--Wait a While has been scratched from the F&M Turf and After Market has been scratched from the Mile. Add these to the previously-announced scratches of Cry and Catch Me in the Juvenile Fillies, Dixie Chatter and Slew's Tiznow from the Juvenile and Attila's Storm from the Sprint. The Saturday graded handicap has been updated to reflect the changes.
--It's officially sloppy and soft at Monmouth. The opener on the 11-race card, the five-horse $250k Pegasus for 3-year-olds, went to the longest shot in the field, Actin Good ($23.80), who led all the way after breaking from the rail. Before you assume the track has a super-inside-speed bias that will produce chaotic results, I would counter that Actin Good was a reasonable overlay and that the race's unfolding as a no-positions-changing parade had as much to do with a glacial pace as a bias. Actin Good went 49.41, 1:14.11 and 1:38.87, leaving him with plenty of energy for a final furlong in 12.67 and a final time of 1:51.54 for nine furlongs.
The track's not slow, though. Coco Belle won the second, the Miss Woodford, in 1:09.15 after dueling through a half in 43.36. In the third race, the $200k Select for 3-year-olds, Cobalt Blue rallied from dead last and 11 lengths back to nail E Z Warrior, sapped from a long duel with Unbridled Trust, at the wire in 1:10.00.
I'll be back between races with updates, and post the Capital OTB (and my) pick-six tickets just before the F&M Turf. At least we'll make it through one leg -- one of my seven tickets is a backup to "all" in that race.
