There are plenty of attractive pedigrees in this initial juvenile turf sprint of the NYRA season. Among the first-time starters, Our Passion, Hot Honey, and Toonie Loonie are all well bred for this surface. It will be worth watching the tote board and listening to Maggie Wolfendale’s paddock analysis to see which, if any, are live. They’re all usable, but the runners that interest me most are those with experience. No Limit Babe and Small Row Girl exit the same Keeneland maiden race. The former obviously did more running, as she overcame some minor early traffic to finish second at 86-1 for a low-profile outfit. As a daughter of Artie Schiller, she has a right to take to the turf, but she’s going to be a much shorter price given the trainer and rider upgrade for this second attempt. I actually prefer SMALL ROW GIRL (1) at a bigger price. While she finished far back in that race, she never really had a chance to run. Shuffled out of position early, she was heavily restrained for the next quarter-mile while racing in traffic, and only got clear when the race was essentially over. Mike Maker knows how to get young horses to wake up on grass, and this filly is by Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Magician.

THE PLAY

Win: 1
Exacta Key Box: 1 with 3,4,5,6