Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato give their best bet for each day of racing during the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. $100 Win/Place format; highest bankroll at the end wins.
Steve Sherack: Monday's Results – Setting the Mood was fourth.
Race 5 – Reward Night has looked like a graded stakes horse in the making since switching to grass in his last two starts for Ian Wilkes. Rallied nicely–albeit into a hot pace–to finish a very useful third sprinting over the Ellis lawn July 9, then broke through with a visually impressive maiden score at this distance Aug. 6, coming home in a field-best :22.33. Still room for improvement as the son of Will Take Charge takes on winners for the first time here. Selection: #8 Reward Night (5-1).
Brian DiDonato: Monday's Results – Button Boy finished third.
Race 5 – This looks to be a really wide open race with lots of legitimate contenders. I'll take a bit of a flyer on lightly raced but well-bred Bugle of War (War Front). He's been off since finishing one spot behind recent Queen's Plate winner Safe Conduct in a Gulfstream allowance in March, and he probably needs to get a little faster to win this, but he figures to take a natural step forward with expected maturity in the time away. His maiden-breaking romp came at 1 1/16 miles, so this one-mile trip might be to his liking compared to his two nine-furlong attempts. Accomplished trainer Eddie Kenneally has had a quiet year by his standards, but he's been heating up of late with a Grade I win at Arlington and win rate close to 20% at the Ellis meet as of this writing. Selection: #3 Bugle of War (12-1).
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