I really like Philly Slew, a 3-year-old gelding trained by William Gregory, in tonight’s fourth race at Hollywood Park. I think he’s sitting on a huge effort following a third-place finish against similar on opening day of this spring-summer meet.
Philly Slew had a wide trip last time and still held third under Tyler Baze, who thinks enough of the gelding to climb back aboard. Philly Slew’s top Beyer of 73 makes him a major player in this spot. He’s already negotiated tonight’s tricky seven-furlong distance, finishing third at Santa Anita on Feb. 14.
The only horse that scares me in here is the Jorge Gutierrez-trained Warren’s Tony R., who switches to Rafael Bejarano and is dropping from a maiden special weight into a $40,000 maiden claimer. One drawback — he’s raced twice against $32,000 maiden claimers, once at Fairplex and another time at Del Mar, and couldn’t find the winner’s circle.
I’ll bet win money on Philly Slew, who’s a generous 6-1 on the morning line, and box him in an exacta with Warren’s Tony R.
Who do you like tonight?
