Bettors Insider's two horse racing handicapping experts – Chris Garrity (@belmostickey) and RT and SmartCap (@RTsSpot) – have agreed to take part in a weekly handicapping contest throughout June.
For the contest, each handicapper will designate one of his race picks per weekday and two on Saturday and Sunday. Win, place, show betting only. $20 per bet. Weeks run Monday through Sunday.
The 'capper with the most money at the end of each week will have a donation made in his name to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. You can donate to the fund here.
Play along and in future months you may have a chance to beat the pros.
RT bet $7 win $13 place on 5-Wise Jude in the 8th race at Parx re-opening day (welcome back, Parx). Hey, Jude, made it bad, finishing third. Garrity put $20 to win on 8-Magicallydelicious in the 4th race at Parx. He was no lucky charm, however, also finishing third. Both RT and Garrity start off the week -$20.
The Pick: Parx Racing, Race 1, $7 to win, $13 to place on #4 - Mr. Classical, post time 12:55 pm EDT
Why: #4 Mr. Classical (9/2) — if workouts signal readiness, then this is your guy. May 5th, best of 119 horses getting a :47.5 for 4f, May 29th, 5f in 1:01.4 and June 9th, 5f in 1:01.7. Dropping down to a class that he can handle, look for this son of Bernadini to press the pace and come flying in the stretch. Trainer Philip Aristone 2-4 of late and 22% with jockey Anthony Salgado.
The Pick: Indiana Grand Race Course, Race 8, $20 to win on #9 - Applicator, post time 5:36 pm EDT
Why: We like big fields, and we like turf races, and we’ll embrace both in the featured race at Indiana Grand, which is back up and running after a long, pandemic-induced hiatus. This is a second-level allowance at a mile on grass for horses 3 and up, and a full field of twelve goes to the post.
The pick is 9 - Applicator. He’s been away since last fall, but before that, he was running against much tougher in New York and Kentucky. He’s an old warrior, a 7-year-old gelding with 50 career starts, but we think he can get a good stalking trip from his outside post, get first jump on the closers at the top of the stretch, and hold off the late-runners. We think he is the best of this group and will bet our $20 contest bankroll on him to win at 3-1.