McGee: How I'll play Keeneland on Sunday, Oct. 22

Besides a competitive renewal of the Grade 3 Dowager (race 8), the nine-race Sunday card at Keeneland offers some interesting opportunities. My main play will focus on a first-time starter, ANTARCTIC, who has been working very well in the mornings and appears to have found a relatively soft maiden special weight race for his debut in race 7.

But before then, I’ll try to get ahead and play the rest of the day with house money by starting the card with a $5 pick-three part-wheel going 2 x 3 x 2 ($60 total).

Race 1: WINGS LOCKED UP (4) figures to go sailing off on the lead, with YOCKEY’S WARRIOR (5) giving closest chase; one of them proceeds to victory, no?

Race 2: Either of the likely favorites, CLEVER SERVE (4) or SNEAKY BETTY (5), looks good enough to win this “beaten” claiming route, but Pavel Vashchenko continues to pull the occasional surprise, so his stable coupling led by the favorably drawn NANCY DOLL (1) is a must-use on the ticket, too.

Race 3: Eric Heitzmann didn’t come to Keeneland this fall just for the scenic beauty, and RED HOT CHERRY (3), going turf to dirt from a decent race at Canterbury Park, might be the one to give the veteran trainer his first win of the meet. YOOOU DEN (11) gets an excuse for her latest (slop, rough start) and is eligible to do much better when on another class drop.

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Here’s the DRF TicketMaker link to the opening pick three (4/5 w 1/4/5 w 3/11).

Later on, I’ll rely on Antarctic when singling him in the late pick four (races 6-9) and surrounding him with a sufficient number of options into a 50-cent play totaling $48 (6 x 1 x 4 x 4). Here’s the pick four.

Race 6: Looking to catch a price while getting alive in this way-wide-open turf mile for 2-year-olds with HIGH TECH (3), MALIBU SAINT (4), VANILLA CAT (8), MOONLIGHT RAIN (9), THEWAYIAM (10), and ARABELLA BELLA (12).

Race 7: ANTARCTIC (7), who shows no fewer than four bullet drills as Andrew McKeever gets a shot to train a homebred for the Flaxman Holdings operation.

Race 9: I’m banking on Daddy’s Boo going way too fast and setting the table for stalkers APPLE BETTY (7) or GRATEFUL (10) or even one of the longshot left-field closers, PLACE DES VOSGES (3) or PROMOTIONAL (6).

Race 10: Either of the outside runners, ROCKET TIME (8) or the 3-year-old ROCKING THE BOAT (9), seems the most likely winner, but SIR NAVIGATOR (4) and WYETH (6) have upset potential and could blow up the ticket.

Here’s the DRF TicketMaker link to the late pick four (3/4/8/9/10/12 w 7 w 3/6/7/10 w 4/6/8/9).