Aqueduct: Large fields for Friday pick six races; $105,348 carryover
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Racing resumes after the three-day break with a pick six carryover of $105,348 on ice since Monday, when favorites were blanked in the sequence. A blustery forecast calls for sunny skies Friday but highs only in the low 20s. A fast inner track is expected.
The pick six begins with race 4 at 1:52 p.m. Eastern. Pending scratches, bettors must navigate through races that have betting interests numbering 9, 8, 9, 11, 7, and 10; at the $2 minimum, the whole mess can be covered for just less than $1 million.
For budget-minded bettors looking to invest somewhat less, there is bad news: Two of the day’s shortest-priced favorites – Fade to Black in a maiden special weight route (race 1) and Masasi in the featured optional-claiming sprint (race 3) – are not in the mix.
A rundown of the pick six races follows:
Race 4 – This $16,000 maiden dash for 3-year-old fillies might boil down to the Ortiz brothers, Irad and Jose, who are on course to repeat their one-two finish in the jockeys’ standings last winter. Golden Annie (Irad) and Star Magnolia (Jose) finished necks apart when second and third in a similar spot Jan. 19 and are the lone entrants to have mustered dirt Beyer Speed Figures of 40 or better.
Watch out for second-time starter Princesa de Papi (blinkers on), the only horse with at least one start who hasn’t lost at this level or lower.
Race 5 – Questions surround Your Time Is Up (84) and Haldane (82), whose most recent Beyers are the fastest in this starter-allowance sprint.
Your Time Is Up was buoyed by a potent speed bias when wiring New York-breds on Jan. 4 and faces open company almost eight weeks later.
Haldane was claimed from a six-furlong win through dense fog last Friday. Haldane’s official time was 1:12.80, but Trakus timed the winner in 1:14 flat.
Bettors also must decide what to make of Shaunna Alexandra, a 5-year-old mare who won her debut at 31-1 here last March and then won an allowance race at Penn National in April before going to the sidelines.
Race 6 – Possibilities abound in the first maiden special weight race of the season for 3-year-olds and up. The two likeliest suspects, Againsome and Long Water, are up from Palm Meadows for trainers Todd Pletcher and Kiaran McLaughlin.
Againsome flashed speed in his recent debut at Gulfstream Park against Hartford, a $700,000 purchase who was 1-2.
Long Water is a half-brother to Long River, another Darley Stable homebred who earned a 107 Beyer for winning the Evening Attire Stakes here last month. Long Water adds blinkers and will get Lasix for the second time after trying turf in a key race that has spawned three next-out winners.
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Race 7 – There is no shortage of one-win-for-life claimers on the circuit, and this one, originally carded for a snowed-out Valentine’s Day program, attracted the largest field of the day. Leading apprentice Taylor Rice, who piloted several of these fillies last time, sticks with likely favorite Mrs. Bean for leading trainer David Jacobson.
Bileaps and Bounds, Heiressofthecrown, Myperfectvalentine, and Wisdom of Oz are threats as well.
Race 8 – Those looking for a single may opt to take two for the price of one with the Michael Dubb entry of Aliana, trained by Bill Mott, and Lost in Success, trained by Rudy Rodriguez. Both ran well when brought back in early February, particularly Lost in Success, who smashed maidens as if primed for bigger and better things.
Highestmaintenance has lost her last three as a prohibitive favorite during the past 13 months. Nevertheless, she is a Florida shipper from Pletcher with speed and looms as a strong part of the pace with Chippette and Cubicle Queen.
Race 9 – Insighting, dropping off a claim Jan. 16, might be favored by default in this tawdry affair for New York-breds. The only ones to have finished in the money in 2014 are Pegasus Tiger and Centriptal. The latter is a 7-year-old maiden making his second start since 2011.