By Dave Brower, Meadowlands Handicapper — Early Double Analysis — Friday, July 22, 2022
Race 1
1 CONSTNTLYSIDWYS A – Finds his way back to East Rutherford tonight. He’s been here many times. Gets a touch of needed post relief, but I still can’t like him. He’s been way too inconsistent for year. If he beats me, he beats me.
2 SHIP WRECK BEACH K – Making second start for the new barn here, and this is what they do. Turn underacheievers into winners. This has to be considered a drop. You see who’s driving. Needless to say, I wouldn’t talk you off.
3 OFFICIAL DELIGHT – Gets back to the Trackmaster 70 level, which is where he won a few back. So, I guess that gives him a chance. Comes off a couple of tough trips too! IF the price was right, I would think about using on ticket.
4 WILLIE BRENNAN – PEI bred has traveled a long way over the years. Ships up the Turnpike from Philly for a big track try. I guess I want to watch one first. But, I do recognize the drop. If he were to jump up and win, it wouldn’t shock.
5 ILLINI DUKE – Got lucky when we had him a few weeks ago. The follow-up down at Philly not so great. Yogi put himself down to drive, and then changed his mind. YG on now!. I like the post. Horse has one good move in him.
6 HOLY GRAIL N – Bouncing back and forth from here and Monti. Looks like he squandered that one good situation two back. I would be surprise if he jumped up and beat these.
7 PURPLE SKY – Not a whole lot going on in this corner. Complete and total turnarounds are very hard to predict, so good luck guessing if you think tonight will be his night.
8 IT’S RIGGED – Was just okay here. Tried Philly once and that didn’t work. Gets slammed with a tough post here and Yarock was listed to drive against the pro’s. To me, that doesn’t add up.
9 ALWAYS A FORCE – I guess this is the horse to beat? Even from post nine. Overall his form looks a lot better than many of these. It’ll be up to pilot to try and make things work.
DRIVER CHOICES:
Andy McCarthy 4 over 3 Todd McCarthy 9 over 6
Top Contenders 2-9-3-5
Race 2
1 MRS TAYLOR – They gave her a little more time off to try and figure things out. I will need to see it first. Haven’t yet.
2 KEN’S WALNER – Clobbered a non-winners of two group last month. Got sick after that. That’s not good. They opted to qualify him back and he did seem good again. Will try to give #3 a good “run for the money!” Take long look.
3 CHULO – They’ve dabbled in stakes with this guy and it has worked out at times. Back and forth between here, Ohio and Philly. He somehow fits the condition, so no excuses accepted. And no breaks allowed. Good luck with that.
4 BEYOND THE HILL – Keep in mind that he’s a 4YO. That’s an edge when your main threats are 3YO’s. He was forced up the class ladder at other tracks, so this is technically supposed to be easier. It may not be. But he does have big chance.
5 SONNY’S MONI – Still working out the kinks here. That wasn’t a bad start last time. Let’s look for continued improvement on the well-bred homebred.
6 WILD OATS – They tried him in the Graduate after a decent qualifier and that didn’t work out too well. Came back with less-than-inspiring qualifier. I really don’t know where they’re at with this guy. We just have to guess. Dex tries again.
7 QUAINT – Burned a few betting coins down at Philly. Okay. We’ve seen that before. She might have needed the race anyway. But, how’s she going to overcome this slot against the boys again? I don’t have the answer for that. A Mac sticks with her.
DRIVER CHOICES:
Dexter Dunn 6 over 1 Andy McCarthy 7 over 4
Top Contenders 2-3-4-5
