Maryland racing analyst Gabby Gaudet has a Pick Four at Laurel Park, plus a Breeders’ Cup play!
PICK FOUR
Laurel Park has a 50-cent Pick Four beginning in race 6. Post time for the 6th is 2:56.
MJC analyst Gabby Gaudet will share her longshot and exotic plays with The Racing Biz each Saturday. Photo courtesy of the Maryland Jockey Club.
Gabby’s Selections
- Race 6 – 5, 6
- Race 7 – 1, 2, 3, 10
- Race 8 – 2, 3, 7
- Race 9 – 3, 9, 10, 11
- Wager cost: $48
Gabby says….
“Race 6 is a maiden special weight going seven furlongs on the dirt, and this race looks like it should come down to two. I think #5 Party Starter (7-2) can really perform here. Her last two — coming after a 20 month layoff — are pretty good, and I think this seven-furlong distance can really work for her. The only thing I don’t like about #6 Lost in Success is that she’s a May foal, and I usually try to avoid late foals as a betting matter. But her last was a good try on a track that was pretty cuppy. I think she can really move forward here.
“In the 7th, a first allowance going one mile on the turf, I like four horses in what figures to be a fairly wide open event. The #1 Pepper Ridge has a lot to overcome; she’s a three year-old against older, she’s breaking from the rail, and she’s stretching from a short sprint to a mile. But I don’t think you can throw her out; Jonathan Sheppard is a Hall of Famer, and he and rider Julian Pimentel have had good success together. Another good trainer-jockey combo is Niall Saville and Sheldon Russell on #2 This Is Nice. Saville has had good success buying horses in England and bringing them over here, and sometimes it takes them a race or two to settle in. I definitely wouldn’t leave her out of my super ticket. Jockey Chelsey Keiser and trainer Ann Merryman have been really successful lately with closers on the turf, and they team up with #3 Green Wave Girl. This filly has a lot of late kick, and the thing you’d hope is for her to lay a little closer to the pace than in her recent races. You have to keep Horacio Karamanos on your ticket when he’s riding in a grass race, as he is with #10 Mavourneen. He gave her a really good ride last time when she broke her maiden, and from the outside post, she could get another stalk-and-pounce kind of trip.
“The eighth is another first level allowance, this time for two year-olds sprinting on the dirt. Trainer Graham Motion has been getting horses to close from the clouds in recent weeks, and #2 Emotional Stroll fits that bill. He came from completely out of it to beat a good field last time, and he could do that again here. #3 Mr. Rover is a horse who I think has faced better company than he’s seeing here and has run competitively; he’s 9-5 for a reason. There are some decent two year-olds in Tim Tullock’s barn, and I think #7 Germaniac fits that bill. I wouldn’t take 2-1 on him, but he’s scary in this spot.
“The ninth is a $25,000 claimer for horses that have never won two going long on the lawn, and these are races you can often go a lot of different ways. Trainer Jose Corrales started off the meet really well, and he sends out #3 Devine Sara here. This is a horse that improved dramatically in her first try on the turf and won easily at long odds; she could give a big performance today. Sheppard and Pimentel team up again with #9 Glittering. She’s been rallying well in her races, and if she can sit a bit closer in this 1 1/8 mile race, her kick could really serve her. #10 No Means No has faced some pretty good company — most recently a tough crew in the Maryland Million Ladies — and that experience should help in this easier spot. I think that #11 Swoop really outran her long odds last time when she won a maiden claimer, and while this is a lot to ask of her, that last race suggests she might be capable of it.”
SPECIAL BREEDERS’ CUP PLAY
- We couldn’t ignore today’s Breeders’ Cup Saturday! Gabby took aim at the Filly and Mare Sprint, and suggested an exacta box. She’s taking the home team, #8 Dance to Bristol, #4 Dance Card, #12 Sweet Lulu, and #5 Teddy’s Promise. She had particular praise for Dance Card, whose last, a perfectly good third in the G2 Gallant Bloom (behind Dance to Bristol), was her first race in 10 months.
Good luck!
(Featured image, of Ben’s Cat, by Laurie Asseo.)
