Hoop Tea's Hooptie Handicapper finds Horses to Watch at Parx, Indiana Grand & Churchill Downs
Horses To Watch
5.22.2021
By The Hooptie Handicapper
Email hooptiehandicapper@gmail.com
Brought to you by Hoop Tea
It's time to play catch up after being gone for a week.
We’ll start with Race 5 at Parx on May 10. This was a $40K Maiden Claimer and let’s focus on the 5 horse, My Cousin Rich. This was his debut race. As you can see, he broke poorly from the gate.
Being patient with him, jockey Abner Adorno got him settled on the backside and managed to weave him through traffic and into position.
Spinning through the turn, he took in a lot of kick back into his face and kept fighting on and passing horses – always a great experience for first time starters.
Adorno ended up swinging My Cousin Rich onto the rail and he found a game rallying fight.
To end up just missing by just ½ length. This was an excellent effort by a first time starter and a heck of a learning experience. Look for a win next time.
Our next race features Indulge, the 2/5 favorite in the 5th on May 18th at Indiana Grand. As you could see from the break, he's nowhere near the front.
As they make their way toward the turn, he finally gets a little daylight and starts to creep up on the two leaders.
Then, unfortunately, the horse gets wild and green and goes way wide on the turn, totally out of it.
Once jockey Fernando de la Cruz got him into the stretch, he had a great burst of speed almost catching winner Knicks Front. If he went off at 2/5 this time, you are not going to get better odds in the next, however, keep an eye on him and Knicks Front because both have excellent upside.
Finally, our most impressive winner yesterday, Artos. Making her second start, the 2yo daughter of British sire Kodiac, jumped out to the early lead and ran well into the turn.
When she made her way into the turn, she started running green, turned her head and Julien Leparoux had a fight on his hands.
On the rail, you can see her jump as she’s spooked by the horses on her inside. Leparoux got her settled back down.
Then she ended up behind two horses, losing sacred ground late in the race.
Impressively, Artos and Leparoux were game enough to gather themselves, swing to the outside, and make the run for the finish line.
To win by the narrowest of margins. This was unequivocally the best performance I've seen in a long time, especially by a 2-year-old.
Pay Attention To This:
I pointed out yesterday that a horse named Rock Along won in a race the day before. Artos and Rock Along raced in their debut together and hence, I was betting Artos. That is called a Key Race. Below is a list of the other horses that have yet to race from that race. Keep an eye on them. Key races can be a freak of nature.
Ruthin
U So Money Baby
Pammy’s Ready
Miss Chamita
Promptly Done
Diva Dixie
Happy Hunting 😊