Longshot of the Day: Race 9 at Churchill Downs

Track: Churchill Downs

Race 9: $600,000 Eight Belle Stakes going 7 furlongs for 3YO fillies

Post Time: 4:11 PM ET

Horse: #9 Bourbon Memories (8/1 morning line) use as a win bet at 6/1 or higher.

The Eight Belles is a salty race on the Kentucky Oaks Day undercard at Churchill Downs. I am playing against quite a few favorites and going with Bourbon Memory who is running for a hot barn and is undefeated coming into the race. The daughter of Bolt d’Oro is going out for the Brendan Walsh barn, which has been firing on all cylinders over the last month between Keeneland and Churchill Downs. Walsh has had this filly going well since the beginning at Turfway Park in December when she came from off the pace in a tracking trip while breaking from the far outside post. He stepped up to crush starter allowance company before finishing in a dead heat going a mile against optional claiming competition. He cut back to six furlongs last time out and won the Serena Song Stakes and showed the ability to again rate off the pace before making a move. The fourth-place finisher from that race, Brindi, has come back to win a stakes race at Woodbine in her next start, which is promising. Jockey Gerardo Corrales has been riding her for all four starts and remains up today. Her versatility of rating or going straight to the front provides him plenty of options once the gates open, particularly since the predominant speed in the race is all breaking to the inside, so she can sit just off that pace. It feels unlikely that she’s going to get to the front today, but she can easily slot over behind the speed and sit a comfortable tracking trip. While all her racing has taken place at Turfway Park, she does have two local workouts at Churchill Downs over the main track in the last couple of weeks, which should provide more confidence that she’ll handle the surface. She went four furlongs in 48.1 seconds on April 24, so she seems ready to go, plus there is plenty of dirt pedigree in her family tree. Finally, in a completely non-handicapping angle, how can you not bet a horse in Kentucky named Bourbon Memory? Name aside, this one is likely to get overlooked but I love the synthetic-to-dirt angle as well as we have seen Turfway Park shipper run well under the twin spires in races across the cards.