BetAmerica’s horse racing pick of the day: April 15, Tampa Bay

Weekday picks and plays for Thoroughbred racing.

Wednesday, April 15

Tampa Bay Downs, Race 2: Maiden special weight (5 furlongs on turf, 1 p.m. ET)

Early speed and outside posts have an advantage in 5-furlong turf sprints at Tampa Bay Downs, which stamps #8 My Eclair (2-1 on the morning line) as the horse to beat in Wednesday’s second race.

A Hill 'n' Dale Farms homebred trained by Michael Stidham (a 28% winner at Tampa this winter), My Eclair finished second in his debut over this course and distance Jan. 10. The performance was impressive, because My Eclair dueled for the lead through fast fractions of :20.95 and :44.88, put away his pace rivals, and held on to finish clearly second-best behind a late-running rival.

My Eclair posted another big effort when he stretched out to a mile Feb. 12. He led to the eighth pole but settled for fourth place. Cutting back to 5 furlongs should be right up his alley, and Tampa’s leading jockey, Antonio Gallardo, will take over the mount.

A win bet will be our main wager, but we’ll also play My Eclair on top of an exacta, with #1 The Connector (5-1) and #5 Charliecando (3-1) underneath.

$20 to win on #8 My Eclair
$5 exacta: 8 with 1,5 ($10)

Good luck!