The pick six on Monday at Santa Anita is not really a pick six. Not with race 4 standout Drefong in the opening leg, and race 9 standout Worldwide in the closing leg.
Drefong and Worldwide, program odds 4-5 and 8-5, respectively, both figure to win. That makes it a virtual pick four. It is the type sequence a $60 play such as the one outlined below has a chance to hit.
The fabulous 13-race Queen’s Plate card, with five stakes, offers a myriad of betting opportunities. The early pick four starts on race 4 and has a guaranteed pool of $200,000. The late pick four, with a $300,000 guarantee, encompasses the final four races and begins in race 10 with the $1 million Plate.
The pick five that starts on race 2 has a guaranteed pool of $50,000. Another pick five has been added beginning on race 6 with a guaranteed pool of $100,000. The pick four and pick five are both 20-cent bets, enabling those with even a small bankroll to cover lots of horses.
The late pick four Sunday at Lone Star Park has brought together a slew of well-matched claiming horses, with every runner in the sequence offered for a tag. There’s a spot for Texas-breds, one for conditioned claimers on turf, and others for main track sprinters and route horses. The 50-cent minimum wager runs on races 7-10. The forecast for Sunday, which features a special post of 5 p.m. Central, is a high of 100, a low of 79, and a 20 percent chance of rain, according to The Weather Channel. Below is a look at the late pick four:
Forest Circle, our 2-year-old Pick, made us look good at a surprisingly generous $6.80 last week, but our 3-year-old Pick went the way of all poor choices. It was an interesting week for the 2-year-olds: there were 16 maiden races carded in which at least one BreezeFigs horse started, and seven of them were won by BreezeFigs horses.
It’s not often you can catch a break living in New Jersey, the land of stratospheric property taxes, grueling bridge-and-tunnel commutes, and no left turns off major roads. So when the Betfair exchange launched exclusively for residents of the Garden State a few weeks ago, it was a much-welcomed bone thrown to New Jersey horseplayers.
UNIQUE BELLA
Trainer: Jerry Hollendorfer
Last race: June 23, 3rd
Finish: 2nd by 2 1/4
Beyer: 72
This 2-year-old Tapit filly ran well at odds-on in her career debut. She was off slowly, lost ground while next to last behind a slow first quarter, and finished evenly. This race will move her up.
KING AND HIS COURT
Trainer: Alex Patykewich
Last race: June 25, 1st
Finish: 3rd by 3
Beyer: 45
He gave the others a four-length head-start while breaking inward from post 1, and then galloped out well after making up ground in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special dash for Ontario-sired juveniles. It was his second start, and the son of Court Vision should appreciate more ground.
LOOKINGFORANEWHOME
My pick three play at Belmont Park on Sunday that begins with race 4 is structured around singling a horse I view as solid favorite, Classy Chris, and culminates on race 6 by betting against the morning-line favorite, Taoiseach.
Race 4: As noted, Classy Chris (4) looks tough, having run second first out in a grass maiden race before following that with a third in an off-the-grass race contested in the slop. In addition, some of her key rivals look disadvantaged, either by not having raced, or by returning from layoffs.
Let's take a look at Saturday's late pick four, which covers races 7 through 10.
Race 7: Captain Moss looks tough in the opening leg as the favorite, as he has run two races in a row that are better than anything his rivals have been able to come up with to this point. I suppose the distance could be his undoing, and he didn't draw particularly well on the outside, but he has the kind of speed that should allow him to overcome that obstacle. Yowl is well drawn and in good form and will be the main backup.