Our Pix last week included a very impressive winner in Malibeauty who was bet down to odds-on to our surprise. The other Pick was scratched—but we will get another chance today, see below. With racing virtually confined to Arkansas and Florida, there were only three other BreezeFigs maidens who scored during the week, two others at Tampa Bay and one at Gulfstream. The cancellation of Golden Gate removed a serious bet from today’s card, but as we said above, it leaves us with a leftover from last week at Tampa Bay, see below.

It is frustrating to land on an appealing longshot, only to find everyone has the same idea and the supposed longshot starts as a surprise underlay. It is good practice to determine beforehand the minimum price a horse is worth backing. If the odds are too low, pass.

In the case of six upset candidates at the three Thoroughbred tracks operating Friday – Tampa Bay Downs, Gulfstream Park and Oaklawn Park – a minimum-odds clause accompanies the rationale for each. They are:

With most other North American sports being shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, we hope the sport of horse racing can entertain you during these trying times. Daily Racing Form has served as the most trusted source of news and information about the sport since 1894, and moving forward we have decided to provide a free daily playbook; something that both hardcore horseplayers and casual observers can reference to get informed of each day's action.

Three tracks run a combined 26 races Thursday, including five races with legitimate contenders listed at generous prices. The focus is Oaklawn Park, Gulfstream Park and Golden Gate Fields, with potential overlays such as these:

With most other North American sports being shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, we hope the sport of horse racing can entertain you during these trying times. Daily Racing Form has served as the most trusted source of news and information about the sport since 1894, and moving forward we have decided to provide a free daily playbook; something that both hardcore horseplayers and casual observers can reference to get informed of each day's action.

READY TO RUNAWAY  

Trainer: Mac Robertson

Last race: March 28, 6^th

Finish: 2^nd by 1 1/4     

Beyer: 80

She’s a top Minnesota-bred who has made a seamless transition to open company, representing herself quite well at Keeneland in the fall and in her two races this meet at Oaklawn. Ready to Runaway would seem to be sitting on a huge home meet at Canterbury Park, which has suspended operations because of the coronavirus.  

DOVER CLIFFS

Trainer: Kelsey Danner

Date: March 28, 8th

Finish: 2nd by 3/4

Beyer: 86

Solid effort for the place in this marathon turf race, pressing the pace from the start in a race featuring a fair amount of speed and yielding only to one of the closers. Always dangerous on the green given his positional speed.

Horseplayers looking for longshot value on April Fool’s Day are in luck – 27 races Wednesday at Tampa Bay Downs, Will Rogers Downs and Fonner Park include a handful of contenders at high odds. Such as these:

With most other North American sports being shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, we hope the sport of horse racing can entertain you during these trying times. Daily Racing Form has served as the most trusted source of news and information about the sport since 1894, and moving forward we have decided to provide a free daily playbook – something that both hardcore horseplayers and casual observers can reference to get informed of each day’s action.

WRD 5th – Post time 4:15

FOX FREY (#4, 12-1), a homebred by a successful sire, has put together a very appealing Fairmount Park work pattern for his career debut. “Brings the jock,” as they say, and likely overlooked in betting. – Marcus Hersh ​

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