Exotics plays for the Whitmore Stakes on Mar. 19

A talented field of nine will travel six panels on the Oaklawn Park dirt in Saturday’s inaugural $200,000 Whitmore S. (G3). A trio of contenders top my list in the well-matched field, and I will base all of my wagers around that three.

I will start with the value horse in the field, Mike Maker’s #4 Kneedeepinsnow (8-1). By Flat Out, the chestnut was a pricey claim in November and has put in three solid runs since transferring to this barn. The gelding put forth two good efforts on this course, led by a fine allowance tally locally two back, prior to finishing a close fourth while facing stakes foes at Sam Houston most recently.

Kneedeepinsnow comes in fresh with some useful morning drills, and the versatile six-year-old can run from anywhere in the race early on. Ramon Vazquez has the call atop the enticing price play who will be stalking the tempo from the opening bell.

#9 Hollis (3-1) has looked the part in each of his two victories at Oaklawn in his last trio of tries. The John Ortiz trainee gets a fine draw outside of the field, and the speedy seven-year-old will be among the pace players in the field from the opening bell in this dash. The Street Sense seven-year-old retains the services of Ricardo Santana, and he will be a formidable foe with even slight improvement in his initial graded stakes endeavor.

The Larry Jones-trained #2 Bob’s Edge (5-2) put it all together in his seasonal debut when streaking home a clear winner of the King Cotton S. on the oval. The Competitive Edge gelding has never missed the board at this locale (5-2-0-3), and the powerful late runner smashed a bullet five-eighths on the surface in his most recent morning drill. Luis Quinonez will pilot the streaking four-year-old, who will make one run in the stretch on Saturday.

Whitmore Wagers

• $10 win and place #4 Kneedeepinsnow ($20)
• $5 exacta key box 4 with 2, 9 ($20)
• $2 trifecta box 2, 4, 9 ($12)