Strong maiden race key to Fair Grounds Saturday wagers

The $60,000 Randy P. Romero Memorial on the turf is the highlight of the Saturday card at Fair Grounds. A field of seven will go postward and the one-mile event looks like a good betting race, but I am more intrigued with a race later in the day featuring maidens.

Race 8 is a 6-furlong special weight dash on the dirt that attracted a rich field of seven well-meant colts. #6 Spin Rate (9-2) is the most intriguing entrant in the cast and a horse that I will use in everything.

By Hard Spun, Spin Rate is bred to be a runner. The 4-year-old is out of multiple stakes winner Dancing Raven, who herself is a half-sister to Canadian champion Uncaptured. Dancing Raven has produced three foals that have raced to date and all three are graduates.

Spin Rate has a unique sales history, going from a $92,000 weanling purchase, to a $150,000 RNA as a yearling, before eventually being sold for a modest $7,000 as a juvenile at OBS June. The Tom Amoss pupil will run for Robert Lapenta and Harry Rosenblum, prominent owners who don’t buy horses for $7,000, and they seemingly purchased this one privately in advance of his debut. I am more than a little intrigued about the colt.

#5 Steely Danza (3-1) put in a fine effort on debut on the surface, finishing a clear second in the mud behind the talented Digital on December 28. Gray colt chased a clear leader early on and took the lead in the lane, only to be run down by the short-priced winner inside the final furlong. I thought it was a very professional effort from the Steve Margolis trainee.

The son of Danza shows a pair of smart half-mile breezes in the interim, and the 3-year-old will have Gabe Saez in the silks once again. He is a prime win threat who owns the top BRIS Speed figure (89) in the field.

There are other win contenders in the field, but my focus is on the aforementioned pair. I expect each to fire big on Saturday.

Wagering Strategy

I will box Spin Rate and Steely Danza in exactas, in addition to keying the duo on top of trifecta and superfecta wagers. And I will use this pair in my multi-race plays, too.

Good Luck!