Longshot of the Day: Race 6 at Churchill Downs

Track: Churchill Downs

Race 6: $127K allowance going 5 furlongs on turf for 3+ fillies and mares

Post Time: 3:26 PM ET

Horse: #8 Flirting With Time (8/1) use as a win by at 6/1 or higher

Both Aqueduct and Churchill Downs are running today and on NYRA Bets it will pay to play both. We have a promotion where if you bet $75 at BOTH Churchill and Aqueduct, you GET $15 back. Let’s find a good win bet at Churchill Downs today to help with that promotion!

Horses coming off a layoff is a risk/reward situation and Flirting With Time is a prime example of that. The Joe Sharp trainee has not run since March but also had not run since October 2024 prior to that spring effort, which means she only has one race in her over the past 13 months. However, there are races from her juvenile campaign last year that gives me confidence she can run well today. She debuted at Saratoga last year in a race where she blazed to the front from the inside rail and faded. Her next start can be excused given it was rained off the turf, but then she bounced back and broke her maiden while getting assigned a 74 Beyer Speed Figure (BSF) at Kentucky Downs. Based off that effort, Sharp entered her in the Matron (G3), but she faded in the final furlong to finish ninth after being part of the early pace. She was not seen on the track for five months when she came to Fair Grounds and ran fourth against allowance company. She did not get to the lead that day and might be a horse that needs to get to the front or else she has a hard time passing horses. One could make the argument that she simply freaked at Kentucky Downs, but that 74 BSF put her in win contention. Can she run back to that off the bench? It is encouraging that Sharp enters her in allowance race rather than dropping her into the claiming ranks. It’s also positive that she attracted jockey Jose Ortiz who has started off the Churchill meet with a bang winning 32% of his mounts. Sharp has given her six workouts to get her ready off the bench and I particularly like that five-furlong bullet on October 31. Ortiz is outstanding at getting speed out of horses and if he puts her up on the lead, the five-furlong distance of this race is perfect as fatigue and stamina should be less of an issue.