Elusive Quality
4/27/2017 3:00   BEL   Race #3   7f   Turf   Stake
Purse $150.000 (plus up to $22.500 for NY-breds)  For Four Year Olds And Upward.

1 Kelly Rycroft, trained by Nakamura Stables
This five year old was second in the Queens Plate as a three year old but after two subsequent failures at graded level he was brought back down to overnight grade where he has been consistently picking up purses. He hasnt raced over this short a trip since his two year old days but that doesnt seem to make too much difference at HRP so it cant be seen as a negative for this race. He showed he is up to this grade with a close second in the Elgin Stakes and his works are quick enough to put him at the sharp end of this contest.

2 Night Time Breeze, trained by Maxmillion Farm
A lightly raced four year old he has some pretty up and down form and is hard to weigh up. His nose third in the Eddie Dee last year and his second in the Appleton this year would be good enough to win but he puts in the odd average effort and you have to take his concentration on trust.

3 Yankee Baseball, trained by TwinTowersRacing
One of the best workers in the race he only has the one win at HRP calling into question his will to win. A close fifth in the Arcadian was a good effort but his last start wasnt so good. Writing off the last run as the wide draw voodoo he could be in at the finish in a tight race.

4 Tokyo Secret, trained by Tiratzo
Struggles a little at stakes level but recorded triple digit speed figures in his last start win in overnight company. Again his works are very good and if he runs to them he could just about win.

5 Penny Stock, trained by Threshold
Switches to turf after a few good efforts on dirt but his turf works are a little off these.

6 Dance Lively, trained by Cedar Road
Again a nice sort with some swift work times he has yet to translate that to the track. I think his best form is as a closer and they may be too quick for him if he adopts those tactics today.

7 Missing In Action, trained by John Henry
A one length eighth in the BC Turf Sprint last year he also won the grade two Play The King Stakes over this trip. His form hasnt looked as good since but if he runs to those efforts he will go very close.

8 Laffin Penny, trained by Delta Farms
He has looked strong in overnights on turf and should be suited by this trip it will all depend what the wide draw does for him. I have seen too many lead and weaken to get excited about his chances from gate 8.

SUMMARY

A very tight race with a whole field who look well placed. Work times and draw put it between Yankee Baseball and Missing In Action in my book but its hard to rile any combination of first and second out.

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