BetAmerica’s horse racing pick of the day: June 23, Canterbury Park

Weekday picks and plays for Thoroughbred racing.

Tuesday, June 23

Canterbury Park, Race 6: $5,000 maiden claiming (1 mile, 8:10 p.m. ET)

#6 Bigdaddy’sflyinghi (8-5 on the morning line) is clearly the runner to beat in this low-level claimer on the main track.

The son of classy stallion Hard Spun has been competing against much tougher company on the Kentucky and Louisiana circuits, most notably when he finished third in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight over the Fair Grounds main track. The winner, Winning Impression, later finished fourth in a division of the Arkansas Derby (G1).

Trained at the time by Chris Block, Bigdaddy’sflyinghi has since been transferred to the care of Joel Berndt, a 22% winner who finished third in the Canterbury Park trainer rankings last year. Berndt will remove the blinkers from Bigdaddy’sflyinghi, drop him down the class ladder, and switch him from turf back to dirt, three factors that figure to trigger an improved performance.

The only concern is the favorite’s lack of tactical speed, which could be problematic, since Tuesday’s test features very little pace on paper. Thus, we’ll box Bigdaddy’sflyinghi in the exacta with #2 Don’s Final Final, who utilized pace-pressing tactics to finish second in a 1-mile, $15,000 maiden claiming race at Sam Houston two starts back.

$13 exacta: 6 with 2
$7 exacta: 2 with 6
Total: $20

Good luck!