Track bias. Most tracks try to be fair with both speed horses and closers having a chance but on some days, on some tracks it doesn’t work out so well. And Friday was one of those days at Laurel. Horses on the lead for the most part, just kept on going. And no horses hit walls on the lead and faded to the back of the pack. As a result, Saturday at Laurel becomes a search for underappreciated front end speed.
Picks for March 30, 2019:
More breezy and pleasant conditions. May get a few sprinkles late.
Aqueduct Race 4 Peeping Tom Stakes
Older boys at 6 ½f. A two horse race between 1-Win With Pride and 8-Bon Raison. 1-Win With Pride is super consistent and always brings great effort. 8-Bon Raison is somewhat more inconsistent but when he brings his A game, as he did 3 back, he can be excellent. Advantage here to 1-Win With Pride but use both in the exacta.
$10 W/P/S 1-Win With Pride
$2 Exacta box 1,8
Aqueduct Race 5 Sis City Stakes
Older fillies and mares at 8f. Several of these appear to have been pointed to this race for some time. 8-Daria’s Angel from Rob Atras and 1-Mia Bella Rossa are two such entrants. Both are from high percentage barns and have beaten this quality in recent starts. Throw in 7-Honey Graeme based on Linda Rice’s confidence in turning that one around into this spot. Use one, use them all.
$10 W/P/S 8-Daria’s Angel
$2 Exacta box 1,7,8
$0.50 Trifecta box 1,7,8
Laurel Race 2
Optional Claimer for older boys at 5 ½ f. The Jamie Ness exacta appears to be well intended here as 4-Tbtwelve and 6-Petion Night look better than the rest. 4-Tbtwelve appears to be slightly better than his stable mate.
$10 W/P/S 4-Tbtwelve
$1 Exacta box 4,6
Laurel Race 8
$5K Claiming n2 for older boys at 5 ½f. 5-Townie will get bet due to his connections but his last race was really bad and 4-Lucacito will benefit from the drop and the cut back in distance. C Carrasco and C Gonzalez hit at 45% together and that should be good enough with these.
$20 W/P/S 4-Lucacito
Parx Race 4
$7500 claimer n2 for older boys at 7f. Look for 4-Debonaire Man to pull the upset on the turn back to 7f. 5-Wheresthebarber is shipping in from NY to win here but the layoff and the plummet have Mick spooked. Looking elsewhere keeps coming back to the 4.
$10 W/P/S 4-Debonaire Man