Thoroughbreds Wednesday - Garrity Picks Indiana Grand, Winners, Daily Doubles, Pick 3
We're back for a Wednesday, and what a glorious day it is.It's the kind of sun-splashed day that makes one think of ditching work and going to the track. Our advice? Do it, and take a kid or three with you. We're focusing our attention today on Indiana Grand, which has a good midweek nine-race card, and which will be sun-splashed and beautiful, with fast dirt and firm turf. Let's go . . .
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Race 3 in Indiana (3:11 p.m. ET) is a $32,000 maiden claimer for fillies and mares 3 and older at a mile on the grass. There's a full field of 12 here, plus a few also-eligibles, and it's as wide-open a race as we can recall seeing in a while, with horses coming into this race with all different kinds of form. We're going with the one who looks to have the best late kick, and that's 6-Sailor's Cap. This 3-year-old daughter of Afleet Alex disappointed in her last race, a fourth as the 8-5 favorite at Belterra Park, but she makes the biggest drop in racing here, going from straight maiden to maiden claiming. We also think that her last race was probably better than it looks on paper. She tried to make a run from off the pace on a turf course that favored speed. With some pace to run at, which she should get today, we think she mows them all down late. We will bet her to win at 6-1.
Indiana Grand Race 3
$20 W on 6-Sailor's Cap
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Race 5 in Indiana (4:07 p.m.) is a conditioned $10,000 claimer for horses three and up. It's a mile on the turf. We like the favorite in here, 6-Cardinal Coach Mac. This 3-year-old, trained by Joe Sharp, is another horse making a big drop, from a the $32k claiming level down to $10k. We normally dislike class droppers, but this one makes sense: Sharp is probably placing this boy where he belongs. He's got a good combination of tactical speed and finishing ability; we think this puts him in the winner's circle. We will bet him to win at 2-1.
Indiana Grand Race 5
$30 W on 6-Cardinal Coach Mac
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Race 6 (4:35) in Indiana is a second-level allowance at six furlongs on the dirt for Indiana-breds 3 and up. Race 7 (5:03) is a first-level allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up at 5 furlongs on the turf. Race 8 (5:31) is a 6-furlong dirt first-level allowance for Indiana-breds 3 and older.
We've lumped them together because these races all have strong favorites. In the 6th, it's 1-Squadron Commander (1-1). In the 7th, it's 5-Lovely Charlie (9-5). And in the 8th, it's 7-Bartlett Hall (7-5). We like all three of these animals, but we don't like any of them as a win bet, because the win odds are likely to be too short. But we like them just fine in combination. We think all three will win, so we'll leverage their miserly odds by betting them in the Daily Doubles (Races 6-7 and 7-8) and the Pick 3 (Races 6-7-8). We'll try to spin straw into gold by turning a parade of chalk into some serious folding green.
Indiana Grand Races 6-7
$40 Double on 1-5
Indiana Grand Race 7-8
$40 Double on 5-7
Indiana Grand Races 6-7-8
$15 Pick 3 on 1-5-7
That's all for today. As always, good luck at the windows.