Inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2009, Bob Baffert has achieved almost every accomplishment possible. He’s won three Eclipse Awards as the top trainer in North America, 11 Breeders’ Cup races, nine Triple Crown races, and his horses have amassed almost $215 million in earnings over the past 25 years. He wins at a high rate, so the key in recent history has been identifying which horses to bet, and which ones to avoid.

Saturday, December 13

Gulfstream Park - Sugar Swirl (race 3)

COMMENT: Merry Meadow, a Grade 3 winner, is on her game. She was a smart winner of the Sky Beauty at Gulfstream Park West Nov. 1, worked well since, and put up another fine performance here. She bided her time early not too far behind pacesetter R Free Roll, who was pressured by Wildcat Lily, moved closer going to the far turn, came with a nice run into the lane to grab the lead late and pulled clear.

Let’s try to take down the pick five at Aqueduct.

RACE 1

OH POGGIBONSI (5) has the fast recent race and looms the controlling speed in this juvenile heat. He looks way the horse to beat, and I was very tempted to single him in the wager, only to include SCATTERED DREAMS (4) as a backup. That one was a solid maiden winner in the slop and could be the one should the favorite falter.

A – 5
C – 4

RACE 2

The late pick four at Gulfstream seems like a rather salty sequence, and I’ll take a shot with a $32 ticket.

RACE 7

There are a few interesting runners slated to start Sunday at Aqueduct, and I’ll hopefully be able to make a few dollars off them.

RACE 1

Saturday's featured race at Aqueduct is the $100,000 Queens County Stakes at nine furlongs over the inner track.

VYJACK (5) looms the likely favorite as he takes a substantial drop in class following six consecutive graded stakes races. Also, Vyjack paved his way on the 2013 Triple Crown trail with victories in the Grade 2 Jerome Stakes and Grade 3 Gotham Stakes, both around two turns on the inner track. He has a strong affinity for this surface.

I’ll start by playing against morning-line favorite SUZY’SPRIDEOFPARIS (it’s Maker off) in race 1 and using pricier 2-year-old fillies such as 1, 3, 6, 7 … GABY’S KITTEN going first-time tag might be a good “under” play in trifectas and supers.

RACE 8
Going deep in this opening leg of the final pick three on the card. HOWE GREAT and MSHAWISH are the keys for me as the sole "A" plays, but I'll also include BAD DEBT, EXCAPER, and FREDERICKSBURG on backup tickets.
A's: 7, 10
B's: 1, 6, 11
C's: None

We had some good fortune last week using a simple key-horse method with trifectas here last week. The theory is that if you have a horse you like quite a bit, then for a meager investment, you may have a nice hit. A $1 trifecta keying that horse on top of five others costs a mere $20. Three races are candidates for such a play Sunday.

Race 5
 

The late-card pick three that interests me here (races 6-8) may start with maidens, but at least the wager starts with maidens, so you can see the wagering and make a visual assessment instead of having such a tough leg come after you’ve made your investment.

Race 6