His name is Esperamos, and he was entered on Saturday when the card was cancelled. He is re-entered on Thursday. Here's the story on him. Around this same time two years ago, he scored a super-impressive win over the Oaklawn surface, a race in which he went wire-to-wire in 1:09 flat without ever really being asked to run. He received a 108 Beyer for that race, which came on the heels of a 104 Beyer that he had recorded @ Hawthorne Park a few months earlier. Anyway, after the Oaklawn race, Esperamos was purchased privately for a large sum of money, i believe somewhere between a half-million and a million dollars (i was somewhat familiar with the sale through a friend of mine). The plans of course were for Esperamos to tackle graded stakes competition, and he certainly looked the part off that Oaklawn race. Unfortunately, it didn't work out, as the wheels fell completely off Esperamos after the sale. He was sent to Dubai for the Golden Shaheen, then came back and was just a shell of his former self, while continuing to run in graded stakes (then eventually lesser stakes). Most recently, he turned up in a low-level claiming race @ Turf Paradise, where he lost once again. But here's where it gets interesting. Esperamos was claimed out of that Turf Paradise race by the same trainer that originally had him @ Oaklawn for that huge win. Clearly, they had been keeping tabs on Esperamos, and it seems that he was claimed specifically with Oaklawn in mind. It's also worth noting that Esperamos did seem perk up a little bit in that most recent Turf Paradise race, undoubtedly due to the softer competition. And he'll face some similarly soft competition on Thursday, entered vs. $12k claimers once again. But get this. It's an optional claimer, and Esperamos is the only horse in the race who is NOT entered for a tag. It seems his new (old) trainer is intent on keeping him, at least for the time being. And goodness knows, whatever this guy was doing with Esperamos @ Oaklawn, it was working beautifully. We already know that he likes the Oaklawn surface, and the shorter 5.5-furlong distance figures to help as well. I'm not sure what to expect here, he may pop-and-stop once again, but suffice to say i will not be surprised if he breaks out of his slump with a strong effort. And it definitely doesn't hurt that he'll be ridden by the same jockey (Emigh) that coaxed him to both of the big wins at Oaklawn and Hawthorne. Long layoff here of almost a year, but he scored the previous Oaklawn win coming off a 4-month layoff, and it seems clear that Robertson has been very patient with him. And he must be in decent shape, considering they opted not to enter him for the claiming tag. I haven't seen a morning line for Thursday yet, but he was listed @ 10/1 on Saturday. Interesting indeed.

Nice find DC. I'm all over it

Odds are 12-1.

Originally Posted by cinfront

Odds are 12-1.

I was just coming on to post that. I'll be on him today, for sure. There's a lot of opposing speed lined up, which doesn't help, but i think it's more a question of his physical and mental well-being than it is the competition here. Definite overlay on the potential bounceback. I think the fact that he's not entered for the claiming tag is a very good sign, especially coming off the year layoff. Might indicate that Roberston found whatever the problem was, took his time fixing it, and feels that he has (at least to the extent that he doesn't want to risk losing him today). I guess we'll know more in about 10 hours. Win or lose, it'll be an interesting race.

The race is a "Waiver claiming race" must be coming off of long layoff, not sure how long and you can enter not to be claimed this is good to be able to keep your horse after all the hard work getting him back to the races and not have somebody take him from you, I think it's a good rule.

With -Esperamos- they sure arn't tipping their hand with the last couple of works. He'll be worth betting across the board at them odds.

Good Luck

Sloppy as can be @ Oaklawn right now. Not sure if that's good or bad. But he's not scratched, so maybe Robertson considers it good. He is 1-for-1 on "Wet" according to the racing Form, although the race isn't currently showing in the PP's. Cryptoclearance as the dam-sire figures to help, as does the fact he'll probably be on the lead.

Wonder if they made up this race just for him, if he's off at 5/2 then you'll know.

Esperamos went off @ 9/2, and went right to the front as expected. Looked to be moving just fine down the backstretch, and came into the lane with a short lead. It didn't look to me like the rider had been asking him much up to that point, so i was rather surprised (not to mention disappointed) that he was unable to open up on the field. Instead, he backed up pretty good. I don't think the sloppy track was much of an issue, though it's impossible to know for sure.