After a holiday trip to the West Coast, we are back in the eastern part of the country today. We will look at Finger Lakes today, specifically the sixth race on their card. We have ten maidens going a mile and 70 yards on the main track.
Finger Lakes Race 6
Favored in today’s maiden race is the 5 Still a Soldier (3/1 morning line). This gelding raced twice so far finishing fourth at Gulfstream and fifth at Aqueduct in May. He ran into a horse Unmatched Wisdom who ended up running against some of the top horses in the Pennsylvania Derby and the Travers.
Still a Soldier during that layoff was gelded and was training for today’s race at Saratoga. With a lesser quality field, he has a chance to win this if he is ready.
The 7 Vigano (7/2 ML) did finish first back in March at Oaklawn Park but was disqualified for veering inward in deep stretch. His last start later in March was not that impressive and has been on a layoff ever since.
This gelding will be at least a few lengths back and could be further back. There are red flags here, like not breaking his maiden after 12 tries. But Oaklawn is a much tougher meet than Finger Lakes, so this will be a question of whether or not he will run fresh today.
The 4 Jake’s Orchard (4/1 ML) has the potential to go gate to wire here. There is not that much speed here, which is how this gelding has run lately. He has finished second in each of his last three races here at Finger Lakes. This may be a play where you might want to see how the track is playing before playing your money on one of these horses today.
The 10 Fluorescent Bay (8/1 ML) has never hit the board in 12 lifetime starts, but he has faced tougher at the NYRA tracks of Saratoga and Aqueduct this year. He goes turf to dirt here which may be the panacea to finally hit the board here.
Joe’s Pick
What lacks in quality horses makes up for it in the mental puzzles that I talk about from time to time. This does look like a three-horse race here today, with two of them coming back from long layoffs after racing at tougher meets.
I keep telling myself that it is a sucker bet to bet the maiden who won a race but was disqualified. But that horse Vigano won that race back in March and then races once more before going to the sidelines.
Nick Zito has not won races like he used to as a trainer, but this is a great spot for this gelding today. I’ll take him to win over the other horse returning from the layoff today, Still a Soldier. I will call this race 7-5-4-10, and my play is $20 to win on the 7. Best of luck everyone!
Check out my stream “The Joe Quills Show” on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9 pm Eastern and Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern on my Twitch, X and YouTube talking about the latest sports news and whatever comes up. Also, catch my horse racing show every Saturday at 10 am Eastern on the Bleacher Brothers platforms.