Red Mile: Handicapping the $50,398 Super Hi-Five Carryover
There is a $50,398 carryover in the Super Hi-Five at The Red Mile on Thursday’s 10th race. The track is guaranteeing the pool at $150,000 and there is no telling what the final total will be at just past 4:30 when the horses go behind the gate.
Adding to the intrigue of the large carryover is a 12-horse field of 2-year-old trotters which handicappers must decipher. My basic method for exotic wagers of this type is to produce one large ticket using every possible combination that tickles my fancy and then digging deeper to pare down the ticket to a budget friendly amount for public consumption.
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With such a big carryover and considering the difficulty of the race, I’m going to start with my cover-all ticket before attempting to give out a ticket that the Average Joe’s wallet can handle.
.20 Cent Super Hi-Five:
2,4,6 / 2,3,4,5,6,7,12 / 1-9, 11,12 / ALL / ALL = $2,332.80
Breaking down the top three:
(2) THE ROYAL HARRY rallied relatively well on a track that was playing strangely all week due to heavy rain. His prior start resulted in a game victory at Vernon Downs. In a field with sketchy form, he ranks as one of the sharpest.
(4) THE PERFECT LINDY has turned the corner with the addition of hobbles and David Miller in the bike. He finished second behind an odds-on favorite last week and clearly ranks as a top contender.
(6) GOIN TO THE LIMIT looked like a horse with a decent future when first baby racing at the Meadowlands. After a break in his career debut he was sent to the shelf for more seasoning. He seems as fast as any in here and hails from the Tony Alagna barn, which wins as much as any stable during the Grand Circuit meet here.
The only logical way to find a budget play in a 12-horse Hi-Five field with so many horses likely to hit the board is to single a horse. For me that horse is (2) THE ROYAL HARRY. He trotted the fastest mile of any horse in the field over the bad going at The Red Mile last week. He has displayed some versatility in his three lifetime starts while never finishing worse than second. He is the most logical horse in the race.
The problem of a costly ticket still exists with the single. Removing the 4 & 6 from the top spot only brings the ticket cost down to $777.60. That still comes in out of the reach of most budgets.
Quite honestly, off my handicapping, the cheapest play possible is still rather pricy at $128. The sequence is as follows:
2 / 4,6 / 3,4,5,6,7,12 / 3,4,5,6,7,12 / ALL = $64
2 / 3,4,5,6,7,12 / 4,6 / 3,4,5,6,7,12 / ALL = $64
And being more honest, I wouldn’t be playing the above tickets with extreme confidence. However, they represent the best possible options given a smaller bankroll. If you happen to have an extra $2,332.80 lying around, I do feel rather confident in my big ticket.
Good luck!