King: Churchill Downs pick three for Saturday, Nov. 28

The second Stars of Tomorrow day of the fall meet goes Saturday – an all-2-year-old card that offers deep fields and an added wrinkle of the likelihood of an off track with rain in the forecast. I’m most intrigued by a pick three over the second half of the day, one focusing on DOTHRAKI QUEEN in the Golden Rod and then spreading a few horses deep in the two legs of the wager that surround it

Race 8
DOTHAT DANCE (3) is the lone “A” horse in the first leg, coming off a close third over this track in September behind Brody's Cause and Conquest Big E. He appears to be fond of this track, but given that his earlier efforts weren’t much, I feel the need to also use a pair of “B” runners in PINSON (7) and SPEAKER JOHN (1).

The former finished fifth of 12 in the slop second time out at Keeneland but has been working bullets at Trackside and may have upside. And as for the latter, though he was a nonfactor when debuting, he is bred to be a nice colt, being by Curlin, and leading rider Corey Lanerie lands the mount. His inside draw in a 1 1/16-mile race also is a plus, particularly for the rail-fond Lanerie.

Race 9
One could play this race pretty safely by using the three favorites, but I just don’t see any value in that strategy. So, I’m going to take a stand and use only one: DOTHRAKI QUEEN (9). She just finished third in the Breeders' Cup after a runner-up finish in the Alcibiades and a win here in the Pocahontas in September. She is a proven two-turn horse and has already handled an off track when second at Keeneland in the Alcibiades.

Race 10
Two “As” and one “B” go on the ticket, with CONQUEST BIG E (7) and PATTON PROUD (2) the preferred runners and UNEXPLAINED (6) as a backup.

CONQUEST BIG E is easy to like. He’s dropping in class after an eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to race in an allowance. He also won in the slop at Keeneland on Oct. 2 and might catch such a surface again Saturday at Churchill.

PATTON PROUD also holds appeal, having won first out in fast time in a sprint and being bred to stretch out to a mile, being by Eskenereya. As for UNEXPLAINED, he hasn’t run as quickly as the top two but was visually impressive by rallying from 14 lengths off the pace to win going away in his debut.

The Ticket
By plugging these horses in DRF’s Ticketmaker program, using a 50-cent minimum, a modest ticket for $14.50 can be played – though I chose to go above the minimum wager. All “As” are played for $2.50; two “As” and a “B” for $1.50, and a one “A” and two “B” ticket for $1.

:: See Byron King's pick three play in DRF TicketMaker.