Before the weekend, the card at the Keeneland Racecourse offers races with rich purses, the Lafayette Stakes and the G3 Transylvania Stakes. Both Friday events are open just to three-year-olds, while the former is held on the dirt surface, the latter on turf.
Transylvania Stakes
On the turf surface, six three-year-olds are about to cover the distance of a mile and a half of a furlong in this G3 event. The purse of $400,000 attracted three participants with G3 wins under their belts, especially Verbal trained by Chard Brown, who is unbeaten in two outings.
The son of Flintshire scored his debut in October, upon which he won the G3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes in November on the distance of a mile. He might be disadvantaged because he hasn’t hit the track since, unlike Grand Sonata. The Todd Pletcher bound colt won a Listed race in January and in February, and then went on to bag the G3 Kitten’s Joy Stakes.
Thanks to his fine finish from third place, he passed by leading Coinage to triumph back then, while Coinage, the victor of the G3 With Anticipation Stakes in September, had to settle for third. After that effort, he came on top among the Listed company; still, he seemed suited more to a slightly shorter trip. Sy Dog has a narrow black-type success under his belt, Napoleonic War scored his debut in January, and Credibility placed third in the G2 competition in 2021 but hasn’t shown anything interesting since.
Our Transylvania Stakes betting pick is:
Grand Sonata, attempting to conclude a victorious hattrick after bagging a Listed and G3 wins in 2022. He likes the distance, and his class should again prove enough to score here.
| Horse | Jockey | Horse Racing Odds courtesy of JazzSports |
| Credibility | Florent Geroux | +850 |
| Napoleonic War | Flavien Prat | +1200 |
| Sy Dog | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | +250 |
| Grand Sonata | Tyler Gaffalione | +250 |
| Coinage | Luis Saez | +350 |
| Verbal | Jose L. Ortiz | +200 |
Lafayette
The ungraded dirt race is open to three-year-old colts and geldings, offered the rich purse of $400,000. At the distance of seven furlongs, perspective sprinters lined up, including My Prankster trained by Todd Pletcher.
The Into Mischief colt finished fourth in the G1 Champagne Stakes and second at the black-type scene in 2021, upon which he commenced the new season with a victory in the G3 Claiborne Farm Swale Stakes. Despite turning wide and flying on the outside, he managed to get to the front in time, and if he delivers a similar effort on Friday, he is a victory candidate.
Still, in the field of twelve participants, horses finishing from the rear have a difficult task in front of them, which also applies to Tejano Twist, scoring a black-type race in 2021 and taking second in the Gun Runner Stakes behind Epicenter, while Money Supply successfully debuted in February thanks to his late charge as well.
Therefore, in two outings, unbeaten Old Homestead could try to snatch the win from the front like he did last time out in an Allowance race. He carried a lot less than his rivals back then, so his easy victory shouldn’t be overestimated, but it was a promising effort.
American Xperiment doesn’t shine in 2022; still, he was third in the G1 Del Mar Futurity, while Barossa, an ex-charge of Bob Baffert, grabbed third in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity. Subsequently, he got beaten in the Allowance races on two occasions.
Our Lafayette Stakes Top Choice is Tejano Twist whose second place behind Epicenter draws attention.
| Horse | Jockey | Horse Racing Odds courtesy of JazzSports |
| Osbourne | Tyler Gaffalione | +1200 |
| Money Supply | Jose L. Ortiz | +350 |
| Old Homestead | Thomas L. Pompell | +1500 |
| Surfer Dude | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | +850 |
| All in Sync | Joel Rosario | +1200 |
| American Xperiment | Corey J. Lanerie | +2000 |
| Barossa | Flavien Prat | +2000 |
| My Prankster | Luis Saez | +175 |
| Unified Report | Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. | +2000 |
| Magnolia Midnight | John R. Velazquez | +1200 |
| Ignitis | Luis Contreras | +1500 |
| Tejano Twist | Joseph Rocco, Jr. | +375 |
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