Longshot of the Day: Race 6 at Keeneland

Track: Keeneland

Race 6: $110K MSW going 1 1/8 miles on turf for 3+

Post Time: 3:40 PM ET

Horse: #10 Kicking Clear (8/1) use as a win by at 6/1 or higher

Let’s kick off Week 2 of Keeneland with a Longshot of the Day there for red-hot connections. Kicking Clear has failed to live up to his name as he is 0-7 and has not kicked clear of anyone yet, but there are reasons to suspect he could be due today. The most obvious angle is that of his connections. Trainer Brendan Walsh has been on fire since the start of the Keeneland meet winning 45% of his entries (5-11) and has finished in the money 82% of the time. More significantly, they are winning in big spots as Gin Gin upset the Spinster (G1) and Imaginationthelady, my Longshot of the Day selection on Friday, won the Jessamine (G2). On Wednesday, he is teaming up with one of his top riders, jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who is always dangerous on the turf at Keeneland as the two have one at a 24% clip over the last year in Lexington, KY. As for the horse, Kicking Clear is sired by Keen Ice who is not much of a turf influence as he only produces 6% turf route winners from 260 attempts, but it is notable Kicking Clear’s Beyer Speed Figures (BSF) perked up significantly once he got on the grass. That could be due to the dam side pedigree as broodmare Cheeky Charm has produced 25% turf and synthetic route winners (11-44). Kicking Clear ran over the Keeneland turf before when he finished fourth in a maiden race in the spring, which was won by Tomasello who a stakes winner is now. Since that race, four other horses in the field have also gone on to victories, so it was a solid group. He was assigned his top BSF last time out with a 71 at Kentucky Downs. Betting horses back from Kentucky Downs can be a hit-or-miss proposition as you never know how horses come back from running over the track, but Walsh’s always seemed to do well as the Kentucky-based trainer knows which horses can handle that surface and which cannot. The Calumet Farm owned and bred runner has a lot of potential for the upset today.