Top pick: #4 (HOWL) (3-1) - He ran a strong race here at this level Dec. 21 when he pressed the pace and held to finish second when racing at this level. The winner was heavily favored and this colt by "Arch" was only beaten a length.
2nd pick: #7 (Supermonic) (6-1) - Pa.-bred colt ships from Penn National where he finished second in a pair of 6-furlong sprints facing state-bred maiden special weights. Working fast for this and trainer Todd Pletcher will stretch him out in distance
3rd pick: #6 (Empower) (7-2) - One of two entered by trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and the pair race uncoupled. Darley home-bred by "Distorted Humor" ships from Gulfstream where he was never involved when debuting on Dec. 19. Well-backed that day, he's worked three times since shipping north and has lasix added (a strong 33% move by the trainer).
4th pick: #8 (Woelf Den) (5-1) - The second of the McLaughlin pair, he set a pressured pace before weakening to run 3rd on Dec. 21 and was just over four lengths back of "Howl" that afternoon.