Friday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: Santa Anita’s $47,835 Pick 6 carryover

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Friday, Oct. 18 at Keeneland and Remington Park, along with a single for Santa Anita’s $47,835 Pick 6 carryover.

Today’s special offers from TwinSpires include:

• New Players $200 Sign-Up Bonus: Open your TwinSpires.com account using the offer code BET200 to start earning a $200 bonus.
• Fraser Downs $10 Money Back: Receive refunds on win bets (up to $10) if your horse finishes second in the final two races at Fraser Downs each day from Sept. 12 through Nov. 29.
• Keeneland $2,500 Late Pick 5 Hit It & Split It: Hit the Late Pick 5 at Keeneland on any day of the October meet to earn your share of a $2,500 daily prize pool.
• Everest Carnival $10 Money Back: Receive refunds on win bets (up to $10) if your horse finishes second in any eligible race at Royal Randwick (AUS).

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Keeneland: Race 2: Maiden Special Weight (six furlongs on dirt, 1:32 p.m. ET)

This maiden special weight is restricted to two-year-olds who brought a final bid of $50,000 or less at their most recent auction. Hence, it’s ripe for conquest by #5 D Bigalow (5-2).

D Bigalow debuted in an unrestricted six-furlong maiden special weight for juveniles at Churchill Downs, in which he carved out the pace over a sloppy track before weakening in the final furlong to finish third by 2 1/2 lengths. He was rewarded with an 82 Brisnet Speed rating that ranks as the highest number belonging to any of the horses in the main body of Friday’s field.

Unless #15 Ennis Town (1-1) — who owns a 90 Brisnet Speed rating — draws in off the also-eligible list, D Bigalow is hands-down the horse to beat. A win bet is in order.

Selections

• #5 D Bigalow (5-2)
• #15 Ennis Town (1-1)
• #10 Lured Away (15-1)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #5 D Bigalow

Remington Park: Race 5: Oklahoma Classics Distaff Turf S. (1 1/16 miles on turf, 9:27 p.m. ET)

#5 Doudoudouwanadance (8-5) is unbeaten in two starts over the Remington Park turf course. Two starts back, she won a non-state-restricted allowance by two lengths. Last time out, she trounced fellow Oklahoma-breds by three lengths in the Bob Barry Memorial S.

Doudoudouwanadance can keep her win streak going in the Oklahoma Classics Distaff Turf. Let’s key her on top of a trifecta using #2 Talkin Cadee (9-2), #4 Run Slewpy Run (7-2), and #7 Catale Winemixer (6-1) underneath.

Selections

• #5 Doudoudouwanadance (8-5)
• #7 Catale Winemixer (6-1)
• #2 Talkin Cadee (9-2)

Wagers

• $5 Trifecta: 5 with 2,4,7 with 2,4,7 ($30)

Remington Park: Race 7: Oklahoma Classics Distaff H. (one mile and 70 yards on dirt, 10:26 p.m. ET)

#6 Miss Code West (3-5) has won five of her six starts at Remington Park, including four stakes. Her lone defeat came when facing non-state-restricted competition in the Remington Park Oaks.

Returning to the Oklahoma-bred ranks for the Oklahoma Classics Distaff H. should make Miss Code West tough to beat. She’s unbeaten in four starts against Oklahoma-bred foes, winning a trio of stakes at Remington by margins ranging from two lengths to 5 1/4 lengths.

Let’s bet Miss Code West on top of a cold exacta using defending Oklahoma Classics Distaff H. winner #4 Stormieis Blue (8-1) for second place.

Selections

• #6 Miss Code West (3-5)
• #4 Stormieis Blue (8-1)
• #3 Letta’s Legacy (9-5)

Wagers

• $15 Exacta: 6 with 4

Carryover Watch

Santa Anita: Race 3: $47,835 Pick 6 carryover (5 p.m. ET)

The $2 Pick 6 at Santa Anita proved elusive last Monday. No one solved the Columbus Day sequence, generating an enticing $47,835 carryover for Friday’s card.

Friday’s Pick 6 should prove easier to hit. Following an early scratch, four of the six races have drawn seven or fewer entries. And when you exclude four also-eligible entrants from consideration, the six-race sequence contains only 44 horses (averaging about 7.3 per race) and 148,176 possible outcomes—not unmanageable for a Pick 6.

We can simplify the ticket assembly process even further by singling heavy favorite #6 Winds of Freedom (4-5) in race 3, the opening leg of the Pick 6. It’s a $50,000 starter optional claimer for two-year-olds sprinting six furlongs on dirt, and Winds of Freedom is hands-down the horse to beat.

Winds of Freedom failed to factor in his debut sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs in a California-bred maiden special weight at Del Mar, finishing sixth. But when he subsequently dropped down in class for a six-furlong $50,000 maiden claimer for California-breds, the son of Stanford pressed the pace and took over to win by three lengths with an 83 Brisnet Speed rating.

Winds of Freedom is stepping outside the California-bred ranks on Friday, but that shouldn’t be an issue. None of his rivals has ever posted a Brisnet Speed rating higher than 73, and the one who posted the 73 did so in a different $50,000 maiden claimer for California-breds. Actually, three of Winds of Freedom’s five rivals are exiting the California-bred ranks.

In short, if Winds of Freedom runs back to the 83 Brisnet Speed rating he posted in his maiden victory, he’ll be mighty tough to beat for the hot jockey/trainer duo of Edwin Maldonado and Doug O’Neill, who have gone 5-for-23 (22%) teaming up together over the last two months. And by singling Winds of Freedom, we can reduce the number of Pick 6 possibilities to consider from 148,176 down to 24,696. That sounds like a pretty nice way to start the sequence.

Good luck!