McGee: Gulfstream Park early pick five for Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019

I’ll try to strike early Sunday by playing the early pick five and hopefully building a taw for both the Rainbow 6 and some Super Bowl prop bets. I’ve actually got a few singles who will keep the price of the ticket down (and will be playing individual win bets). Here’s the play:

Race 1: Was happy to see that Irad agreed to ride Ortiga (5) back after this Irish-bred gray mare was part of a three-way go (with all others far back) for this same $16K condition exactly one month ago; a cagey, stalking trip behind speed aplenty (Mi Cuaima and a few others) can get us started.

Race 2: Will take a pass on Monja (3), who’s already had 21 chances, when using the other three logicals in this lower-level maiden-claiming sprint: She’s So Needy (1), Sybils Best Friend (2), and Magic Marker (5).

Race 3: Here’s another single, Grace’s Drama (7), who’s liable to trip out perfectly under T-Gaff from an outer post; looking for an early battle to take its toll on several of the inside fillies, most notably Sara’s Day (1) and Treatherlikeastar (2).

Race 4: Using the four favorites in this maiden-$20K turf route should be sufficient to stay alive, those being Bless the Rains (1), Regal Romance (5), For Kicks (7), and Midnight Buffet (8).

Race 5: One look at the win percentages that trainer Gilberto Zerpa has compiled in the categories that apply here with Sky Run (6) – most notably, his 26-for-53 record (49 percent!) for horses running back in the 31-to-60-day window – is enough to make this filly a single, especially in view of the trouble she incurred in her most recent start Dec. 5.

Here’s the straight-A ticket:
R1: 5
R2: 1, 2, 5
R3: 7
R4: 1, 5, 7, 8
R5: 6
$1 ticket = $12