How to bet the 2023 Holiday Cheer Stakes

A total of 11 will travel six panels on the All-Weather at Turfway Park in Saturday’s $125,000 Holiday Cheer S. I’ll look for value in the well-matched field and side with #7 Condemn (8-1) for conditioner Tom Drury. 

Holiday Cheer Wagers

• $30 win #7 Condemn ($30)
  $5 exacta box 1,6,7 ($30)
  $.50-cent trifecta 1,6,7 with 1,6,7 with all ($27.50)

A total of 11 will travel six panels on the All-Weather at Turfway Park in Saturday’s $125,000 Holiday Cheer S. I’ll look for value in the well-matched field and side with #7 Condemn (8-1) for conditioner Tom Drury. 

Bred in the Bluegrass State, the four-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro returned in October off of a very long absence and just missed in a swiftly run dirt dash at Indiana. An unplaced second at Keeneland followed, but the colt appreciated the move to the synthetic here in his latest offering when drawing off to a fine allowance victory. He has a trio of wins and a second from five tries since adding blinkers to commence his three-year-old campaign, and the lightly raced contender seems poised for another big run on the surface under Joseph Ramos. 

#1 Heaven Street (6-1) is a high-quality turf dasher who figures to make the transition to the All-Weather with relative ease for trainer Mike Maker. The four-year-old son of Street Sense didn’t handle the move to the dirt last time out, but he had solid form prior to that endeavor and looks like a major player on this occasion with something close to his best performance. The speedy dark bay shows a pair of bullet morning drills in advance of Saturday and will be prominent throughout with Axel Concepcion in the stirrups. 

Mark Casse’s #6 True Temper (4-1) is a sterling three-for-three in his lifetime and obviously has an affinity for the synthetic shipping here from Woodbine. The dark bay son of Maclean’s Music has room for improvement with just three races to his credit leading up to this dash, and the Ontario-bred continues to train in very good fashion leading up to his stakes bow, as well. The bargain $35,000 yearling purchase can win from up close or off of the early tempo, and he will be tough to keep off the board with another step in the right direction. Hot local pilot Luan Machado has the assignment.