King: Aqueduct pick four for Saturday, April 23
With two stakes in the late pick four at Aqueduct on Saturday, the sequence looks like a good one. Here’s a look at the races, followed by a play using TicketMaker.
Race 6
A $14,000, nonwinners-of-three claimer going six furlongs starts the late pick four, and most of these horses have faults to some degree. Let’s go three deep, using, in order of preference, IDEAL QUALITY (9), SURFSPUN (8), and ANDREW’S GOT ZIP (1).
IDEAL QUALITY comes off a runner-up finish in which he ran this field’s top last-race Beyer Speed Figure, although a layoff going back to March 5, along with a sparse work tab, lessens the enthusiasm. As for SURFSPUN and ANDREW’S GOT ZIP, the former starts for winning connections and is in good form, and the latter takes a class drop. SURFSPUN and ANDREW’S GOT ZIP are a combined 1 for 33, however.
Race 7
The Woodhaven, a 1 1/16-mile stakes race for 3-year-olds, seems best played using two horses: HIGHLAND SKY (2), who ran second in the Cutler Bay Stakes at Gulfstream when kicking off his year March 26, and UNRBIDLED DADDY (7), who romped to a four-length victory in a first-level allowance at Gulfstream on March 19.
Race 8
In this 6 1/2-furlong stakes race for horses by New York stallions, I advise using FROSTY MARGARITA (3), BEHRNIK’S BANK (8), and WONDERMENT (6). FROSTY MARGARITA, first or second in all eight of her starts, has paired Beyers in the low 80s after narrowly edging BEHRNIK’S BANK in a stakes race on the inner track Dec. 20. WONDERMENT is the class-proven runner, having just won the Grade 3 Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park.
Race 9
This $25,000, non-winners-of-two claiming race on grass is a puzzler, with a number of horses shifting out of dirt races, returning from layoffs, or coming from other tracks. HUMBOLDT N FROST (11) is seemingly the most likely winner with the return to his best surface, but if he doesn’t fire, CONSTANTINE (3), LOOSE MONEY (9), and HUSHHUSHMUSHMUSH (5) all have shots.
The ticket
Playing a 50-cent ticket using the horses outlined above – 1,8,9 with 2,7 with 3,6,8 with 3,5,9,11 – costs $36. Here’s the TickeMaker link.