Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G2) — Race 10 (4:51 p.m. ET)
Arrest Me Red will look to get back in the win column for trainer Wesley Ward on Friday in the $500,000 Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G2) at Churchill Downs.
Although not in same league as stablemate Golden Pal, Arrest Me Red also ended his sophomore campaign last season in terrific form. He was victorious in all three starts in an abbreviated campaign, including back-to-back scores against older rivals in the Belmont Turf Sprint (G3) and Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship.
Arrest Me Red endured a setback in his season debut, however, proving only third best in the March 19 Silks Run S. at Gulfstream over a too short five-furlong trip. The Twin Spires Turf Sprint is held over 5 1/2 furlongs.
The deep and contentious field includes the 2020 winner of the event Diamond Oops, who finished fourth in last year’s renewal. Pyron exits a victory over the speedy Just Might in the Colonel Power S. at Fair Grounds, while Johnny Unleashed and Gear Jockey chased in vain the aforementioned Golden Pal in the Shakertown (G2) at Keeneland last month.
The Lir Jet, a graded winner on both sides of the Atlantic, failed to muster a rally when fifth in the Shakertown in his first outing since take the Franklin-Simpson (G3) at Kentucky Downs in September. California invader Gregorian Chant is a likely contender on his best form.
Edgewood S. (G2 — Race 8 (3:03 p.m. ET)
Florida Oaks (G3) winner Dolce Zel, second best to the tough Spendarella in the Appalachian (G2) most recently, might be the one to beat in the $500,000 Edgewood S. (G2), a 1 1/16-mile grass test for three-year-old fillies.
Joining that one are two others from the Chad Brown stable. Spicer finished a head behind Dolce Zel in the Florida Oaks at the 2-1 favorite, while McKulick returns from a layoff dating back to early October, when she was third as the odds-on choice in the Miss Grillo (G2).
My Philly Twirl enters off an upset score in the Sanibel Island S. at Gulfstream in a three-way photo, while Golden Rod (G2) heroine Dream Lith tries turf for the first time after failing to develop into a Kentucky Oaks (G1) contender over the winter.
Modesty S. (G3) — Race 5 (12:43 p.m. ET)
Bleecker Street enters the $250,000 Modesty S. (G3) for fillies and mares perfect from five starts, including back-to-back stakes wins at Tampa Bay Downs in the Endeavour (G3) and Hillsborough (G2). The Chad Brown trainee figures as a strong favorite in the nine-furlong grass test, which for decades was a fixture at Arlington Park outside Chicago.
Multiple graded stakes winner Fluffy Socks, a stablemate of Bleecker Street’s in the Chad Brown barn, enters off a second to Curly Ruth in a Keeneland allowance in mid-April. She Can’t Sing and Pass the Plate, division mainstays over the winter at Fair Grounds, are also among the field of nine.
