Longshot of the Day: Race 4 at Horseshoe Indianapolis

Track: Horseshoe Indianapolis

Race 4: $5,000 claimer going 6 furlongs on the dirt for 3+

Post Time: 3:43 PM ET

Horse: #8 Town Branch (6/1 morning line). Use as a win bet at 5/1 or higher.

Finding class droppers coming off poor last out efforts can sometimes be a profitable way to find a longshot, which is the case with Town Branch. The five-year-old son of Street Sense started off his career with trainer Bill Mott before moving to Chris Hartman’s barn. He has run against some solid competition in the past, but the claiming ranks are clearly where he belongs. He had a 13-month layoff between May 2023 and June 2024, but his recent races make some sense. He came back over a wet track in his first two efforts, which has never been his preferred surface as he is a career 0-5 even hitting the board over a wet track. Then he tired at a mile after having the lead against $10K claimers at Ellis Park before winning a N2L $10K claiming race at Ellis Park going seven furlongs. Last time out he was a little above his head facing $20K claimers at Churchill Downs going seven furlongs. He was running against a closing-favoring track, but he was part of the early speed dynamics in that race and when you watch the race you realize every horse that was a part of the early pace faded to the final three positions at the end. The horse that finished ahead of him has already come back to win next out against $16K optional claiming company at Belterra Park. On Tuesday he gets some much-needed class relief and cuts back to six furlongs. I like both moves as Hartman is 28% at Horseshoe Indianapolis in claiming races over the last five years with nearly 70% of his runners hitting the board. Also, I believe six furlongs is an optimal distance as he tends to tire when going longer. The horse has nice early speed and jockey Mitchell Murrill can sit outside and let the pace develop and rate the horse or go straight to the front. People might be scared off by the margin of defeat last time out, but I think when you look at the other factors, there are plenty of things to like about his chances today.