With the second leg of the Triple Crown being run at Pimlico over the weekend we will take a look
at a race that was very profitable to not only us here at American Turf but also to our loyal phone customers
as well as our loyal subscriber base for American Turf Club.
In the seventh race at Belmont on May 6th there was a perfect scenario that we have been waiting for; a
horse named NOOLIGAN was finally getting the opportunity to run on the turf. After six tries on the dirt his record
was one win, one second and one third. His most recent effort (4/17) on the dirt going a one turn mile at Aqueduct
was not that bad, he made a strong middle move into a solid pace before settling for an even sixth. That race got some
speed into her and it was only her second start since 2/19. This next start on the turf was his third start in two months
and should have her peak condition. He was facing off against NW1X New York bred allowance foes and many trying
the turf for the first time.
With all of those factors taken into account the fact that he had a running style that seemed to resemble that of
a horse that would take to the turf we knew this would be a good betting situation. The only thing we didn’t know was
how good of a situation it was going to be. Again with it only being an entry level New York bred allowance race we
didn’t think that we would get anything near the 34-1 we did get. The main reason for this huge payoff was the
presence of PA PA DA, a New York bred with only a maiden win to date but a horse that has run well over the turf when
facing off against open company. His three races in Florida over the winter, an allowance race and two stakes races were
good and obviously made him the favorite in this spot. However, his last two races were poor, an even sixth in a small
stakes race at Gulfstream and then a huge defeat in the stallion series on the dirt at Aqueduct only 10 days prior. Without
ever really getting a break in training PA PA DA was making a quick return to the turf, his preferred surface but off two
bad races and the fact was you had to take 3-5 on him to return to better form.
He was getting class relief taking a drop into this allowance race and facing off against New York breds but there
was some cause for alarm especially based on the odds. You must remember as a gambler the first thing you should
always look for when playing the races is where can I get the best value.
After breaking from post 1, NOOLIGAN encountered traffic trouble down the backside, having to check and check
hard before settling down and finding himself last after the dust cleared. After getting settled down he started to make up
some ground on the turn before swinging out wide and unleashing a huge late run to finish to get up for the score by a
neck over the heavily favored PA PA DA. NOOLIGAN returned $70 on the win end and kicked off an exacta with the 3-5
favorite that returned $156.50 and also headed off a triple that paid $700.
For those of you that call our selection line, you got a huge mutuel on NOOLIGAN and it obviously made your
week and maybe your month. For our loyal turf club subscribers all you had to do was open up issue #465 and read the
comment on NOOLIGAN. ATC #465 NOOLIGAN: Never made a threatening move but did move up on the turn before
tiring to sixth in the drive. Look for a switch to the turf for this New York bred.
He did exactly that. They made the switch to the turf in his very next start and didn’t disappoint despite some
major traffic trouble into the first turn and got up to score over an accomplished rival in PA PA DA. It will be interesting
to see where NOOLIGAN goes from here but from our point of view this is one solid New York bred on the turf.
