least consistent and faced much tougher than this group last out.

Race 3

It’s time for a long-shot play here.

You have to go back to early last year for the #5 Cut Glass when it was last seen on the Tapeta here at Turfway but if this horse can run anywhere close to that it should be in the mix. We’re not crazy about the gap in works but the price should be right to take a shot… (of liquor if we get it wrong). Good luck!

Race 4

Not a lot to say here, the shorter-priced #2 Fireside Kitten and #5 Buoy look like logical contenders (if that means anything at this track). However, we also like the #1 Gamblin Train getting back to more ground and added distance.

Race 5

The man, the myth, the legend Perry Wayne Ouzts picks up the mount on the #4 Caberneigh who looks to be the speed of the speed in this race, however, there’s just one small problem, the horse hasn’t gotten it done going shorter. BUT, we do get Lasix this time around and trainer Larry Smith is showing nice numbers making this move. The price should be right to try it.

Outside of that, you have the Mr. Obvious horse from the Brad Cox barn - #13 Silk who does draw in here.

Of those first-time starters, we are leaning toward the #10 Moon Fleet - going out for Calumet Farm.

Race 6

Scratches hurt this race, we don’t have a crazy strong opinion one way or the other. How’s that for a helpful pick?

Race 7

Another race hit by some significant scratches leaves us with the #7 Sister Seven who is owned and trained by Hutch Holsappie but this horse will be hammered at odds-on so if we were to look elsewhere for value we think it might be worth trying the #6 Maggie E who does have some speed and does seem to be rounding into form for this level.

Race 8

This is a pretty salty $72k allowance race with not a ton of speed signed on. The #6 Rapping Wish was impressive in debut against much worse, so the step up in class is concerning but having Lobo point to this spot is reassuring. Nonetheless a lot of question marks but certainly a wild card in this race.

We’re going to take a chance on the #8 R Rose’ All Day jumping from the Saffie barn into the fine hands of Brendan Walsh. The horse is a two-time winner on the GP synth this year and if it can replicate those performances it should be at a square price.

Race 9

This race is pretty simple, you either believe in the Ward or you don’t. If you do, go ahead and single. If you aren’t fond of Mr. Ward (like us) we’re going to give a chance to the #2 Rampagius going out for the 43% Michael McCarthy along with the #3 Boat House who didn’t flash much in its debut but that field was leaps and bounds better than what its facing tonight. Vicky O had this one right back to training after the loss and looks like it’s ready to improve at a price.

If you like this kind of content (or if you hate it), shoot us a note on Twitter - we like the feedback regardless.