ARCADIA, Calif. – A maiden-claiming sprint (race 2) and a maiden special weight route on turf (race 9) offer potential overlay prices Saturday at Santa Anita. Both races include logical choices at generous odds in the program – 9-2 and 4-1, respectively.

Those two maiden races will be keys Saturday, so let’s take a look.

Race 2

There are all sorts of intriguing multi-race exotic possibilities on Saturday’s card at Gulfstream, but I find the early pick four especially appealing. Besides, if I hit it, it will give me the ammo to go after all those other interesting pick whatevers later in the day.

Another week, another Saturday full of great racing and great betting opportunities. DRF Formulator allows you to see the full lifetime past performances of horses who have run in the past five years for any trainer who has horses entered, as well as charts, replays, filters, and more. Using Formulator, let’s look at some specific horses entered Saturday.

GULFSTREAM PARK

Race 4 – Any Limit Stakes, six furlongs on dirt

Download positive ROI trainer statistics for Friday's cards at Aqueduct, Charles Town, Delta Downs, Fair Grounds, Fonner Park, Golden Gate, Gulfstream Park, Hawthorne, Laurel Park, Los Alamitos, Oaklawn Park, Penn National, Santa Anita, Sunland Park, Tampa Bay Downs, and Turfway Park. The report features top trainer angles, top trainer/jockey combinations, and profitable betting angles based on a trainer's record in similar situations.

Download a list of horses exiting races where two or more of the competitors have come back to win their next starts. Friday's report features races from Aqueduct, Charles Town, Delta Downs, Fair Grounds, Fonner Park, Golden Gate, Gulfstream Park, Hawthorne, Laurel Park, Los Alamitos, Oaklawn Park, Penn National, Santa Anita, Sunland Park, Tampa Bay Downs, and Turfway Park.

Get the report here.

The pick four on races 6 to 9 Saturday at Laurel Park looks quite playable with two optional-claiming races bookending the sequence, which also includes an $8,000 maiden-claiming race for 4-year-olds and up and a $40,000 maiden-claiming race for 3-year-olds.

I’ve used DRF TicketMaker to stitch together a $45 play. The tickets are all in 50-cent denominations.

There are four ways to win:

1. All of my A horses win
2. Three As and one B wins
3. Two As and two Bs win
4. Three As win and one of my C horses in race 7 wins

Download DRF Plus handicapping reports for Friday’s races, including DRF Daily GamePlan, the Positive ROI Report, and Key Race Report.

DRF Daily GamePlan

Closer looks for Aqueduct, Fair Grounds, Golden Gate, Gulfstream Park, Oaklawn Park, and Santa Anita, and spot plays and live longshots for Aqueduct, Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, and Santa Anita. Picks are chronologically listed, so you can build and plan your wagering day.

Get GamePlan here.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When the past performances came out for Saturday’s card at Oaklawn Park – featuring the return of champions Untapable and American Pharoah in the Azeri and Rebel stakes – my first question in handicapping the races was: Is either vulnerable? Knowing they’d be short prices, if one or both were beaten, it would offer the opportunity for a fat payoff.

Hopefully, readers have taken careful notes on the Beyer analysis in this space, especially the last two weeks.

This from the preview of the Swale, when it was originally supposed to be run: “Ready for Rye was beaten as a big favorite in the Spectacular Bid, but that was his first race in almost three months. He got a 96 when winning his maiden in October and an 88 when second in the Bid, a race that has come up very strong ... I think Ready for Rye, with almost two months to recover from a hard race, is going to run huge, perhaps getting up near 100 on the Beyer scale.”

There is some important racing going on Saturday at Oaklawn Park, namely the return of last year’s champion 2-year-old male and leading Kentucky Derby candidate, American Pharoah, in the Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel; the seasonal debut of last year’s unanimous Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old filly, Untapable, in the Grade 2, $300,000 Azeri; and the 4-year-old debut of multiple stakes winner Tapiture in the Grade 3, $250,000 Razorback Handicap.