Expert Pick of the Week: 2024 River City Stakes

Nov 06, 2024 John Mucciolo/TwinSpires.com

A talented field of 10 will travel 1 1/8 miles on the Churchill Downs lawn in Saturday’s $300,000 River City S. (G3). The well-matched field lacks a standout and appears to be a good race to search for some value.

Shug McGaughey’s Battle of Normandy has reeled off a trio of turf wins in a row since adding blinkers earlier this campaign, and the son of City of Light will aim to make it four grassy tallies in succession while making his local debut. He is the Expert Pick of the Week.

Battle of Normandy flashed some potential as a sophomore when fourth in the Saratoga Derby (G1) followed by a third in the lucrative Dueling Grounds Derby (G3) at Kentucky Downs, and he is putting it all together as of late. The colt captured a pair of allowance tilts in the Empire State in the summer, and he came back on September 20 at Aqueduct to gamely topple a strong allowance field, as well.

The four-year-old has displayed much more interest in the early stages of his performances since the equipment change, and I feel that he will benefit from drawing outside of the other pace in this particular spot, too. The Kentucky bred will have Luan Machado in the irons and he will be moving to the front in the stretch en route to picking up his initial stakes trophy.

Multiple graded stakes victor Emmanuel was placed in a pair of ambitious events as of late since arriving in the Mike Maker barn and looks to have landed in a very good spot on Saturday. The More Than Ready five-year-old finished an even fifth in the deep Mint Millions S. (G3) at Kentucky Downs off the shelf two back, which preceded a fourth-place result at 1 1/2 miles in the Turf Classic S. (G1) at Aqueduct most recently. He is well drawn on the rail to get a ground-saving trip throughout the contest, and the cutback to nine furlongs seems like a big positive, as well. Luis Saez will be in the irons and have the contender stalking the pace from the opening bell.

Expert Pick

An exacta with #8 Battle of Normandy on top of #1 Emmanuel in the 2024 River City Stakes is the Best Bet of the Week.

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