Ellis Starr's Picks
Saturday August 6, 2021
Race 7
The R. A. “Cowboy” Jones Stakes
Win contenders with minimum (fair) odds for considering win bets:
#3 Tut’s Revenge – minimum win betting odds 5 to 2
#7 Last Samurai – minimum win betting odds 5 to 2
#1 Inunction – minimum win betting odds 7 to 2
Exactas:
Box 1, 3, 7 over 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10
#2 is Title Ready, #6 is Night Ops, #10 is Helium
For those that don’t know who “Cowboy” Jones was, or why this race is named for him, please allow me the
opportunity to share. Robert A. “Cowboy” Jones was a jockey who rode winners in SIX straight decades,
starting in 1959, with his last winner coming in 2004, although he tried to make it seven decades before riding
for the last time in 2014. He rode in nearly 4,000 races, winning 265 times, and finishing in-the-money (in the
top three) nearly 25% of the time. A fixture at Ellis Park for decades, “Cowboy” Jones passed away in April of
this year at the age of 79 and it is a tribute to his legacy to be remembered with the naming of this race.
Tut’s Revenge is one tough racehorse, having finished first or second in nearly 50% of his 37 races. Just two
weeks ago at Ellis Park in the similar Jeff Hall Memorial Stakes, Tut’s Revenge battled head and head for the
last half-mile, making the lead late and battling down to the wire before beaten a neck. Corrales was aboard for
the first time that day and rides back and the hors will appreciate the slightly longer distance, having earned his
last two wins at this mile trip.
Last Samurai may have a class edge on many in this race as he won the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap one
race before last, in April. He won that race easily by four lengths in a strong field and his career earnings will
be $4,000 short of $1 million if he wins this race. He ran badly in the Stephen Foster Stakes on July 2 but The
winner of that race, Olympiad, is top of the handicap division class at this point in 2022 and so on the drop in
class, as well as with a pair of strong workouts coming into the race, Last Samurai appears capable of
bouncing back to his best. It must be noted his best efforts this year earned 109 and 112 Equibase Speed
Figures, which are similar to, but not really higher than, the 108 and 110 figures Tut’s Revenge earned, and
that one may go to post at higher odds so may be a better win bet.
Injunction is a four year old who may still have improving to do. First or second in six of nine dirt races to date,
he returns to Ellis Park where he ran second in two starts, both at this distance, last summer. He ran fourth at 2
to 1 odds in a tough field on July 4 but before that won nicely by a neck at Churchill Downs with Bejarano in the
saddle as today. His best effort yielded a 104 figure a bit below the other two win contenders, but again we
may not have seen his best effort and his recent 59.8 five furlong workout over the track could be a sign for a
career-best effort.
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