Turfway Prevue fair odds: Is the next Two Phil's in here?

When a two-year-old by Caravaggio out of a Tapit mare is winning sprints right out of the box, I start paying attention.

So it goes with Star's Image, a winner of both his starts going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf. Now he stretches out to 6 1/2 furlongs for Saturday's Turfway Prevue, the first race in a series of preps for the Jeff Ruby Steaks, a race Star's Image's trainer Larry Rivelli won with Two Phil's in 2022. With the aforementioned breeding there is little reason to think Star's Image will not keep stretching out. Another question is synthetic after a couple turf tries, but this is a versatile pedigree.

Talent-wise, Star's Image is right there with the other top choices, Touchy and Warheart, the morning line favorite and second choice, respectively. I actually prefer Warheart to Touchy. He is another trying synthetic for the first time after a couple turf wins. Being by Omaha Beach out of a Colonel John mare I'm surprised Warheart hasn't tried dirt yet, but he's another who should be fine here and enjoy longer distance on the Derby trail.

Touchy is a toss given the 7-5 morning line. The maiden win was nice, but it wasn't any faster than the two we've already mentioned, and there is just too much weight on this horse given he was favored as a maiden in stakes in his first two career starts. He'll have to beat me.

Wagering wise, I'll use both Star's Image and Warheart in multi-race wagers and bet Star's Image to win assuming he is the longer price.