Fair odds: Familiar names offer value in Kentucky Oaks prep

When a 2-year-old filly wins a maiden race by nine lengths, you know she will attract attention next out. When you throw in that she is trained and ridden by the same team as last year's Kentucky Oaks winner and likely horse of the year Thorpedo Anna, then price really becomes a concern.

So it goes with Golden Gamble, a runaway winner in career start number two and entered in Saturday's Untapable on Saturday at Fair Grounds. The Laoban filly has raced only at this 1 1/16-mile distance, and Brian Hernandez Jr. fit her like a glove last time. She is 5-2 on the morning line, which is fair value in my estimation. Whether we get it comes down to how much the public values other maiden winners in this group.

Horse Racing Nation publishes a projected odds line for all races in North America, and it tabs Her Laugh as the most likely favorite in the Untapable. I am not sure I agree only because the connections are not as jazzy as other fillies trained by the likes of McPeek, Brad Cox, Brendan Walsh and Eddie Kenneally. But there's no denying Her Laugh's debut was strong at supersized odds of 29.4-1.

Trained by Whit Beckman, the Practical Joke filly broke in the back of an 11-horse field from an outside post and sustained a nice rally on the turn to pull the upset. I hope the HRN line is more accurate than the morning line because that would likely mean the right price on Golden Gamble. 

Her Laugh's uncoupled stablemate, Drexel Hill, is 8-1 on the line and projects higher via HRN. This is the long shot I'd be most interested in. Her lone two-turn effort was solid, and she can outrun her odds here in her dirt debut.

The fillies trained by Cox, Kenneally and Walsh, California Sunset, Amarth and Paris Lily, respectively, are certain underlays. I prefer any of the three I mentioned above to this trio.

I will lean on Golden Gamble as a single in multi-race wagers and look to key her with Drexel Hill in vertical wagers. I will use both Beckman trainees as secondary tabs in multi-race wagers.