King: Keeneland pick five for Sunday, April 8

With two graded stakes highlighting Sunday’s racing at Keeneland, here is my handicapping analysis and DRF TicketMaker wagering strategy for the late pick five. This wager, along with the opening pick five, has a 15 percent takeout and can be played in 50-cent denominations.

Race 5

Up first is a $10,000 claiming race, and it’s not a race in which many seem worth that price. So, I advise spreading in the opening leg, using three preferred “A” horses: Vacanzie Inn (9), Prom Theme (3), and Pomeroys Uprising (7). All three come off productive Turfway winters and aren’t strictly synthetic types. Worth using as secondary “B” horses are See the Bird (11) and She Loves Leather (12) – off-the-pace runners who figure to benefit from a lively pace.

Race 6

Graded stakes winner Blacktype (5) is a perfect fit for the conditions of this allowance, and he catches a soft turf course, the kind of ground he has shown he likes. He has been training steadily at Payson Park and seems a likely winner. He is the lone “A.” Offering Plan (10) is also proven over soggy ground and must be respected off the shelf for trainer Chad Brown, who has been breezing him in company with multiple Grade 1 winner Beach Patrol leading up to his return. He just doesn’t seem as classy as Blacktype and is therefore a “B.”

Race 7

Dream It Is (3), out of action since a 3 for 3 season at age 2 in which she won the Grade 3 Schuylerville at Saratoga, appears fit off a steady and consistent work tab. She is an “A” horse given her accomplishments last year. Gas Station Sushi (5) is the backup play. She was a sweet first-out winner at Del Mar last year, and the confidence displayed by trainer Richard Baltas to ship her from California for a comeback race indicates how highly she is regarded.

Race 8

Rushing Fall (2), the best grass 2-year-old filly of last year, overcame a difficult trip to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and before that was a flashy graded winner on this turf course when it was soggy, as it is Sunday. A no-brainer that she should be an “A.” A relatively short series of drills leading up to this race is the lone concern, so it seems best to back her up to some degree with Thewayiam (9). The latter rattled off three consecutive stakes victories this winter with an electrifying turn of foot.

Race 9

Last up is a maiden-claiming race in which I advise using two “A” runners, Daddy’s Placer (4) and Clearly Super (1), and having Marriage Counselor (6) and Potomac (3) as “B” runners.

The tickets

Plugging the horses above into DRF TicketMaker with a budget of $63, an all-A ticket is emphasized three times for $1.50, combinations of four A horses and a B get played for $1, and tickets of three A horses with two B runners are backed at the 50-cent minimum.