King: How I'll play Gulfstream for Saturday, Feb. 25

Let’s shoot to get some fresh money in our pockets early at Gulfstream Park on Saturday by tackling the opening pick three.. Here’s a look at the sequence and the horses I view as best used in the wager.

Race 1

Two horses appear a cut above the rest in this mile maiden $50,000 claimer on grass – Looking At Thelake (5) and Final Flurry (8). Both are lightly raced, in good form, and share the top last-race Beyer Speed Figure in the field, a 67.

Race 2

The second race, a $6,250 conditioned claimer at a mile on the main track, is a trickier race to handicap, so I will go three deep.

Little Caton (4) rates on top - having taking speed and exiting a third in a tougher, open $6,250 claiming race. Plus, she is one of just a pair of three-time winners in the field.

Ranking just behind her and also meriting use are Roraima (8), an in-form runner-up coming off a claim but a filly prone to finishing second; and Diplomatic Affair (1), who returns to her preferred surface on dirt after getting outrun in a comeback race on grass against classier.

Race 3

Again, I see using three horses as the way to go: Kausastorm (2), Pebble Road (8), and Anthony Lass (6). Kausastorm is dropped in class after a disappointing effort, while the other two have shown the ability to run competitively against the maiden $25,000 claimers they face here.

The play

With Gulfstream now having a 50-cent minimum for the pick three, a ticket using all the horses noted above: 5, 8 with 1, 4, 8 with 2, 6, 8 costs just $9.