The Grade 2 $150,000 Fayette

Closing day at Keeneland for 2009 is Saturday and the feature for the finale is the Grade 2 $150,000 Fayette Stakes with a field of ten going a mile and an eighth on the polytrack. I am going to put #9 Blame on top here. I was at the Grade 2 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs and he was the "wiseguy" horse of the weekend and while he couldn't beat Regal Ransom, who was awesome, he ran a credible second with a career-best 105 Beyer figure. He has never been worse than third in six lifetime starts and has three wins and a second with Jamie Theriot aboard. I will put the very well-bred #7 Wicked Style second off his fifth in the Grade 2 Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park. He had hit the board in five straight prior to that, winning two of those. He is also 2 for 2 in-the-money at Keeneland, including a Grade 1 win in the Breeders' Futurity in October 2007. Kent Desormeaux has had an excellent season during the fall session at Keeneland and he is aboard the morning-line choice, #3 Parading. Parading had the lead in the stretch of the Grade 1 Goodwood at Santa Anita before settling for fourth. His last main track win came at Keeneland in the Grade 3 Ben Ali, but that was back in April. If you only get 7-5 on this horse, you should expect some better recent form. For fourth, I will use #1 Public Speaker, who is coming off of two straight victories in Illinois, one in the slop at Hawthorne and the other over the polytrack at Arlington. Both were in stakes races, but neither of those were graded. He won his only Keeneland race in April and was promptly claimed out of it. He was a $300,000 Keeneland purchase in November 2005. Here is the play for the Grade 2 Fayette:

$2 EX 9 with 1-3-7 and 1-3-7 with 9
$1 TRI 9 with 1-3-7 and 1-3-7 with 9 with 1-3-7
TOTAL- $24

Remember, these selections are suggestions only and They Are Off accepts no responsibility for any wagers placed in conjunction with them. Tune in Monday for more from They Are Off. For right now, I am Gone... GOODBYE!