Saratoga and Del Mar can often steal the spotlight on summer weekends but as you may have heard, the racing product at Ellis Park continues to improve. This is once again on display starting Saturday afternoon when the “Pea Patch” has a 9-race card littered with competitive turf races and wide-open maiden events and does not stop on Sunday or Monday where the racing office in Henderson, Kentucky has put together outstanding cards to wager on from start-to-finish.

Here are a few horses I will be building my Sunday afternoon around at Ellis Park:

Race 5:

There should be an honest early pace at the very least in this non-winners of two allowance event for 3YOs at 9-furlongs given the presence of #2 Culprit, #5 Copper Echo, and #6 Dynamis. This bodes well for #7 Mo Rhodes who makes his first start off the claim for trainer Tom Amoss. The $300k Keeneland September 2022 purchase did not live up to expectations for former trainer Dale Romans but has come around over the last few races since being spotted against softer competition. Last time out, the son of Quality Road was caught in a bit of a tight spot on the backstretch in a race where the top two finishers were both prominently placed in the early going. The 3YO colt was unable to do better than third but was beaten just a length while racing against the flow. Mo Rhodes now moves into a barn that is 4 for 9 to start the meeting and is 4 for 15 over the last two years with horses making their first start off the claim at Ellis Park. If jockey Christian Torres can avoid leaving this one with too much to do late, I think he runs this field down at a very fair 6-1-morning line offering.

Plays- Win #7 Mo Rhodes, Daily Double 7-3

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Race 6:

A maiden special weight event for 3YOs and up going 5.5-furlongs over the Ellis sod not only kicks off the late Pick 4 but also the $3 Turf Pick 3. Horseplayers are likely to flock to the 9-5-morning line favorite #8 Send Cash who makes his third career start for trainer Brad Cox. The Klein Racing homebred has taken money in both starts and has been competitive but has been unable to seal the deal despite being there at the wire. The Mendelssohn colt is certainly capable of besting this field in his third career start, but I prefer #3 Trust Issues.

The Enticed gelding has been on the sidelines since mid-December after a pair of underneath finishes for trainer Michelle Lovell. Lovell is a patient conditioner, so the fact this gelding ran as well as he did in his first couple of starts, particularly his debut at Churchill Downs where he overcame a slow start at double-digit odds to finish third beaten less than two lengths, bodes well for his chances. The Horseshoe Racing homebred comes into his 3YO debut off a long series of solid works and appears poised to put it altogether on Sunday. Hopefully, we get at least the 3-1-morning line price as Preakness Stakes winning jockey Jaime Torres returns to ride.

Plays- Win #3 Trust Issues, Daily Double 3-6

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Race 7:

My final spot play of the afternoon comes in this MSW event for 3YOS and up at 7-furlongs over the main track where I like the chances quite a bit of #6 Uncle William. The son of Sharp Azteca makes his fifth career start for trainer Anthony Guida. Guida is winless on the year but he is more capable than that suggests. In fact, he has won with 8 of his last 87 starters for a horseplayer friendly $3.28 ROI and finds an extremely favorable spot for this 4YO gelding that has moved forward in terms of Beyers in all four starts. Uncle William comes in off of his second consecutive runner-up finish at odds of 28-1 or higher and should a favorable forward spot under jockey Declan Cannon. It looks like graduation day.

Play- Win #6

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Good luck this weekend at the Pea Patch and remember the action at Ellis Park continues on Monday where XpressBet and 1/ST Bet once again have a one-million rewards points Hit/Split in the late Pick 4.