Saturday's Racing Picks: Rachel Alexandra Stakes
Rachel Alexandra Stakes - PICKS: 6-7-5-3
Love is still in the air for a great racing weekend as we head to Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans for the $300,000 Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over 1 1/16 miles on the dirt.
Today’s race offers 85 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Oaks, doled out by 50-20-10-5 to the top four finishers.
The field of 7 will go to gate for race 11 on the huge, stakes-filled 13-race card with an approximate post time of 6:05 p.m. ET.
#6, British Idiom, Javier Castellano, 8-5 - Yes, it will be tough to beat the 8-5 morning-line favorite and I’m not going to try today. She is 3-for-3 in her career, winning a maiden special weight by 3 ½ lengths and two straight Grade 1s in the Darley Alcibiades Stakes (6 ½ lengths) at Keeneland on Oct. 4 and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (by a neck) at Santa Anita on Nov. 2. Javier Castellano gets the call for his fourth straight aboard trainer Brad Cox. The streak continues. The pick.
#7, Finite, Ricardo Santana, Jr., 2-1 - Finite has finished first or second in six career starts (4-2-0), highlighted by four straight victories including the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 30 and in her last start, the Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds on Jan. 18 -both of those wins were by a combined one length. She beat Ursula, who finished second and is another entrant in today’s race, and third-place Tempers Rising (another entrant) in the Silverbulletday. Ricardo Santana, Jr. gets the mount for trainer Steven Asmussen. She will be there at the end. Runner-up.
#5, Tempers Rising, Julien Leparoux, 6-1 - She has finished in the money in all six of her career starts (1-3-2), including a third-place finish (as previously mention in the Finite analysis) in the Silverbulletday Stakes here on Jan. 18. A start prior, she finished first in a maiden special weight race at Churchill Downs in Nov.22 for her first win of her career. Julien Leparoux is aboard for trainer Dallas Stewart. Leparoux is back and that’s positive, but will she have enough to be there at the end. Contender.
#3, Swiss Skydiver, Brian Hernandez, Jr., 8-1 - Swiss Skydiver is one of two Ken McPeek-trained horses in today’s race (Impeccable Style). In her last start, Swiss Skydiver finished fifth in a five-horse blanket finish in the Gasparilla Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 18. She won her debut in a maiden special weight race (Nov. 16) and followed up with a runner-up finish in an allowance optional claiming race on Nov. 30, both at Churchill Downs. This will be her first start here. Brian Hernandez, Jr. has the call for trainer Ken McPeek. In the mix.
By Lou Monaco