McGee: How I'll play Tampa Bay for Saturday, Feb. 23

I’ll be taking a run at the early pick four at Tampa Bay Downs by singling Shanghai Shuffle in a soft N2L sprint (race 4) while trying to catch a price elsewhere with a couple of spread races. Here’s the strategy:

Race 3: This turf mile for $20k 3-year-olds is about as wide open as they come, so I’ll take plenty of coverage with six of the nine starters.

Race 4: A pretty good second to a superior odds-on favorite in her last stab at this bottom-level “beaten” level, Shanghai Shuffle (6) sure does seem to tower over the competition when getting Antonio Gallardo as insurance.

Race 5: Duke of Monroe (1) was a decent third at this same maiden-$16k level last out, while Arago (10) was the beaten favorite in the same race. This ought to go to one of them, or Irish Mail (5), who finds a good spot when being cut in half by Kent Sweezey.

Race 6: Just as with the opening leg, this is a competitive group of 3-year-olds, and naturally I’ll be hoping one of the longer shots jumps up to end the ticket while I cover all the necessary bases.

Here’s the straight-A ticket:

R3: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9
R4: 6
R5: 1, 5, 10
R6: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10

50-cent ticket = $54

Here’s the DRF TicketMaker™ link.