US Horse Racing Tips: Paul takes us to Tampa Bay Downs and Fair Grounds on Friday

Our US Horse Racing expert, Paul Quigley, returns with his stateside selections for Friday.

He has a couple of US Horse Racing Tips for your perusal, which come from Tampa Bay Downs and Fair Grounds.

Today's US Racing Odds

Horse Racing Odds

20:50 Tampa Bay Downs - Vino Solo @ SP

Vino Solo (5) may be the answer here. He’s improved in all his three career starts. He and Knick's Honor (6) didn’t cut much ice last time but that was a stakes event. Any of the five horses that finished in front of him would be odds on here. He drops in class back into a starter. After breaking his maiden on debut in December, he won a similar event in January. He beat Knick's Honor (6) by a length with Distinct (4) a similar distance back in third.

The pacey Knick's Honor (6) could reverse the form with Vino Solo (5) but is likely to have company on the front end. Distinct (4) has been freshened up and may take another step forward wearing blinkers for the first time. The pair enter calculations but a bigger danger to the selection may be Empire of Glory (9). He improved for a trainer change to narrowly miss at this level at the start of the month. That was a deep race for the grade. The meet’s leading jockey Samuel Marin now takes the ride.

Micanopy (1) faced a deep group of Florida breds downstate last time. He may improve now going second time on the grass. His trainer is always to be feared with the runners he ships to Tampa. He and Live Stream (2) get class relief. The last named now tries the turf after stakes try on the dirt at Penn National.

In contrast, Megacles (7) and Gideon (3) face deeper fields after winning maiden claimers last time. Gideon (3) may be a nice claim for only $16,000. He’s only had two career starts so may have plenty of improvement in him.

21:15 Fair Grounds - Neat @ SP

The tracks feature is a stakes quality event. There is a nice mixture of in form horses and a promising runners coming back after lay offs. A trio of these ran at today’s level here on February 21. Higgins Boat (5) won narrowly with Legalize (7) and Emmanuel (4) back in third and fourth. The five-year-old has now won back to back races.

He is aggressively spotted by his trainer now having to run for sale for $80,000. Without question the hat-trick is a possibility under regular rider Jose Ortiz. The pair he beat are not out of this. Legalize (7) seems to be getting back to his best. Emmanuel (4) may improve second time back after a break.

The Rob Atras trained pair both have absences to overcome. Chasing Liberty (9) had been campaigned in sprints in the autumn. He has won a stake over a mile. His stablemate Neat (3) has been away even longer. He ran well in graded stakes last year against much tougher fields than this one. His fitness is a worry. Interestingly he did win one of his two previous starts after a lay off. He gets the vote in a wide open race.

Goldeneye (8) is another who lacks a race this year. He has been working well. It is easy to forgive his last two runs as a mile and a half and two miles were too far for him. Prior to that, he was a winner at Colonial Downs and Saratoga.

The last of them was in a productive race. He has to be reckoned with. So too does West Hollywood (2). He’s a lightly raced five-year-old who has ran contending speed figures. A long absence is less of an issue with a Brad Cox trained runner than almost any other trainer.

Horse Racing tips with Betfred Insights.