Parx Racing: Top pair in Tuesday feature have trouble finding wire first

As far as filling out the bottom portion of exacta and trifecta wagers goes, the 6-year-old geldings Needtogetpaid and High On Candy are reliable investments. Win bettors, however, have consistently torn up tickets on those same two horses.

So even though Needtogetpaid and High On Candy have frequently finished in the money while racing in third-level optional claiming company at Parx Racing, those looking for a winner of Tuesday’s featured ninth race might be wise to look for alternatives in a field of six older males going 6 1/2 furlongs.

Although Needtogetpaid won while racing for the optional $40,000 claiming price in a sprint also open to third-level allowance runners last November, he has failed at the same level in four subsequent starts, picking up a third and a second along the way.

Likewise, High On Candy has been second or third in six of seven attempts to clear his third allowance condition, missing by just a neck going a mile last September.

Coming from the high-percentage barns of Ramon Preciado and Scott Lake, Needtogetpaid and High On Candy will undoubtedly take a lot of money in Tuesday’s third-level optional $40,000 claiming sprint. There are other horses more likely to win the race, however.

One viable option is Glacier Bay, who shipped in from New York for trainer Bruce Levine to win a second-level optional $25,000 claimer on March 19. Levine shows a 7-for-16 record (44 percent) with last-out winners looking to repeat in an allowance sprint while returning in less than 30 days.

Linebacker also looks intriguing. Claimed three starts ago by trainer Patricia Farro for $25,000, Linebacker responded to a change in barns by posting a career-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure in an overnight stakes at Aqueduct, then regressed to a 71 facing similar company in New York three weeks later.

Linebacker now returns to Parx, where he is 3 for 12, while cutting back to a one-turn race for the first time since he finished fourth by a neck going seven furlongs in March 2011.

The field is rounded out by Masala, who steps up in class following a win for a $20,000 tag in October, and Veiled Prophet, a 7-year-old who was beaten just two lengths at the same distance as Tuesday’s race making his first start off the claim by Emmanuel Tzortzakis.