Illman: How I'd play Gulfstream for Sunday, Jan. 4
DRF handicapper Dan Illman provides insight on Sunday's card at Gulfstream Park.
Dan IllmanJan 04, 2015
DRF handicapper Dan Illman provides insight on Sunday's card at Gulfstream Park.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Action will be limited Sunday at Santa Anita. If there are overlays in the early races, they are tough to find. But there is an apparent low-odds standout in race 3, a first-level allowance for 3-year-old fillies at one mile, and at least one longshot later in the card.
Gulfstream Park hosts a nice card Saturday. I’ll take a look at the 50-cent late pick four comprised of three stakes races and a difficult conditioned claimer.
Incorporating a race full of firsters in your pick three play is risky business, but it helps considerably when such a race is the first leg. It gives you a chance to see wagering action and make a physical assessment, so a pick three involving races 8-10 seems quite playable here. (This play is only if these three races stay on the turf.)
The first two races Saturday at Santa Anita feature maidens – one group of claimers, another of special weight. I’ll look to play an early double and hopefully pad the bankroll for the rest of the day.
A pick three that “singles” a hot first-time starter is the exotic-wager recommendation Saturday at Santa Anita. The pick three is on races 2-4.
A trio of runners could prove pivotal for your in-race and multi-race wagers.
BreezeFigs Quick-Pix for Saturday, January 3rd by Bob Fierro and Jay Kilgore.
I will give Crown the Kitten the best shot among the three Ken Ramsey-owned horses in Saturday's Dania Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
With the caveat that 3-year-old races early in the year are tricky because of the absence of data and the potential for dramatic improvement by horses who are growing up (and sometimes blowing up) overnight, let’s analyze the Spectacular Bid at Gulfstream Park and the Jerome at Aqueduct, both to be run Saturday.