Scully’s Churchill signature plays for June 4

Churchill Downs begins the week with a nine-race program on Thursday. I’m scouting plays every racing day from the following criteria:

Look forward to playing: #4 Delp (5-1 morning line) in the 2ND race. Perfect candidate to improve in the second start off the claim for Tom Amoss. Delp didn’t experience the cleanest trip in traffic and swung extremely wide into the Oaklawn Park stretch last time, advancing to a threatening position by midstretch before coming up a little short. Amoss scores at a 39% clip the second start after the claim, according to Brisnet Past Performances, and Delp looks poised to move forward off his last start.

Live longshot: #6 Heart River (12-1) in the 1ST race. Late runner caught a track that played favorably to speed last time, with a 66-1 outsider nearly stealing the race on the front end, and Heart River dropped more than 10 lengths off the pace before rallying about 10-wide into the stretch, closing a lot of ground to finish a clear third. James Chapman adds blinkers, and Heart River should receive a favorable setup with an abundance of early speed entered.

Favorite against: #1 Urbanite (3-1) in the 2ND race. After dropping into a $30,000 maiden claimer, Urbanite was able to graduate by wearing the leaders down in deep stretch. He tends to break slowly from the starting gate and faces elders for the first time on Thursday. Late-running sophomore could prove vulnerable on the class hike.

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