Posted on 3/4/2008 7:24:08 PM

Horse Racing Picks - Pacifiers

By Brian Mulligan

Did you ever wonder why some juvenile first-time starters got bet and others were cold on the board? Believe it or not, juvenile racing is just around the corner and now is the time that horse bettors that want an edge can get one by examining the works at some training centers before 2-year-olds go to auction.

Horses can be like little children, some are fast out of the blocks and some are slow learners.

By the time these babies get into the sales ring, potential buyers have confirmation, pedigree and a short work tab to look at before they decide on purchasing.

The quickest horses early usually get great publicity. The $16 million buy The Green Monkey allegedly worked a super fast furlong before he was sold, so let’s take a look at some potential future runners and compare their times in the last few weeks to some others at the Ocala Breeders’ Training Center.

Circle the names of these horses and get geared up to follow them once they get to the races. This is just a little edge that astute horse bettors can try to get on the masses when these puzzles known as baby races start in the next few weeks.

It appears that a runner named Silk Ridge has natural speed. The 3-furlong blowout that one posted on Feb. 9 was two ticks the best on the tab and 7 ticks faster than the 3rd best that morning.

This Tongues For U appears to be further along as his 1:00 1/5 breezing drill on Feb. 9 was full two ticks faster than any at that distance that morning.

Sharp horse racing bettors can circle this runner and hope he is ignored when he finally makes it into a race.

Diamonds may be a girl’s and a boy’s best friend when Diamond Jim debuts. He was impressive in a best of the morning move about a week ago and seems to be close to kicking off his career.

Royal Sneak is just starting to get in shape but horse bettors should know that this one appears to have speed. The runner was put through the grinder the end of January in a work against 3 others on the tab going three-eighths of a mile and that one’s :35 2/5 clocking was best by a full 9 ticks, which is 2 seconds and a fifth.

Sneak has the potential already to steal a short juvenile debut.

Two other babies with pacifiers in their mouths must be mentioned and they appear to already be well developed.

Savannah Mia worked on a morning when the track was full with runners and she dominated. Her :59. 3/5 spin was 2 ticks the best and to compare properly, the slowest move that morning was a full 4 seconds slower.

The fastest runner in the last few weeks at Ocala may not be a secret by the time the debut materializes but clever horse bettors should be on the look out for a runner named Turf War. The :59 1/5 5-furlong drill that one recorded was by far the most impressive in the last few weeks.

One last thing that cagey horse bettors should do before betting on babies, is take a look at them on the track.

Don’t look for a model type; don’t look for a sleek horse but look for a compact, big barrel chested runner with a huge butt.

Good luck with the babies.

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