Joes Blazing Aaron Murphy Target

A field of ten has assembled for the $100,000 James W Murphy Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 21 and Joes Blazing Aaron is the 5-2 morning line favorite.

Joes Blazing Aaron set the pace and faded to 6th in the Blue Grass Stakes and that Polytrack affair favored late runners. The Mike Maker runner is back on preferred turf footing and will take them as far as he can under Julien Leparoux.

Those searching for a hint of value could do worse than Sagamore Farm's Humble And Hungry. The 5-1 shot rallied for the show behind Casper's Touch in his much needed Polytrack sprint return at Keeneland and handled grass just fine in his Belmont graduation run last October. He attended the pace before weakening to finish 8th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf to end his 2-year-old campaign and projects a tactical trip under Garrett Gomez.

Lil Bit O'Fun surprised BC Juvenile Turf winner Pluck at Tampa Bay Downs earlier this year and exits a close-up 4th in Keeneland's Transylvania. Kent Desormeaux hops aboard Tom Proctor's versatile threat.

Ramon Dominguez will guide Master Dunker from the hedge. His lone off the board finish on the turf was against today's favorite Joes Blazing Aaron and the Florida invader could make some noise in the stretch.

The flat mile James W Murphy is the 7th race on Saturday and the remaining entrants are Chinglish, Stormy The Cat, Batter Up, Balto More, Broad Rule, and Distorted Appeal.