Top pick: #6 (COTTON VALLEY) (7-2) - He rallied to finish second at this level and distance at Los Alamitos on Sept. 14. Freshened up since, Mike Puype has him training steadily and strong finisher should get a nice pace set up to make his stretch charge effective.
2nd pick: #8 (Awesome Time) (3-1) - Lightly-raced and speedy, he set a fast and contested pace here going 5.5-furlongs on Oct. 4 and held to finish second of 12. Trainer Jeff Mullins has worked him twice since and stretches him out in distance. Win candidate.
3rd pick: #7 (Deep Digger) (4-1) - Canadian bred is taking the big drop into claimers and racing on conventional dirt both for the first time. He hasn't been beaten much in his last pair and should show whatever he has in this spot.
4th pick: #4 (Royal Tale) (15-1) - Longshot has a bit of speed and is stretching back out after a wide and even effort sprinting here at this tag Sept. 26. There is little speed to his inside, so this gelding by "Tale of the Cat" may get a nice trip on the rail and could factor at a big price.
5th pick: #10 (Berlusconi) (5-1) - He's nearing his 6th birthday and obviously has some issues with only seven career starts. He enters this off a solid race on Sept. 14 at Los Alamitos where he set the pace and tired late to finish third only 1 1/2 lengths back of "Cotton Valley." Working steadily since, he can impact, but his outside post hurts his chances.