A full field of 12 without a standout will travel a marathon 12-furlongs over the turf in the 70th Running of The Louisville Handicap on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

The top call goes to Hotstufanthensome, who has done the majority of his racing at shorter distances, but a narrow defeat to Jambalaya two back in the Pan American suggests it is within his scope, and picking up Rafael Bejarano to replace Rajiv Maragh won’t hurt the cause.

Always First made a bold late run when returning from a layoff in the Elkhorn last out on Closing Day at Keeneland, just coming up a neck short to Ascertain. And although Tom Voss runners have shown a tendency to regress in their second start back, Always First has trained well since that effort and gets the services of Robbie Albarado here.

Despite drawing the extreme outside stall, Embossed may prove a threat at a square price on the heels of a close decision behind the streaking On the Acorn in California.

Others capable of earning a share include Cloudy’s Knight and Ramazutti, who will offer double-digit odds for Pletcher.

StablePicks: 1st — Hotstufanthensome
…………………..2nd — Always First
…………………..3rd — Embossed

UPDATE!
**RESULTS**
1st — Drilling for Oil ($14.80)
2nd — Always First
3rd — Ramazutti