Check out my Saturday (11-14-26) Laurel Park Race 9 analysis below.
LRL 9 (Thirty Eight Go Go, 8.5f) – Post Time 3:52 PM ET
Primary – #3 AMALFI DRIVE
Secondary – #4 Dazzling Move, #8 Waveless
Horse Comments:
#3 Amalfi Drive (9-2) has some of the best overall pace ratings in this field, and her new rider Jose Bautista is 4-for-11 with Michael Stidham. Her recent Final Time Ratings include a 131, a 126 and a 137 when she finished second in the Obeah at DEL. Her last two stakes figures were 120 and 129, so she needs to get back to that 137 effort to be a realistic win threat. The pace numbers are what make her interesting. She has posted multiple 146 and 173 pace ratings, which could give her the ability to establish the early lead. If she breaks sharply, I expect Bautista to send her. Her most recent race came at Timonium in a six-and-a-half-furlong stakes event. She rallied from off the pace to finish fourth, beaten only three-quarters of a length. That bullring configuration is unusual compared with this assignment at Laurel, and she showed some late interest last time. I also like her earlier Churchill Downs effort, when she battled on the pace in a one-turn mile and won by more than two lengths. If she can reproduce that form, she could be dangerous.
#4 Dazzling Move (9-2) chased from second and beat a next-out winner as the even money favorite at this distance at Horseshoe indy Sept. 3. She set the pace and held the place in a stakes race on all-weather ground at this trip Oct. 10. She is 2-for-3 at LRL and 2-for-4 with a runner-up finish at 8.5f. She should be forwardly placed.
#8 Waveless (9-5) is 2-for-8 with four runner-up finishes. She moved to the Brittany Russell barn and missed by a neck in a flat mile stakes race at CNL July 18, and she chased the pace and was second best as the favorite in a local stakes race at one mile Oct. 3. She owns competitive numbers and I like her early-pressing versatility.
Wagers:
#3 to win
Exacta 3/4-8
Exacta 4-8/3
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