by Joe Quillen
Happy Saturday everyone and welcome to another Quills Picks Winners where we are looking at two different races today. The featured race of the day is the Ohio Derby, which will be run early this evening at Thistledown Race Track in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. We’re also going to look at a race from Monmouth Park as we give our fellow Bleacher Brother Looch On Ice some thoughts on their featured race today, the Goldwood Stakes.
Monmouth Park Race 9 – Goldwood Stakes
Let’s go in sequential order here. The Goldwood Stakes is a race is for fillies and mares and is a five-and-a-half-furlong race on the turf. We have a field of ten and two also eligibles who will go to the gate at 4:56 pm Eastern Time.
Favored in the Goldwood is the 5 Queen of the Mud (3/1 ML) who was on the rail for The Very One Stakes at Pimlico on Preakness weekend. She needed the last race as it was her first race in seven months, finishing fourth in a field of ten, two and a half lengths behind the winner. She will get a firm turf here today and should be tough to beat today. She broke her maiden on the lead at Aqueduct last September, and then she rallied from off the pace the following month at Keeneland. She has shown to be very versatile in her short career.
The 9 Hollywood Walk (5/1 ML) will have an outside post here but could have a nice trip stalking some of the front runners that I think will gun for the lead. She closed well in her last two races of 2023 at Colonial Downs then had a wide move in her 2024 debut edging out Queen of the Mud.
The 10 All That Magic (4/1 ML) did not show much after hesitating at the break in the same Pimlico race. She closed well in her last two races of 2023 as well but did win on the front end earlier in the year.
Keep an eye on the 12 Queen Karima (8/1 ML). She needs horses to be scratched from the main body of the field, but she could be a longshot play here if she draws in.
In what is essentially a re-run of The Very One at Pimlico, I think Hollywood Walk will close well here and hold off Queen of the Mud at the wire. Let’s call this 9-5-10-12 and my play is $20 to win on the 9.
Thistledown Race 13 – Ohio Derby
Then we have the return of some of the Triple Crown contenders returning for the Ohio Derby, which is the finale of a 13-race card on the Thistledown card. This mile and an eight race will go to the post around 6:30 pm Eastern time.
You will definitely get to see how the track is playing today as there are two turn stakes races in the ninth (Cleveland Gold Cup), 11th (George Lewis Memorial) and the 12th (Lady Jacqueline). You will see higher class horses going two turns and will definitely know how to play the big race. But I am going to take an educated guess on this race for you here as we see who wins this race.
We do have the 1 Frizzante (15/1 ML) cross-entered in a race on Sunday at Monmouth Park. I haven’t seen if the horse is on this Thistledown grounds or not, so we will wait for the scratched to be announced. He just missed in an optional claimer despite being in tight quarters entering the final turn at Parx, but he is taking a huge class hike here.
Favored is the 8 Catching Freedom (9/5 ML) who made a nice move to finish third, but he was never catching Seize The Grey who shocked everyone by going gate to wire in a speed favoring muddy track at Pimlico. He should like the fast track better, especially if we see a track that favors closers here in the Ohio Derby or is a track that is very fair to all types of runners.
The 9 Batten Down (8/1 ML) broke his maiden at Churchill at the Kentucky Derby distance on the Tuesday before the Derby going gate to wire. He looks very versatile here having won on the front end in that race facing older horses and just missing going today’s distance of nine furlongs at Gulfstream in February against other three-year-olds.
Batten Down won from off the pace finishing third by half a length at Keeneland at the beginning of April. He could be the “wise horse” here as his maiden breaker on Tuesday before the Derby was a second faster than the Run for the Roses. He has the potential to be a three-year-old to reckon with in a three-year-old field that does not have an obvious leader for three-year-old of the year.
The 2 Gould’s Gold (5/1 ML) was amongst the leaders in the Sir Barton on Preakness Day but he could not hold off a rare closer on a speed favoring track. But he did fight back when you thought he was finished.
The 4 Copper Tax (7/2 ML) got some extra time off after winning the Federico Tesio at Laurel in April. He earned the berth for the Preakness but the connections chose to give him some extra time. He’s back here and he learned to race and close winning the Private Terms in March and then the Tesio, which was because he stumbled at the start of the race.
The 5 Uncle Heavy (6/1 ML) did seem to make a move on the final turn but tired in the stretch. It’s a good sign that he is running here in the Ohio Derby as he gets to face some of the horses that he faced in the Preakness as well as some new shooters here. I’m expecting a better performance on a dry track here though he did win two of his three races on wet tracks.
I can’t ignore the fact that Batten Down ran his mile and a quarter race faster than the Kentucky Derby winner four days later. I would not be surprised that if he wins this race here that he could be in contention for the three-year-old horse of the year. Catching Freedom is going to be heavily bet here and might cancel the smart money that Batten Down will get here in the Ohio Derby.
These most Triple Crown derby races tend to have horses coming out of nowhere to thrust themselves into the spotlight. That’s what I am expecting here. Batten Down will be better served to be off the pace, but he might be good enough to win on the front end. Either way, I’ll go 9-8-2-5 and my play is $20 to win on the 9 to win the Ohio Derby at Thistledown. Good luck everyone!
Check out my show “Also Eligible” on Saturday mornings at 10 am Eastern/7 am Pacific as AJ Johnson and I discuss the big races, the latest news in horse racing and much more!