Fair Grounds: Plays for $21,315 Pick 6 and Feeder tournament

The Sunday card at Fair Grounds doesn’t feature any stakes, but it does include a couple of lucrative betting opportunities for horseplayers.

The first is a $160 Fair Grounds Feeder to the 1/18 Lecomte KDBC Qualifier tournament on TwinSpires. The second is a non-jackpot $21,315 carryover in the $1 Pick 6.

Before digging into the Fair Grounds action, here are today's special offers from TwinSpires:

• New Players $200 Sign-Up Bonus: Open your TwinSpires.com account using the offer code BET200 to start earning a $200 bonus.
• 8x Points at Your Most Wagered Track: Receive 8x reward points on all wagers (excluding show bets) at your most wagered track each day this week from Monday through Sunday.
• $10 Winter Selected Races Money Back: Receive refunds on win bets (up to $10) if your horse finishes second in select races this Friday through Sunday.
• Gulfstream Park $2,500 Late Pick 5 Hit It & Split It: Hit the Late Pick 5 at Gulfstream Park on any Sunday in January to split a $2,500 daily prize pool

$160 Fair Grounds Feeder tournament

Bet your entire $80 bankroll across at least five races at Fair Grounds (minimum $8 per race) to climb the leaderboard and earn an entry into the Jan. 18 $400 Lecomte KDBC Qualifier tournament on TwinSpires.

An early opportunity to hit a nice payoff can be found in Race 2, a maiden special weight for Louisiana-bred fillies and mares sprinting six furlongs on dirt. Heavy morning-line favorite #4 Pretty Prairie (6-5) is a logical contender after finishing second in her last two starts over this track, distance, and class level, but at the same time her recent defeats under these conditions suggest she isn’t unbeatable on Sunday.

#1 Onehellofabirthday (9-2) is an upset threat. The unraced daughter of Daaher has put together a respectable work tab capped off by a sharp half-mile from the Fair Grounds starting gate in :48 1/5.

Onehellofabirthday is trained by Keith Bourgeois, who has gone 3-for-12 (25%) debuting horses in dirt sprints at Fair Grounds since 2020. Throw in hot jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. (a 22% winner at Fair Grounds this year), and tournament players should consider betting a $10 exacta keying Onehellofabirthday over Pretty Prairie.

• Race 2, $10 Exacta: 1 with 4

Fair Grounds $21,315 Pick 6 carryover

The Pick 6 sequence spans Race 3 through Race 8. Keep in mind, Fair Grounds was off the turf on Saturday and there’s a chance Sunday’s grass races will be transferred to dirt as well.

If that’s the case, then single the main-track-only entrant #7 I Got Game (9-5) in Race 3, a $100,000 allowance optional claimer for three-year-olds sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs. He boasts arguably the best dirt form in the field.

I Got Game required six starts to break his maiden, doing so last month in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Oaklawn Park. But he’s kept good company throughout his career (knocking heads with future stakes winners Owen Almighty and Politicallycorrect), so stepping into the allowance ranks shouldn’t bother I Got Game.

Regardless of what happens with the grass events, Race 8—a $5,000 claimer for Louisiana-breds sprinting six furlongs on dirt—looks like an opportunity to play a midrange price horse. #10 Hard Four (6-1) is dropping in class out of $12,500 claimers for Louisiana-breds. His best Brisnet Speed ratings fit well at the $5,000 level.

Sunday’s race marks Hard Four’s second start since being claimed by trainer Abel Ramirez-Rodriguez, which is a 42% winning angle. Don’t leave Hard Four off your Pick 6 tickets, and if you’re playing the tournament, consider betting him to win and keying him over #3 Cheatin Charlie (4-1) and #9 Mucho Marvin (9-2) in the exacta.

• Race 8, $10 to win on #10 Hard Four
• Race 8, $3 Exacta: 10 with 3,9 ($6)

Good luck!