Check out my Churchill Downs free stakes pick for Friday (5-5-23) below.
Jarrod’s Recent Free Pick Winners
April 15 – First Mission ($16.38), Trifecta ($109.28)
April 16 – Key of Life/Interpolate Exacta ($6.70)
April 30 – Hacking It Up ($9.60)
CD 9 (G1 La Troienne, 8.5f)
Primary – #4 SECRET OATH, #2 Search Results
Secondary – #8 Desert Dawn, #7 Society, #1 Played Hard
Wagers: #4 to win, Exacta 2-4/2-4-8, Trifecta 1-2-4-7/1-2-4-7/8, Trifecta 4/ALL/2-8
Comments: #4 Secret Oath (3-1) won the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill last spring. She won two other stakes in 2022 and returned with a visually impressive tally in the Azeri (G2) at this distance. She stalked, led, and missed by a neck in a clear runner-up finish in a 4-horse field in the Apple Blossom (G1) April 15. She squeezed in a local 5f move April 27 and should maintain sharp form in her third start of the year. This race might set up for her. #2 Search Results (4-1) makes her first start since finishing up the track in the BC Distaff (G1). That was her 12th career start and the first time she finished out of the trifecta. Prat sticks with Chad Brown’s classy returnee and she drilled a Florida bullet for this April 22. Her last move was a local 5f breeze in 1:01 and change on April 29. #8 Desert Dawn (20-1) was hung out to dry in the Beholder Mile (G1) last time. She fired some nice shots in the stakes ranks last year and might be able to get a piece of this at a price. #7 Society (4-1) dueled and was best of the rest in third in her needed Madison (G1) return at seven panels. That was a tough return distance and she ran a respectable race. She is 2-for-2 at this course and distance, and she made the lead and ran away in the Charles Town Oaks (G3) and Cotillion (G1) last year. #1 Played Hard (9-2) won the Locust Grove (G3) and Falls City (G3) at Churchill last year. The early-pressing mare runs well fresh and should attend the pace from the inside post under her new rider Johnny V.
Analysis by Jarrod Horak
