Hollywood Park Race Five

Race five from Hollywood Park is a 1 1/16 mile $40,000 claiming race on turf. Being that it is a turf race, I set out to look at the class of the nine horse field to make my selection. The morning line is favoring Rich Sense at 5-2 and Early Ronan at 3-1. Rich Sense is definitely a threat here, but I think Early Ronan could be much ado about nothing. However, the horse I really like in this race could go off at a nice price.

I really like Blue Cay and she just may be my pick of the day. She is in the 3 position and poised to take down the field. She has been very consistent and will have no trouble with the distance. My initial concern was the layoff. She has not raced in about one month, but she has worked out. However, upon reviewing past performances I noticed that he N1X dueling win at Golden Gate (firm track) was after a similar layoff.

I am expecting a repeat performance do to the rest and the morning line has her at a price—5-1. I expect this could go higher as most of the attention will be on Rich Sense and probably Early Ronan. Blue Cay has a real good shot at coming away with this race. She just may be passed over by bettors and that could very well be to our advantage. Blue Cay is being ridden by Valenzuela, who is very good at Hollywood Park (122 29 21 15 .23). I am looking for Blue Cay to sit just off the pace-setter, which figures to be River Ella.

Pick: Blue Cay