How he got here: This was the most touted horse of all the newcomers. This will be his fourth start. He won his last two races by almost 25 lengths total. But neither race was in stakes company.
Why he'll win: If you believe in the wise-guy theory than this horse has a huge shot. Around noon on Saturday he became the 3-5 favorite when an $80,000 win bet was placed on the horse at Laurel and greatly altered the then small win pool. It's expected that as money gets into the pot that he'll go up significantly but probably stay well below his 8-1 morning line.
Why he won't: He's untested and never run against this class of horse. But, since he likely hasn't reached full potential it's hard to say how good he can be. But, it would be a surprise if he upsets tghe more seasoned horses.
John Cherwa is a special contributor to the Los Angeles Times. He started at The Times in 1980 and left in 1995 to be sports editor of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Co. sports coordinator in 2002. He rejoined The Times in 2009 and left his post as deputy sports editor late in 2017. Currently, his major coverage area is horse racing, where he can be found at big races at Santa Anita, the Triple Crown series and Breeders’ Cup. He also can be found at the Olympics, having just finished the Tokyo and Beijing double, marking his 11th Olympics. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida.
