Beer: Aqueduct early pick five for Saturday, April 8

Race 1: #2 Mineralogy has run well in both career starts and, with his early speed, figures to be hard to beat. I would make him the main use in the early pick five and then take backups with the well-bred Godolphin/McLaughlin firster, #6 Lucullan, and a little #1 Myakka River, who did little running in a strong field on debut but is bred to improve with distance and experience.

Race 2: First turf race of the year in New York, and I like #7 Conquest Sandman. This horse really improved with the trainer change to Mike Maker back in January, and getting back to a shorter distance for this race figures to suit him. #1 Tricked Up is the horse to beat, and the addition of blinkers could help him, but he has been disappointing overall, and he had no excuse to lose that race two back after a perfect trip. #2 Fearless Dragon will be a backup if he stays in to try turf for the first time, and I’ll also use #10 Spin Cycle as he returns from a layoff.

Race 3: Interesting race is not easy to decipher, with the main contenders entering with questions surrounding either surface, distance, or fitness – or, in some cases, more than one of those. The one horse who has none of those questions to answer is #4 Divine Interventio. I like his recent form and think he can go with these horses; he just needs a little pace. The other main use for me will be #5 Drop Shot. He is returning from a long layoff, but I do think he is a good horse, and I like him sprinting, as I think he is more of a distance-specific horse than a surface-specific horse.

Race 4: Tough race for turf maidens likely goes through Chad Brown’s #4 Focus Group. He is returning from a layoff, but he ran well despite a wide trip behind Oscar Performance in his Saratoga debut, and he can benefit from that experience here. Two horses I want to use along with him are first-time starters: #1 Admirals Cove and #2 Siem Riep. The former has plenty of pedigree for David Donk, who has his turf horses ready for this short meet at Aqueduct every year, while the latter is very well-bred for grass and is debuting for an excellent first-out trainer in Christophe Clement.

Race 5: I like #1 Paid Admission and will lean on him to complete the ticket. The class drop may not be a great sign for him, but his New York debut off the layoff is not as bad as it looks and was against better horses. Backups are the in-form #2 Marriage Fever, #4 Old Upstart, and #7 Praetereo.