King: Gulfstream Park pick three for Sunday, Feb. 5

Here’s my take and betting strategy on the late pick three at Gulfstream on Super Bowl Sunday, encompassing races 10-12, two of which are allowances.

Race 10

With a deep field entered in this 1 1/16-mile race and a short run to the first turn, it seems best to go deep in this race, as some horses will inevitably have wide or troubled trips.

Using the “ABC” format of TicketMaker, I settled on three “A” horses: Maritime Pulpit (#3, 12-1), Russian Greek (#12, 4-1), and Kismet’s Heel (#11, 7-2). The latter two runners are probably best in here, but landing on the far outside, they could be in trouble, though Russian Green may have enough speed to clear much of the early traffic.

Backing them up as “B” horses on my tickets will be Vees Boy (#7, 8-1) and Stone (#9, 10-1). Both earned pieces in salty allowances in their most recent starts.

Race 11

I plan to use two “A” runners in Scuba Sue (#5, 4-1) and Spinning Wheel (#8, 10-1) in this five-furlong turf dash, along with a couple of “B” horses in Goodbye Sorrow (#9, 5-1) and Lady Coventry (#4, 3-1). All four are consistent fillies, but the former two just seem perhaps a cut above if they get the right trip.

Race 12

Last up is a $16,000 claimer going 1 1/16 miles on the turf in which I like three horses relatively equally, and hence they will rank as “A” runners. They are Reagan's Odyssey (#1, 7-2), a last-out winner who joins trainer Jorge Navarro off the claim; class-dropping Maid On a Mission (#4, 3-1); and Red Parasol (#7, 9-2), a winner of 6 of 17 starts on grass. Interestingly, all three won the last time they raced for this claiming price.

The tickets

Inserting the horses above into TicketMaker, for $126, an all-“A” ticket can be played for $3, tickets with two “As” and a “B” for $2, and tickets with two “Bs” and an “A” for $1.