Spotlight Race of the Day- May 10, Claiming Race Newmarket

All horses, age four and up are eligible for the $60,000 claiming race which will go 7 furlongs on the Poly track. The race is restricted to non-winners of four over their lifetime. Conditions look fast and the poly surface may present some handicap challenges.

1. Putting For Birdie 2/1
Experienced poly surface runner who has been on board in all five starts. Last four on poly have been at this raceway winning twice and finished third in last two. Speeds have averaged 95 on this track. Has the most experience in field on poly which may put this one over the top.

2. Bruin Twenty Four 8/1
Moves back to claiming after a second on dirt and two weeks later 9th on grass in starter allowance class. Last win came roughly a year ago and has hit the board three race in ten starts since. Has one poly track start and that came on Newmarket track against cheaper $3k claimers last December, finishing fifth. Hit 91 speed on dirt recently, second career best and will need to be at that or better to win here.

3. Rare Connections 10/1
Notched off career best speed of 89 in March on dirt running 7f and winning by neck at 15/1 against Starter Allowance. Raced on turf in last at 6.5f finishing sixth and speed of 84 with $20k claimers. Performances have been better on dirt and could be more competitive with lower claim level. Makes first start on poly and ability is unknown. Still, moving to $60k price tag may be a struggle, but this one has pulled off upsets before.

4. Molestar 4/1
A later runner who is a nail bitter as to whether or not he will fire up. Last two on turf did not show much of a flame. One race was end of December where he finished fifth and never a factor. Returned to track in March and the offtrack turf resulted in fourth place finish, picking up little ground and mainly passing tiring foes. Makes second start after layoff and has one race on poly where he was blazing down the track 9 back turning into stretch to miss by two and finishing third. Conditions could be just right this time out.

5. Dr. Atkins 4/1
The good, the bad and the ugly happened last week. The good: Finsihed 2nd in allowance on turf. The Bad: Speed dropped from 95 the month before to 72. The Ugly: Horse was the 1/10 favorite in 4-horse field. Makes drop from allowance level to claiming which should gain some advantage. Untested on poly but should do alright as he has good record on both dirt and turf. Still, I am concerned about short rest after that big speed tail-off.

6. Prince Yobo 4/1
Last win came in April, 2013 and it looked like the drought would end last month on the turf when this guy rallied and took over the lead. but it was short lived as he would be overtaken and forced to settle for second with 91 speed. He has run on the poly once before which came last August where he challenged early by running second and settled for third. Able to be competitive on return to poly.

7. Luminous Sand 5/1
Farmed for over a year, this guy came back with an agenda. In October he won his first race back breaking maiden with 96 speed at 20/1. The following start was a fifth but a decent 95 speed in allowance class. Another layoff of four months and a return this past March, this time to turf and a 10f route was too much, finishing well back fifth against allowance. Dropped to $50k claimers last month and more favorable sprint resulted in second and 97. Dangerous in this if likes the poly.

Luminous Sand could ring the register. Looks good on dirt, competitive with claimers and I think will like the poly.

Putting For Birdie is the one to beat and hasn’t missed board on poly yet.

Molestar showed promise with strong close on poly before. Might make it work this time out