US expert Tom Collins believes sprinter can land first Will Rogers success

L.A. Tower
7.45 Will Rogers Downs
2pts win

U S Special Forces
9.15 Will Rogers Downs
2pts win

The Jon Arnett barn remains in good form at Will Rogers Downs with nine winners from 25 runners (36 per cent strike-rate) at the meet that began in mid-March.

Arnett has three representatives on the Tuesday card, two of which have drawn next to each other in the $10,450 starter optional claimer (7.45), and I strongly fancy six-year-old gelding L.A. Tower to come out on top.

Having gone unsold at $60,000 as a yearling, L.A. Tower has plied his trade for multiple connections throughout his 33-race career, and has proved rather prolific with eight successes and a further ten places to his name.

Originally based on the west coast, L.A. Tower competed in maiden claiming contests at Del Mar and Santa Anita before eventually getting off the mark in that company at Los Alamitos in late 2017.

Victories at Zia Park (two), Sunland Park (two) and Albuquerque (three) followed, and it was at the last-named venue where he announced himself as a stakes-class horse with two wins at that level.

His latest win at Zia Park in December was arguably a career-best, winning a starter optional claimer over 1m4f by eight-and-a-quarter-lengths in a track record time, and although he hasn't won his last two races, he has performed well on both occasions.

A runner-up effort at Sunland Park was followed by a good display at this venue two months later, where he was poorly positioned in the early part of a mile contest but made a mid-race move that suggested he was a winner-in-waiting.

He passed a number of rivals as if they were stood still and appeared to be looming up to the leaders to take control, but his effort flattened out in the final furlong.

This represents a small drop in class and given he will have improved physically for that effort, I expect him to come out on top under Leandro Goncalves.

The other bet on the card is U S Special Forces, who runs for top trainer Scott E Young in the $8,250 claimer (9.15).

Drawn in gate ten, U S Special Forces will have to overcome a shoddy starting position if he is to win this 6f sprint, but he is a consistent sort in this kind of grade and deserves to be supported on the back of a fine runner-up effort back in March.

Previously campaigned at Remington Park and Sam Houston Park,
U S Special Forces was pitched into a good starter allowance contest on his first start here and ran creditably to finish second of five runners, albeit seven lengths behind the eventual winner.

The horse that came home in front that day was My Wise Cat, who has subsequently won two more races in higher grades, so he faced an almost impossible task and this looks far simpler.

His recent works have been nothing phenomenal, but he is the horse to beat here if he can repeat that effort now dropped in company under Floyd Wethey.

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