Top pick: #6 (BERT STONE) (2-1) - Gelding tracked, bid to the front, then weakened under pressure to finish second when debuting at Keeneland in late October for a $30K tag. He has a new trainer (Gary Gullo) for his NYRA debut, and he confidently moves him up in class. Can take this with normal second out improvement.
2nd pick: #1 (Mark My Style) (10-1) - Speed/stalker takes the big drop into claimers for the first time. He draws the rail, and a sharp half-mile breeze Nov. 30th indicates a big effort is coming.
3rd pick: #4 (Tower Easy) (12-1) - Another that is taking a sizable drop, and he's also moving from turf to dirt and shortening up in distance. Freshened up for the past six weeks, trainer Rudy Rodriguez had him work a sharp 3/8ths two days ago.
4th pick: #8 (Mizner Park) (5-1) - $110K yearling purchase showed a bit of early speed before tiring badly going a mile facing Special Weights on Nov. 19th. Trainer Dom Schettino drops him down in class, shortens him up, and adds blinkers.
5th pick: #3 (Benzational) (8-1) - He ran evenly following a slow start when debuting for a $30K tag just 11-days ago. He took a bit of betting action that day and was claimed by trainer Tony Quartarolo. Barn brings him back quickly and moves him up in price.