The Spiral

Maybe the best named stake on the trail. The Spiral is run over polytrack, so that means evil turf horses factor in, and those evil turf horse have this nagging penchant to perform very well in the Kentucky Derby. World Champ Animal Kingdom used the Spiral to get to the Derby. Paddy O'Prado also ran well in the Derby after a shark polytrack performance at Keeneland. The synthetic surface continues to outshine the other surfaces in safety. But nevermind all that. It's not dirt and this is AMERICA! (sigh.)

I'd rather watch a replay of people in a meeting about nametags at a popcorn factory than watch the Rebel again. That was a $750,000 race that no one really tried all that hard in. But let's put that in the rear view mirror. We have an interesting contest here at Turfway.

Not all contestants are TC nominated, but that's OK. I should start with the disclosure that I'm a huge Florent Geroux fan and that the bias has actually made me a ton of money. Yes, he's the one that won a Breeders Cup race aboard Work all Week over a heavily favored Baffert horse. Now that's cause for celebration. Florent gets on a hose from the Amoss barn that's moseying out of the Big Easy to dip the toe in with the big boys. Wireless Future won by much daylight over a suspect field that came off the turf. I like him in this. This son of Scat Daddy is not proven, hasn't run all that fast but I've still got my upset eyes trained on him.

Pletcher brings in Royal Son hoping for a repeat performance after the score in the Battaglia. He gets the rail and will be bet heavily. But it's Pletcher and as I learned next week, you can't discount him.

Metaboss comes in from California with a lot of hype. He draws wide, but that doesn't mean as much at 9 furlongs on the poly. He seems especially dangerous.

Finally Mott sneaks in Dubai Sky who will likely be a factor. Mott knows what he's doing, so you won't get a price but he's likely to sneak into the frame.

Fifty!
$3 Trifecta Wireless Future key over Meta Boss, Royal Son, Dubai Sky ($18)
$3 Trifecta Metaboss key over Wireless, Royal Son, Dubai Sky ($18)
$2 Trifecta Royal Son key over Meta, Wireless, Dubai Sky ($12)
$2 Trifecta Metaboss, Royal Son, Another Lemon Drop