Saturday’s card at Churchill Downs was loaded with stakes races and produced some upset winners, but today’s 10-race card in Louisville is no slouch. Maiden races early and allowance races late make for a very playable card under the twin spires. Here are a few of the horses I am leaning on this afternoon.

Race 3:
This restricted MSW for horses that sold or RNA’d for $65k or less is littered with first-time starters. Often times, I will find something to like about a debut runner in a race like this 5-furlong dash over the main track, but not in this case. It clearly looks like #5 Pupil’s race to lose. The Tacticus colt showed good speed from his inside post on debut and was able to go with a pair of Wesley Ward runners that both came back and ran well in their next start. Pupil was unable to get to the wire first, but showed plenty of ability for low profile trainer Justin Wojczynski. Wojczynski gets a rider upgrade to Jose Ortiz and should have his first winner of the meet.

Play: #5 Pupil (7-2 ML)

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Race 6:
The late Pick 5 sequence that kicks off with this first-level allowance over the lawn is a challenging one. The one-mile event for 3YOs+ should see an honest early pace with speed types like #2 Sicilian Defense and #4 Rocky Joy down towards the inside and more importantly #10 Decanted, #11 Warhol, and #12 Gilded Craken to the far outside. This should bode well for runners that can settle and finish like #9 Direct Channel. The Uncle Mo gelding only made one start as a 3YO before his 4YO debut on May 11 at Churchill Downs. The Brian Lynch trainee did not take any public support in his return race and was caught 4 wide into the first turn and never saved an inch of ground, but was still able to finish off that 12-horse field of MSW foes. He has to prove himself against winners, but hopefully jockey Christian Torres can save a bit more ground this time around. At his morning line price, it feels worth the gamble.

Play: #9 Direct Channel (8-1 ML)

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Race 9:
The lone stake race on the Sunday program is extremely competitive. It is easy to make a case for a good portion of the field, so swallowing a short price is not for me. I will instead roll with the highly underrated #5 Adrasteia. The bargain basement $5k purchase for owner/trainer Fergus Boyle has won 2 races over this turf course already, including last out when she had no reason to run down lone speed Just Better, but found a way to do so at 9-1 on the tote. She does lose Jose Ortiz to #11 Deep Satin, but I would not read too much into that since Ortiz rides first call for the Cherie DeVaux barn making it an obvious choice. Hopefully, she can run as well today off Lasix as she did last out. If so, she is capable of running this group down late under Ben Curtis.

Play: #5 Adrasteia (12-1 ML)