Hollywood Park Horse Matchups – Upper Manhattan in Race 5

The BetOnline online racebook has come out with daily horse matchups for each one of the eight races on the Hollywood Park Friday night card.

The best matchup, determined mostly by the odds, occurs in Race 5 where a horse named Moscow Rising faces off against Upper Manhattan. Both Moscow Rising and Upper Manhattan look to have a shot to win this, but in matchup horse betting, players only need to find the winner of the matchup.

Let’s analyze the matchup in Race 5.

Hollywood Park – Race 5

Claiming $25,000 n2L

6 furlongs on cushion track

Moscow Rising -135 vs. Upper Manhattan +105

Analysis: Moscow Rising has some good things going for her in this race. The 6 year old mare sired by Moscow Ballet, gets the services of top jockey Rafael Bejarano, runs for 24% trainer, Martin Jones, and taking what some might consider a class drop.

But the knocks are many. Moscow Rising appears to be much better suited for the turf and much better suited for a mile. She’s coming into this off of a layoff and her all weather form hasn’t been very good.

Upper Manhattan was very good at the open claiming $32,000 level in her last race when she closed from five lengths off of the pace to lose by only 2 ¼ lengths. She gets the rail which means jockey Alex Solis could decide to go for the lead or take her slightly off. She also has been decent on all weather services as she broke her maiden on Hollywood’s cushion track.

But her trainer, David La Croix, has yet to win at this meet or this year and her works coming into this haven’t been all that great.

The winner of this matchup is going to be the horse that can step it up off of a slight drop in class and who is most comfortable on the racetrack and who gets the right pace setup. That appears to be Upper Manhattan who has an edge over Moscow Rising in the sense that she can either lead or stalk and does have a victory on the cushion track.

Moscow Rising has the better jockey and trainer in her corner, no doubt, but there’s a reason why she shows up in this $25,000 claimer off of a lay off. She just might not be as good as some had expected.

I’m going to bet Upper Manhattan in this matchup. Her ability to lead or stalk, and the fact she is coming off of a race where she finished third at a higher level, makes her the play over Moscow Rising.

Pick: Upper Manhattan at +105.