ASK EDDY will be making his first start for us away from “home”. Thankfully he has run (and won) at Hawthorne before and we know that he’s been training very well there and appears to be fully recovered from his traumatic last race.

Here’s a breakdown of the field:

1 – Sunday Saint (Retana/Bryant) – Winner of his last, it did come at the lowly $3200 level down at Fairmont Park and scored at nearly 12-1.

2 – Don’t Bluff (Berndt/Martinez) – Claimed from the Robertson barn at CBY in a disappointing last race where he finished 4th (a length and a half in front of EDDY) after being very competitive at $7500. Interesting that Alex chose EDDY this time after riding this one last out.

3 – ASK EDDY (BRINSON/CANCHARI)

4 – Izzy Golden (Cowan/Roman) – A stalking winner last out at Arlington at this level, this is his first time racing on dirt since April (which, unfortunately for us, was a win at Hawthorne). He is deservingly the morning line favorite.

5 – Geocache (H Robertson/Thornton) – Finished 3rd in EDDY’s last race then came down to Arlington where he led half way through this level race before yielding, finishing 5th, but only beaten by 3.
6 – Vow to Wager (Childers/Rivero) – Not a lot to recommend since the claim. Don’t know if it was the change from Lone Star or the new barn, but the horse was severely outclassed twice before finishing 4th in his last, a $4000 claiming event at Fairmont.

7 – Quiet Rebel (Dezeo/Rose) – Hasn’t shown a lot in the Chicagoland area except for his maiden breaker but reeled off 3 in a row at Farimont before taking a few months off. Now he reappears up north with a desire to be on the front end and time to prove if his downstate form was unique to Fairmont or if he’s turned a corner.

8 – Awesome Rules (Butler/Slinger) – Possessed of 4 wins and 5 seconds in 14 starts this year, this guy has been very consistent, though another that seems to have shown his best stuff in the south.

The closest thing to a “monster” in this race is IZZY GOLDEN. He won last out at the more difficult Arlington Park meet and has earned Beyer Speed Figures in the 70s in his last 3 races – 2 in the significantly more difficult starter allowance level races. And what looks to be a question mark: him running on the artificial and turf there; is discounted significantly by his last start on the real dirt at Hawthorne where he won in wire to wire fashion over a field like this back in April and the 7-year old gelding has won three straight at $5000.

However it’s not like EDDY is without hope here. If he’s fully recovered from his last race (and every indication is that he is) he is going to be tough now that he’s rejoined with Alex, who seems to get the best out of him. There is also other speed in the race, as well, that could challenge IZZY and help set things up for our boy’s late charge.

His 4-1 morning line odds appear to be fair and I think we’ll get a real honest read on him this afternoon.
Good luck everybody!!