Derby Trail Forums - 1/23: Gulfstream (6th-10th)

Saturday proved to be lucrative as chalk-filled sequences at Gulfstream and Aqueduct gave way to juicy totes at Fair Grounds and Santa Anita. The day hinged on the strength of just one 'clever' opinion, as tabbing Wild About Marie in the Leggio Memorial tripped returns of more than $2,000. 10-1 at post time, Jeff Thornbury's Wildcat Heir filly was an ideal key horse at the 20-1 ML price, as she was dangerous with a repeat of her 12/20 NoLa ALW turf sprint effort. She couldn't have been more determined in victory under red-hot Richard Eremia, gutting out the wire to wire effort by a neck over Chantilly Nayla.

The $22.60 mutuel was at the core of the $1,018 .50 P4 with $14.00 Recapturetheglory (Louisiana H.), $5.20 Bouquet Booth (Silverbulletday) and $8.20 Gran Estreno (Col. Bradley). In addition to the P4 return which was four times the parlay, the Recapturetheglory-Wild About Marie-Bouquet Booth P3 returned an outstanding $632.50 ($1), more than 3 times the parlay.

At Santa Anita, there is a $104k P6 carryover thanks in part to the Palos Verdes heroics of veteran Euroears, the 7yo upsetter of the G2 stake in his first start from the Bob Baffert barn. A long time favorite of mine, keying off Euroears at his 9-1 overlay odds made for an ideal play with Smiling Tiger an insane 2-5. The results were amazing considering the 6 betting interest field with $1 exotics of $115 (Exacta), $281 (Triple) and $844 (Super).

Fair Grounds and the Palos Verdes returns more than made up for the parade of low prices at New York and Florida, and I hope you did great! Am not that enthused about the cards today, but with things going nicely, I looked at the late GP action. Dee Tee sends Ausable Chasm in the Aqueduct 6th today, and she certainly is up against it as a win candidate. As with Lloydobler's excellent turnaround effort Thursday, we are looking for an improved try today. The blinkers come off and C.C. Lopez gets on to try to get her into the race earlier after three poor performances since her summer win at Saratoga.

Good luck today.. Enjoy the racing and the Championship games!

GULFSTREAM

POST-SCRATCHES

6th: 2nd GP Turf Sprint, 4+, 5f-Inner Turf (P5, P3, DD, Super)

Most Likely: #6 Stradivinsky 7-5 WON ($4.20)
Next Best: #5 Great Attack 3-1 2nd
Best Value: #3 Ahvee's Destiny 12-1 3rd
Super Add: #7 Retire to What 6-1 4th

7th: MSW, 3yo, 6f (P4, P3, DD, Super)

Interesting sprint MSW that features debut of Storm Cat son out of Turko's Turn, #1 Turnofthecat, making him a half to Point Given; #11 Free Entry is a half to the MSW Thunders Dove..

Best Value: #11 Free Entry 12-1 WON ($7.60)
Next Best: #6 Rocked 7-2 6th
Exotics Use: #8 Meistersinger 12-1 9th
Super Add: #13 Escort 6-1 4th

8th: ALW/N1X, 3yo, 8.5f-Outer Turf (P3, DD, Super)

Best Value: #8 Bluegrass Jet 5-1 10th
Next Best: #7 Data Link 4-1 WON ($12.00)
Exotics Use: #3 Beachcombing 3-1 2nd
Super Add: #10 Terminal One 8-1 8th

$1 Pick 3 (6/11/7) Paid $120.60

9th: OC/N2X, 4+, 1, (DD, Super)

It's a returnee festival with Mission Impazible ('10 LA Derby), Homeboy Kris ('09 Champagne), William's Kitten, and more working their way back toward career resumption..

Best Value: #4 Caixa Electronica 8-1 WON ($15.40)
Next Best: #9 Royal Tricon 8-1 5th
Exotics Use: #5 Moe Man 4-1 3rd
Super Add: #3 Homeboy Kris 6-1 4th

$1 Pick 3 (11/7/4) Paid $263.40

10th: MDN CLM, 3yo, 8.5f-Inner Turf (Super)

Best Value: #1 Nelson Avenue 10-1 9th
Next Best: #3 Volunteer Kitten 7-2 6th
Exotics Use: #8 Schoolyard Cat 6-1 WON ($6.60)
Super Add: #12 Carbon County 4-1 3rd

$1 Pick 3 (7/4/8) Paid $118.90

<$50 P5 Play:

6: 3-5-6
7: 6-11
8: 3-7-8
9: 4-9
10: 1-3

3x2x3x2x2 = 72 x .50 = $36

$0.50 Pick 5 (1,2,6/11,12/7/4/8,13,14,15,16) Paid $14.60 (4 OF 5) x 2 = $29.20

<$75 P4 Play:

7: 6-8-11-13
8: 3-7-8
9: 3-4-5-9
10: 1-3-8

4x3x4x3 = 144 x .50 = $72

$0.50 Pick 4 (11,12/7/4/8,13,14,15,16) Paid $431.80

Good luck!
Steve