Weekend Warrior for Saturday, April 9: Picks for Blue Grass, Wood, Santa Anita Derby
He drew as poorly as possible with post 14, but I'm going with My Man Sam in Saturday's Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
Mike WatchmakerApr 07, 2016
He drew as poorly as possible with post 14, but I'm going with My Man Sam in Saturday's Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
Nyquist has never lost, and I like his toughness and admire his versatility. But the Beyer Speed Figure of 94 for his win in the Florida Derby does not give me the confidence to feel really comfortable with the Kentucky Derby favorite as he heads for Churchill Downs.
Litfin: Aqueduct Horses to Watch for week of April 4
Brad Free's horses to watch at Santa Anita for the week of April 4.
Trip Notes for April 2-3: Florida Derby, Skip Away, Orchid, Tokyo City Cup, and more by Michael Hammersly.
Field size is dreadfully short early Sunday at Santa Anita – the first six races average 6.8 per race. It’s always tough to find wagering value in small fields.
Saturday’s card at Gulfstream features an all-graded-stakes late pick four highlighted by the Grade 1 Florida Derby. That race, in case you haven’t heard, features a matchup between Nyquist and Mohaymen, the top two 3-year-olds in the country. Whether you prefer one of them over the other (I’m siding with Nyquist), it would seem a wise strategy to cover both in some manner in the pick four.
The early pick four at Aqueduct on Sunday looks like a manageable sequence, so we’ll take a small, stay-out-of-trouble play to close out the first week on the main track.
Mohaymen was a lukewarm favorite through the first full day of wagering into the fourth and final pool of the 2016 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opened Friday at noon Eastern for the customary three-day run.
DRF handicapper Dan Illman outlines his strategy for playing Saturday's card at Santa Anita.