How to bet the 2023 Perryville Stakes

A field of six three-year-olds will travel seven furlongs on the Keeneland dirt oval in Saturday’s $250,000 Perryville S. The Mark Glatt-trained #5 Dr. Venkman (7-2) will ship in from the West Coast, and I will give the import top billing in his Keeneland debut. By Ghostzapper, the gelding has been awesome from a pair of lifetime outings at Del Mar to date, defeating special weight and allowance foes by a combined 10 3/4 lengths.

Perryville Wagers

• $25 exacta: 5 with 1 ($25)
• $18 exacta: 5 with 2 ($18)
• $2 trifecta: 5 with 1,2 with all ($16)

The Kentucky-bred sophomore has enough early foot in a field lacking pace to take the advantage in the early going, and I expect him to be a menacing figure in his stakes bow following a bullet six-furlong move in anticipation of this dash. John Velazquez picks up the mount, which is always a positive, as well.

Morning-line choice #1 Verifying (1-1) is the class of the field and the obvious one to beat for conditioner Brad Cox. The well-bred son of Justify is Grade 1-placed on the surface following his runner-up try in the Blue Grass S. (G1) locally in the spring, and he was last seen coming home a solid second at the distance in the H. Allen Jerkens S. (G1) at Saratoga last time out. The Kentucky-bred bay possesses some early zip and will track the pace from second early on with Flavien Prat taking the reins.

Rebel S. (G2) victor #2 Confidence Game (9-2) will make his first run since the Kentucky Derby (G1) for conditioner Keith Desormeaux. The talented son of Candy Ride is proven to be a very good middle-distance runner, and going seven-eighths off the layoff seems ideal for the colt. He has posted six well-timed works in succession leading up to this heat, and the tactical dark bay will stalk the pace before being asked for his best in the stretch with James Graham retaining the ride.

I respect each of the other trio of contenders in the field, but I don’t envision any of those crashing the exacta party in this endeavor.