Exciting evening at Turfway highlighted by $45,488 Single 6 carryover

Wednesday is shaping up to be a special day of racing at Turfway Park, with an abundance of appealing wagering opportunities spread throughout the eight-race card.

If you’re a fan of win bets, you’ll be happy to know the TwinSpires Winter Midweek Bet Back promotion will refund your wager (up to $10 per race) if your pick finishes second. And if you’re keen to chase carryovers, there’s a $45,488 jackpot up for grabs in the Single 6 (Pick 6), plus a traditional $1,896 carryover in the Super Hi 5.

At first glance, the Single 6 sequence looks more manageable than most at Turfway. The fields are a bit smaller than usual, with just 64 horses entered across the six races, and there are only 1,293,600 possible outcomes before scratches. Once you factor in the also-eligibles and coupled entries, the maximum number of tickets to consider is just 1,016,400.

But if you’re hoping for an easy handicapping time, you might wind up disappointed. Even with the small fields, the races still look fiercely competitive. Finding a reliable single is akin to seeking a needle in a haystack. Some will settle on #7 Richies Noble Girl (9-5) in Race 6, since she hasn’t missed the trifecta in her last six starts and has only half a dozen rivals to beat. But as we noted in our Picks and Plays for Wednesday, Richies Noble Girl is one-dimensional late runner in a race containing barely any speed at all. The more tactical #5 Mayapretty (4-1) could be capable of springing a surprise.

If there’s a reliable single in the sequence—and that’s a pretty big “if”—it might be the coupled entry of #1 Hurricane Highway and #1A Nun the Less (both 9-5) in Race 7, a 6 1/2-furlong allowance optional claiming race. Nun the Less is 4-for-4 at Turfway, which includes victories in the 2020 Forego S. sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs and the 2019-20 editions of the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Cup Classic S. The nine-year-old gelding hasn’t run since March 2020, but if he’s rusty off the layoff, Hurricane Highway can save the day. The stretch-running sprinter has run two big races sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs at Turfway this winter, most notably coming home second by a head in the Jan. 15 Forego S.

The evening finale is Race 8, a $5,000 claimer for non-winners of two races lifetime. This one-mile event is the race in which the Super Hi 5 carryover will be dispersed, unless bettors again fail to construct any winning tickets. That’s a distinct possibility, because with 14 entries (including two also-eligibles), the race looks like a beast to handicap.

#14 No Salt (7-5) might have been a standout for leading trainer Wesley Ward after finishing second by a head over this class level and distance on Feb. 6, but he’s second on the also-eligible list and will be marooned in the far outside post if scratches allow him to run. Logical alternatives—and key players to finish in the top five—include the class-dropping duo of #4 Snake Bite (5-2) and #12 U S Delta Force (3-1), but the latter has likewise drawn a wide post and may have to use his tactical speed hard to avoid a wide trip. We’ll wait and see the scratches before constructing any tickets.

Good luck!