[Kasept]

Race 2 -- DRF Closer Look By Brian Pochman

Distorted Dream
This gelding flashed some real ability once upon a time and it was nice to see him get things turned around a little bit in his latest outing when breaking his maiden over the Pimlico turf course, but this does have a chance to prove to be a tough spot for him to make his first start against winners; intrigued by the presence of Castellano, but others entice more.

Loveisheartandsoul
He put together a couple of nice performances over turf to close out his 3-year-old season and this does appear to be a reasonable spot for his first start as a 4-year-old; he deserves to be listed among the top contenders while going out for a barn and rider that team up with success.

Northern Tripp
Not wild about his 1-for-18 race record, or that he's winless in his last nine starts going back through 2013, but his latest start after a layoff sprinting can serve as a useful conditioner for this, and wouldn't be totally shocked if this stone-cold closer snuck his way into the exotics mix.

Hot Sand
With a pedigree like this, it's a concern to see how willing his connections have been to offer him up for a tag in his first four starts, but he has shown a little bit of ability; he's out of a G1 winning dam who won 9 of 26 turf starts for $1.2 million, and he's a 1/2 to stakes winner Our Entourage (5-20, 209k, including 2 of 7 turf starts for 74k).

Toy Cannon
Late running type usually shows up and runs his race and on his best day he is capable of producing a pretty solid stretch punch; he has struggled to get himself over the top through the lane, but he fits right in with competition of this caliber.

Smokey Brown
Like to see the improvement he demonstrated in his first start as a 4-year-old in his latest outing, and it looks like that level of performance can get him into the mix against these; he's another late running option to consider in here.

Best Play
Of the horses in the main body of this race, he sports the best last race Beyer Speed Figure, and it's worth noting that was his first start for the Jacobson barn; he's out of a G2 winning dam who won 4 of 21 starts for 244k, including 3 of 14 turf starts for 212k; C.V. has won with 6 of 13 (46%) mounts for this outfit at the current meeting.

Madam I'm Adam
He's consistently produced performances that are strong enough to suggest that he can put in a serious bid for the top prize against these, and this looks like a decent spot for him to take a shot at securing his first turf victory; that said, it might be worth noting the presence of Velasquez aboard another in here.

Prophet's Cat
Sire wins with approximately 8% of his turf starters and dam won 6 of 46 starts for 146k, including 3 of 32 turf starts for 83k; this gelding will really need to improve over what he's shown in his first six starts over dirt in order to threaten the top contenders in here.