By Joe Quillen
Monday 3/4/24 – Mahoning Valley Race 8
Yum! That lemonade tasted great last night! Newgate won the Santa Anita Handicap in the final strides as I predicted in an exciting renewal of the race. Now that my thirst has been quenched, I think it’s time to get to Monday’s race, and ladies and gentlemen, we are NOT going to Parx today.
Today, we head to one of the newer tracks in North America as the QPW heads to Youngstown, Ohio for the first time to Mahoning Valley Race Course for their featured eighth race, which is the OTBO Sales Graduate Race Stakes going six furlongs. This is a restricted race, as entries had to pass through the sales ring at an OTBO sale sometime after these three-year olds were born to be eligible for today’s race.
Weather will not be an issue here at all. As a matter of fact, a touch of spring will be in the air as I am seeing it may reach 70 degrees at Mahoning Valley. Where are my shorts baby!
The favorite in this race is the 4 Gunner Gabriel (9/5 ML) who was outfinished last time out at MVR. He has the best speed of this field of seven and looks to go gate to wire here. He could also come off the pace like he did to break his maiden in December at this oval. He is going to be tough to beat here.
Now we get to the part of the article where I have to be careful of my pronouns. That’s because we have four fillies in this race. How many Tony Bruno? Sorry, inside joke. Anyways, the most intriguing is the 5 Compute This (5/2 ML) who destroyed a maiden field on January 30. She has been close to the pace in the past, and in that last outing she went gate to wire when there was a closer’s bias. She looks like she will definitely keep up with the favorite here today.
The 2 May Mayhem (8/1 ML) returns to the races today and will probably need a race. Sometimes these breaks with the younger horses can be a good thing because they can grow up and mature a little bit. He is running for the first time at Mahoning Valley after running elsewhere in Ohio last summer. He deserves a look on the bottom of your trifectas and superfectas if you dabble in those wagers.
The 6 Gold Honey (4/1 ML) returns as well from an allowance win in November here. She’s facing the boys for the first time, like Compute This, Kissing Medals (#3, 12/1 ML) and Spunky One (#7, 10/1). She will probably have to stalk here if she wants to win, but I think she might get sucked into a speed duel here.
I’m going to try to beat the favorite here for my chance at two wins in a row. I’m going to take Compute This to outkick Gunner Gabriel here. I’m calling this 5-4-2-6 and my play is $20 to win on the 5. Best of luck everyone, as we should be in more familiar surroundings for tomorrow’s Quills Picks Winners.
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