Longshot of the Day: Race 4 at Turfway Park

Track: Turfway Park

Race 4: $8,000 claimer going 1 1/16 miles on all-weather for 3+

Post Time: 7:25 PM ET

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

Happy Opening Day at Turfway Park! The all-weather track in Florence, Kentucky kicks off its meet and will be a mainstay on the Longshot of the Day column here at NYRA Bets. Why? Because they feature full fields and outstanding betting opportunities. Plus, handicapping all-weather surfaces is not something everyone embraces, but I love. We have a Synthetic Handicapping Guide for you to get you up to speed!

Tonight, I am falling back on a traditional angle at Turfway Park, which is identifying horses that run their best on synthetic no matter their recent form. Shankar fits the bill at a solid morning line price, and he should easily be able to hold that value based upon the full field and other competition. The son of Khozan is out of a Ghostzapper mare, which I like as Ghostzapper is a good synthetic influence as, despite his age, he recently sired synthetic superstar Moira who was the 2024 Canadian Horse of the Year and 2024 Champion Turf Female. Shankar is a long way from that as he’s running in an $8,000 claimer, but he is 12-15 in the money on the all-weather surfaces. He has run all those synthetic races at Gulfstream Park, but the transition to the surface at Turfway Park should not be an issue. I am willing to toss the last two efforts as they were sprints and it is obvious this horse prefers to route seeing as he has average early speed, which puts him at a significant disadvantage when running sprints, but he can get positioned in a mid-pack trip going long. He has versatility as well seeing as he has won coming from off the pace and going gate-to-wire. Finally, there is the issue of the class drop. Shankar has traditionally been running against much better competition as he faces $20,000 optional claimers or starter allowance competition. The last time he dropped down to this low of a level was back in May 2024 and he won for fun against $8,000 claimers at Gulfstream Park going two turns. The combination of synthetic form, pedigree, versatility, and class drop gives me confidence that Shankar can outrun his odds tonight.