Betting With, and Against, Early Adopter in the Audubon Stakes

A well-matched field of eight sophomores will travel nine furlongs on the Churchill Downs green in Saturday’s $275,000 Audubon S. Chad Brown’s #8 Early Adopter (3-1) has been installed as the slight morning-line choice in the group. 

Early Adopter – With

• $12 trifecta 8 with 3 with 1,5 ($24)
• $6 trifecta 8 with 1,5 with 3 ($12)
• $.50-cent trifecta 8 with 1,3,5 with all ($9)

Early Adopter – Against

• $12 trifecta 3 with 8 with 1,5 ($24)
• $6 trifecta 3 with 1,5 with 8 ($12)
• $.50-cent trifecta 3 with 1,5,8 with all ($9)

Early Adopter was a debut winner on the Saratoga lawn in the summer and finished third in both the Pilgrim S. (G2) and Central Park S. to conclude his solid two-year-old campaign. The son of Lope de Vega checked in fourth behind a fine top duo in the Columbia S. at Tampa Bay Downs to commence 2025, prior to last being seen defeating allowance foes at Keeneland on April 23. He has a big turn of foot and should enjoy a clear voyage from the outside post slot with Flavien Prat in the silks. 

#3 Scipio (7-2) has shown nice improvement in a trio of races this campaign with the blinkers off for conditioner Richard Baltas. The son of Caravaggio kicked off 2025 with a tally in the Baffle S. in a turf dash at Santa Anita, prior to finishing a closing second in the Transylvania S. (G3) at Keeneland. In the especially deep American Turf S. (G1) on the local grass most recently, the Kentucky-bred made a nice middle move to get into range but finished just evenly late in a race that is better than what it appears to be on paper. I expect Luis Saez to have him a bit closer to the pace on Saturday. 

I feel as though the pair of contenders that will be first and second in the early stage of the race might be dangerous in a cast full of late runners. #5 Charlie’s to Blame (5-1) is the expected pacesetter in the group for conditioner Peter Eurton. The Blame colt stopped at the turn for home in the recent Juff Ruby Steaks (G3) on the synthetic at Turfway Park, but he had won two in succession on the green prior to that, led by a tally in the Kitten’s Joy S. at Gulfstream Park. The bay has been training forwardly and will force the action under Joel Rosario. 

Mark Casse’s #1 Tomasello (5-1) has compiled two wins and a second from a trio of outings since moving to the turf. The bay son of Authentic is moving in the right direction in advance of his stakes debut, and it’s a benefit that he aced his first local test on the course last time out, as well. Jose Ortiz will pilot the colt. 

Join us on June 7 for a rematch that will shake the stands. Many top Kentucky Derby contenders return for the Belmont S. (G1) to fight for the finish, including probable contender Journalism, winner of Preakness 150, and Sovereignty, winner of Derby 151. Who will stand in the winner's circle for Belmont?

Stay with us throughout Belmont Day during stakes races as we bring you the latest horse racing news, live odds, expert picks, and more. It is sure to be an exciting day of racing!