Turfway Park Picks for John Battaglia Memorial Stakes Day, 2/21/26

Key Takeaways:

• The John Battaglia Memorial card offers deep, competitive Turfway Park picks, with Tapeta form, pace setups, and trip dynamics playing a major role throughout the evening.
• Cold weather and potential scratches add volatility, making adaptability, tactical speed, and proven all-weather might give him exceptional value for the money.
• Dokkodo brings sharp debut stats, route-oriented pedigree, and fair longshot appeal in a soft maiden claiming field.
• Canterville owns proven Tapeta sprint form, adds blinkers, and projects as the controlling speed in a race lacking pace.
• Lorelei Lee gets a pace meltdown setup, exits an eye-catching debut win, and looks poised to stay perfect since her last start.

The first of two Kentucky Derby qualifying points races at Turfway Park happens Saturday, February 21, with the John Battaglia Memorial. The race, which drew an overflow field, is a 20-point prep for the Kentucky Derby, so enough to get the winner in a good position with one other good prep performance, and enough to get any horse who runs well on the right track leading into the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) at Turfway four weeks later.

However, the Battaglia is not the only good betting race on the card. There are big races and competitive groups all day long, meaning it’s a great time to spend your Saturday evening watching and betting the races! FanDuel TV will show every race and keep you up to date with the latest news, and you can bet the whole card through FanDuel. The 10-race card gets underway at 5:55 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, with the feature scheduled as race 9.

Remember to check the program and scratches before placing your bets on Saturday evening. Saturday is going to be cold with a chance of rain or snow, and though Tapeta is an all-weather surface, scratches can happen for any reason. Since those changes can affect the pace setup or class balance of the race, they’re good to know—horse racing is a game of information, after all!

Turfway Park Picks

These are free Turfway Park tips and analysis for races on Saturday’s John Battaglia Memorial Stakes card.

Race 4: $7,500 maiden claiming, one mile on the Tapeta - Dokkodo, Caprio

FanDuel odds: 12-1 and 5-2

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This is a one-mile maiden claimer for bottom-level horses, but unlike many claiming races at this level at other tracks, Turfway has this $7,500 maiden claiming condition in a version restricted to sophomores instead of being for ages three and up. Most of the horses are class-droppers, with a couple of fresh, first-time starters thrown into the mix.

Dokkodo (12-1) is a wild card for trainer William Cowans, in that he is one of the first-time starters. However, there are reasons to be positive. Cowans is strong with first-time starters, debut runners in routes, and debut runners for a tag—in fact, he has turned a flat-bet profit in all three situations over the last three years, and wins about a quarter of the time in each. The breeding is all route; he is a Hard Spun half to Barberini, a horse stakes-placed at 1 5/8 miles on a Tapeta track. The long, regular string of works suggests he should be fit for this one-mile unveiling. And, even though Dokkodo has to face a big field for his debut, most of them have shown little enough to make a first-time starter appealing.

Very few of the horses in the field have shown pace, suggesting that a horse who hits the gas could be home free this visit. That's great news for Caprio (5-2). With five starts underneath him, he is one of the more experienced horses in the field, but he has never before dropped to the bottom. And, in every start so far, he has shown at least some speed. He hasn't always seen it out, but he was beaten only half a length two back in a $20,000 claimer in the Churchill mud, and then last out, he ran well enough against $30,000 types at Turfway to suggest the Tapeta should be fine when he finds his friends. Between his running style and his comparatively decent form, this John Ennis trainee has a good shot to find his friends here.

Race 5: Maiden special weight, 6 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta - Canterville, Quiet Mischief

FanDuel odds: 5-2 and 10-1

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Canterville (5-2) has turned in three solid efforts over five starts, including in both of his tries at this level on the Tapeta at Turfway. He led most of the way before flattening out last time, but had to set a contested pace that day. Now he adds blinkers, and barring a really speedy newbie, he should get the best of it on the front end—yes, rail-drawn Jet Off has speed, but it's route speed, which is unlikely to stand up to Canterville's sprint speed. This Kelsey Danner trainee should get a clean trip, so catch him if you can, and you just might win some money.

Among the first-time starters, the most intriguing of them is Quiet Mischief (10-1). This Riley Mott trainee's breeding could not be better for 6 1/2 furlongs: he is by Goldencents out of a Munnings mare who ran a crack second on debut in a dirt sprint and went on to be stakes-placed at a turf mile as well. Top and bottom, he has good influences for both the distance and the ability to run on Tapeta (or, honestly, anything). And, he has been on the work tab regularly since December, including a lot of bullet drills and a couple of sharp gate drills. If that translates to the afternoon, he could get a good spot from a middle gate.

Race 8: Allowance optional claiming, six furlongs on the Tapeta - Lorelei Lee, Hen Party

FanDuel odds: 4-1 and 12-1

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There is a lot of speed in this race, setting up well for a horse who can rally from off the running. Enter Lorelei Lee (4-1). She cedes experience to much of the field with just one career start so far, but that one was good: she raced toward the rear of a large but compact field last out and took over in the lane to win by 2 1/4 lengths over course and distance. If this Mike Maker trainee can work that kind of trip again under Fernando de la Cruz—who rode her last out—she has every chance to extend her career record to 2-for-2.

Hen Party (12-1) had everything go wrong last out in a turf sprint try at Horseshoe Indianapolis, but won on debut at Presque Isle Downs, showing affinity for both this six-furlong trip and a Tapeta track. Demand a price, since she will have to have grown up from that form last year, both from a speed figure perspective and from a mental perspective, as even in her winning effort, she wasn't as settled as she could have been. But, she showed tactical pace before taking over, and she'll have plenty of pace to settle a few lengths behind this time and then overtake. And, trainer Eoin Harty does well at a price with horses coming back from longer layoffs.

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