Longshot of the Day: Race 5 at Horseshoe Indy

Track: Horseshoe Indianapolis

Race 5: $43K MSW going 6 furlongs on dirt for 3+ fillies and mares

Post Time: 3:14 PM ET

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

Finding a longshot is often about going against several other horses as much as it is falling in love with a horse at a longer price, which is what led me to Into Swift today at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Your morning line favorite is #6 Boogie Woogie Gal (8/5) and while I understand the strong support on the ML, the horse is stepping back up against maiden special weight company after finishing second to $30K maiden claimers last time out. She’s the third race back from a prolonged layoff, so perhaps she will run her best effort, but I’m not thrilled with that favorite. Meanwhile, your second choice is trainer Peter Eurton’s #7 Just for Fun (3/1) who is coming off a 13-month layoff while getting a bit of a makeover package (first time Lasix and blinkers added). I’d rather not support a horse like that at a short price. #8 Foolish Front Fifi (5/1) might be a little interesting, but I dislike the workout pattern as the horse missed over a month of workouts from late September until last week and now is running back from a layoff. Finally, #4 Moms Tribute (6/1) is making her first start in over 13 months as well. This all brings me back to Into Swift. There are legitimate reasons to play against the top choices and this runner could move forward in her second start. She had a tough debut as she was really pushed several paths over coming out of the gate and bumped down toward the rail. She lost all early positioning and was close to last early before trying to move up into contention before fading. She also never seemed to get a comfortable trip around the turn and was getting geared down well before the wire. However, I like the surface switch from turf to dirt. The pedigree is all dirt as her dam (Ulele) was a runner-up in the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) and the Iowa Oaks (G3) while her second dam (Princess Arabella) was a former Bob Baffert trainee who was a perfect 3-3 including a win in the Sunland Park Oaks. Trainer Justin Wojczynski is adding blinkers, which might assist with the starting issues we saw last time, though I would argue much of that was not her fault. Nevertheless, blinkers added from the rail and the decision to put apprentice jockey Irving Moncada on the mount indicates they are going to send. Moncada is riding at 113 lbs., which is also a significant advantage as nearly everyone else is riding at 120 or 124. Finally, I like the fact the horse has gotten in three additional works since that debut effort including a sharp 48.4 second four-furlong work that was third of 24 on October 29. The horse will need to break well from the rail but expect her to be prominent early and can move forward.