Can Mrs. Murphy improve from her second place finish last time out? I sure hope so.
When promoting an athletic competition, it is usually an unwise decision to put the main event at the beginning of the schedule.
However, Friday’s card at Pinnacle Race Course will do just that, and it works for me just fine.
Michigan’s most famous maiden claimer, Mrs. Murphy, will make her fourth attempt at her first win this Friday in the first race of the day.
Unlike her previous starts, Murph will likely enter the race with support from racegoers other than myself and her trainer. On the strength of her second place finish last race, the morning line has her picked second (assuming one of the horses in the entry scratches) at odds of 5-2. Quite the step up from the 12-1 she was sent off at in her previous outing.
Of course, with odds like that come bigger expectations. Mrs. Murphy proved last out she is capable of putting together a complete race and hanging with the Chicago invaders that will inevitably challenge her (Can someone please explain to me why Pinnacle is drawing more Chicago shippers than I ever remember seeing at Great Lakes Downs despite being 100 miles further away?). There is only one way to improve from a second place effort, and looking at the field, she stands as good a chance as ever to do it here.
Angel Stanley retains the mount, which I am happy to see. He has been having a successful meet at Pinnacle so far, so perhaps some of that good mojo will rub off on Murph. Any advantage she can get doesn’t hurt.
As always, expect a look back with words and photos in the days following the race. Of course, the only photo that matters is the one I don’t take, if you get my drift…Hope for the best!
The Michigan-Bred Claimer 
Matt Hook has her picked to win this one in the “expert selections” on the Pinnacle site.
Good luck on Friday!
What is this Chicago invader stuff? Murph is the only horse in the race that ran in Chicago this year. In her last race it was only Murph and the winner.
LK,
Well, that’s exciting. Can’t wait to hear what he has to say about her in the pre-race handicapping show.
Jessica,
Thanks a bunch!
Ragman,
That’s true, but both parts of the Gorham entry have experience in Chicago. Baby Glock spent the spring working at Hawthorne and Sligo Knows is an Ill.-Bred making her first start at Pinnacle after spending last year in the Windy City. Neither would be considered “Michigan horses” by any means.
I guess you’re right about the rest of the races though. I could have sworn there were more Chicago horses running against her. Still, she put up a good fight against the one she was matched up against.
Either way, there are a lot of them shipping into Detroit these days, so there’s no doubt she’ll face plenty of them in the coming months.
Why aren’t Murph and hold That Sucker carrying 111 pounds like the other Mi-bred Cattie Cadence?
I really want to hit the early double tomorrow. I’ll use Murph off her last quarter mile but Cattie Cadence really intrigues me. Cluey does wonders sometimes. In the second Mt. factor gets a five pound Mi-bred allowance and should hang on for the mile. If anyone does catch him it’ll probably be Young Brave. So the 5,6 with the 5,7 should get me the double. Good luck with Murph.