McGee: Gulfstream pick three play for Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018

Short of giving out a solo winner (heh heh) in the Rainbow 6 (races 6-11) on Sunday at Gulfstream, here is a pick three play with a couple of singles in the midst of that sequence.

Race 8: With all due respect to fellow newbies from the barns of Ralph Nicks, Todd Pletcher, and Chad Brown, I’ll be singling Cypriana (10), a first-time starter for trainer Mark Hennig. This $300,000 yearling purchase is by a win-early sire (Bodemeister) and comes favorably drawn in the open-air outside box (post 10) after getting morning prep aplenty, including back-to-back bullet drills over the local surface; alluring Jose Ortiz seals the commitment.

:: CLOCKER REPORT: Get workout grades and comments for the Gulfstream Park Championship meet

Race 9: A few would-be challengers don’t seem to have the credentials or recency that Padilla (1) brings to this hybrid turf sprint. He sure seems a timely claim for the high-percentage Ralph Ziadie barn, with the Dec. 22 romp for essentially these same conditions pointing out his sharpness. You have to like how leading jockey Luis Saez has been riding, including four more wins on the Friday card, so here’s banking on the right kind of trip from the tricky one-hole.

Race 10: I’ll scatter-shot this way-wide-open bottom-level claiming sprint for fillies and mares by covering most bases with a mix of logical plays and longshots: First Distinction (1), Coquivacoa (2), Loving Valentina (5), Riberena (6), Didnotmeanit (10), and Cowtown Spirit (11).

This is the straight-A play:
R8 – 10
R9 – 1
R10 – 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 11
$5 ticket = $30