Golden Pick 6 has mandatory payout Sunday
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There are no easy races in the 20-cent Golden Pick 6 that has a mandatory payout at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday.
For every race such as the fifth, which may be dominated by the improving filly Mastery Kat, there is the eighth race with five last-race winners.
The pick six covers the fourth through ninth races on a program that begins at 1:15 p.m. Pacific.
The 20-cent Golden Pick 6 began the racing week on Friday with a $95,472 carryover in the single-ticket provision. Without a single-ticket winner on Friday or Saturday, the carryover into Sunday’s program will be approximately $110,000. Bettors may add $500,000 to the pool.
In the fourth race, a starter allowance/optional claimer at six furlongs, Refi Now will be favored to win for the fifth time in her 14th start at Golden Gate Fields. She won a conditioned $20,000 claimer from a tracking position on Feb. 26 and can get a favorable trip in a field of seven. Our Expectation, a winner of two of his last three starts, is a threat as a closer.
Mastery Kat has attractive form against five rivals in an allowance race/optional claimer for 3-year-old fillies at a mile in the fifth race. She closed well to finish second in a similar race on Feb. 11 and should have a target in this field in Smiling Gal. Happy Gal, a shipper from Southern California, will have her synthetic track debut for trainer Doug O’Neill.
Lord Wimborne and On Raglan Road have solid credentials to win a conditioned $4,000 claimer at a mile in the sixth race. Lord Wimborne won a race at that level in January, but was beaten in conditioned $6,250 claimers in his last two starts. On Raglan Road, winless in 12 starts since July 2021, may set the pace, and could be joined in that capacity by Tizona.
The seventh and eighth races demand multiple selections.
Phantom Drop and Continental Union were second and third in a conditioned $6,250 claimer on Feb. 17 and may not be far apart at the finish of the seventh race. Phantom Drop, winless in 10 starts since August 2021, can be effective near the front. Continental Union is a danger from off the pace.
The eighth race is fascinating, with several sharp fillies and mares in a starter allowance/optional claimer at six furlongs. Austrian Navy will be on a majority of tickets on the strength of a three-race winning streak. In her last start, she beat A Dime for Me, who has been the odds-on favorite in her last six starts, winning twice in that span. Maycee Jo and Don’t Tell Hydee will be prominent early, and may prove tough to catch.
Trainer Jack Steiner has two formidable runners in the ninth race, a $25,000 claimer for maidens at 5 1/2 furlongs with Gunnin for Gold and Duplication. Both have shown speed in their brief careers. The first-time starter Hot Chicks Only, who worked well earlier this month, and Howdoyalikemenow, a troubled fourth in his debut on March 5, can record minor upsets.
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