King: Parx pick four play for Monday, Sept. 5
It's a solid card at Parx on Labor Day, and the pick four culminating with the Smarty Jones seems very playable:
RACE 6: LADY SHIPMAN (6) has consistently shown she ranks among the best turf sprinters in North America, and she races against strictly females in the Turf Amazon. Single her to kick off the pick four.
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RACE 7: SCUBA (5) has with the strongest form and would be a clear choice if this race were going 1 1/16 miles. But at 1 1/2 miles, the Greenwood Cup is a race in which stamina figures to come into play, and it seems best to spread a bit. I'll also use, in order of preference, HAWAAKOM (6) and DESVELO (3). Hawaakom has won two of his last three, including a stakes race at Mountaineer, while Desvelo comes off a runner-up finish in the 1 3/4-mile Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga in the slop.
RACE 8: POOL WINNER (5) and POWER ALERT (2) look like the two best turf sprinters in the five-furlong Turf Monster, with the former coming off five straight turf victories, including a stakes at Monmouth last out, and the latter being a multiple stakes winner who is capable of running a Beyer Speed Figure of 100 or higher. Use them both but keep tabs on the course condition. If the course is wet, downgrade the chances of Power Alert, who has a preference for firm turf.
RACE 9: Following last week’s Grade 1 Travers and Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga, the Smarty Jones drew mostly second-tier 3-year-old stakes runners. STICKSSTATELYDUDE (6), a blowout winner at Belmont in July and 2 for 2 with today’s jockey, Joel Rosario, is the top selection. He has raced just once in stakes company, finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Breeder’s Futurity last year behind Brody’s Cause, Exaggerator, and Rated R Superstar. If Sticksstatelydude regresses off a lifetime-best 103 Beyer, the race becomes a scramble. So let’s also toss three others in the pick four: VOLUNTARIO (13), WILD ABOUT DEB (2), and GETTYSBURG (7). All three are relatively fast and have placed in stakes.
THE PLAY: 6 / 3, 5, 6 / 2, 5 / 2, 6, 7, 13 = 24 combinations ($12 ticket at 50 cents per combination)