Tonight at Hazel Park, That Is So Right returns to the racetrack for the first time since March of 2015. He is owned by Firehouse Racing Stables, the nom de course of Ryan Dickey, a fellow writer at ShapperDaCapper and a consistent presence on horse racing Twitter.
That Is So Right is who the entire Internet will be rooting for — but will he win?
Hazel Park – Friday, June 3, 2016
Race 9: $5,000 claiming, three-year-olds and up, N3L, four furlongs on the dirt, post time 10:50pm EDT
Selections: Pyrite Ice (3), That Is So Right (5), Chief Mango (1A, underneath)
Speed in a sprint is dangerous. Speed in a short field is dangerous. Speed in a six-horse, four-furlong sprint is lethal. And, if Pyrite Ice fires here, he looks like the speed of the speed. He struggled at Mahoning and Thistledown through the winter and sprint, but gets a bit of a class break moving to Hazel Park for the first time. He also has the hottest connections on the grounds in his corner — trainer Shane Spiess has won with four of his ten starters, and rider Angel Stanley has won four of his 15 races at Hazel so far. If he can get a clear early lead, Pyrite Ice may be gone. If Pyrite Ice falters at any point, That Is So Right will be well set to take advantage. He also has early speed, which may be sharpened a bit since he is going first-time blinkers here. But, he also has the ability to come from just off the pace, as he showed in his last start, a win from just off the pace. That race was fourteen months ago, but if he returns the same horse that he was then, his form will be competitive with this set. Like Pyrite Ice, he is also first-time Hazel Park. Finally, Chief Mango (half of a coupled entry with Travel Osidy) makes sense underneath. He should be able to stalk relatively close to the pace. His form and his speed fit this field perfectly, and rider Ricardo Barrios has won five of his 15 starts at Hazel so far. However, Chief Mango has second-itis. He has a 27-2-12-3 career line, including a 7-0-6-0 line at Hazel Park. He likes the track, he likes the distance (four of those second-place finishes have come in four-furlong dashes)…but he also likes to finish second, so key him under.
Blinkers Off 
Pyrite Ice???? The horse hasn’t won in bleams.
Rooting for The Firehouse Horse.
I’m rooting for That Is So Right, too. but, I’ve got to split my head and my heart if I’m going to be writing handicapping analysis. I agree it’s been a while since Pyrite Ice won — but he’s trying a new track and a new distance, and has raced far more recently than TISR. I’m willing to take a shot at the likely price, though I wouldn’t be surprised if either of my top two won.