The Zia Park Derby is this evening! This non-graded stakes race has a moderately competitive field of eight 3-year-olds.
There is a lot to like about the short-priced horses 2 Perfect Flight and 5 Apprehend, both out of the Peter Miller barn. Perfect Flight gets jockey Florent Geroux, and Apprehend’s pedigree suggests today’s 8.5 furlongs may well be his best distance. He ran a 107 Beyer last time out and off a layoff at Santa Anita.
The pace projection for this race has 1 Great Escape out to an early lead with Apprehend sitting right behind him. Assuming he settles on the lead, there’s no reason to think that he can’t hold off the late comers and wire the field. These horses are just not that fast. I’ll add 3 Bye Bye Bobby to complete the super. He’ll be charging late as the lone closer running style in the race.
PICKS: 1-2-5-3
Best of luck!