Top pick: #6 (MASTER DECEIVER) (6-1) - Price play has faced tougher in all seven starts and last out chased a fast pace and tired to finish a distant third when racing for a $25K tag here going 7 furlongs Dec. 29. race was his first in two months and trainer Rick Vega will drop him to a new low and race him around two-turns for the first time.
2nd pick: #2 (Peter's Legend) (7-2) - Lightly-raced gelding has finished second in his last pair and last out he was almost two lengths in front of "Master" on the wire. Speedy sort breaks just off the rail and is dangerous from start to finish.
3rd pick: #4 (Northern Glow) (9-2) - Cal-bred rallied from far back to finish second here facing slightly wesker on Jan. 1. Nice effort was his first since coming here from Hollywood Park, first for trainer Lou Linder, and first on real dirt.
5th pick: #9 (Skyview Park) (5-2) - He raced wide and evenly when finishing a distant fourth when debuting at Aqueduct in a 6-furlong sprint on Dec. 12. Fine barn (Jay Servis) ships him here and will stretch him out in distance. Of note: the third-place finisher in his debut won in New York the other day.