Case The Race - Handicapping data and information

Laurel Park October 17 Race 8
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By Kevin Stafford

We'll be focusing on the 8th race at Laurel Park on Saturday, a $30,000 N1X sprint for 3-year-olds and upward.

Keep your eye on the weather if your playing the Laurel card, as the forecast for Maryland is for rain, rain, and more rain throughout the weekend, and as of this writing on Thursday night the rain has already begun.

With that in mind, I like #4 Oistins Bay here at a price at 8/1. The son of Deputy Minister is the most accomplished off-track runner of the 7 horse field and sports a perfect two-for-two record over wet surfaces. Moreover, he's got enough early zip in his running style to keep from having mud splattered all over his face in the early going, and is coming off back to back winning efforts, which suggests he's in fine form.

It's hard to predict who might scratch due to the weather, but of the rest of the field only the morning line favorite #1 Robbing the Bank has any off-track form. Look for the Scott Lake trainee to be a factor in the race, but I'll take the better price on Oistins Bay for the win.

I'll likely also add in #5 I Know Why (3/1) and #7 Sir Duncan (5/2) on the exotics.