Friday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: Santa Anita’s $9,051 Super High 5 carryover

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Friday, June 14 at Churchill Downs and Aqueduct, along with tickets for the $9,051 Super High 5 carryover at Santa Anita.

Today’s special offers from TwinSpires include:

• 10x Points on Harness Racing: Receive 10x reward points on all harness racing wagers (excluding show bets) on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
• Churchill Downs Selected Races $10 Money Back: Receive refunds on win bets (up to $10) if your horse finishes second or third in selected races at Churchill Downs every Friday through Sunday.

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Churchill Downs: Race 2: Maiden Special Weight (4 1/2 furlongs on dirt, 1:14 p.m. ET)

#2 Dbook (12-1) has put together a promising work tab for trainer John Ortiz, who does well debuting juveniles early in the season. As a son of two-year-old stakes winner Flameaway (who sires a respectable 11% winners from first-time starters) out of juvenile winner Sky High Lady (whose lone foal to race so far won at age two), Dbook is bred to win from an early age.

Dbook’s 12-1 morning line odds are enticing, so we’ll opt for a win bet.

Selections

• #2 Dbook (12-1)
• #4 Run My Card (8-1)
• #10 Music Man (4-1)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #2 Dbook

Churchill Downs: Race 6: Maiden Special Weight (five furlongs on dirt, 3:18 p.m. ET)

#7 Boutwell Time (7-2) has breezed four furlongs in under :48 seconds on four occasions since the beginning of May, most recently traveling the distance from the Keeneland starting gate in :47 1/5. As a daughter of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) runner-up Not This Time (who sires 19% winners from first-time starters), Boutwell Time has the pedigree to shine from an early age for trainer Tom Amoss, who has gone 10-for-35 (29%) debuting juveniles in dirt sprints at Churchill since 2019.

Let’s bet Boutwell Time to win (taking advantage of the Churchill Downs Selected Races $10 Money Back promotion), then throw in a small exacta using #2 Troubler (6-1) for second place.

Selections

• #7 Boutwell Time (7-2)
• #2 Troubler (6-1)
• #8 Spun Candy (12-1)

Wagers

• $20 to win on #7 Boutwell Time
• $5 Exacta: 7 with 2
  Total: $25

Aqueduct: Race 6: New York Stallion Series S. (six furlongs on turf, 3:39 p.m. ET)

Stakes winner #5 Soloshot (3-1) is 0-for-2 on turf, but her grass efforts haven’t been bad by any means. On May 27, she faced older rivals in a non-state-restricted six-furlong allowance at Aqueduct, where she finished second by one length after carving out the pace. Then on May 24, Soloshot tackled older horses over the same course and distance in a $45,000 allowance optional claimer, finishing fourth in a large field.

Soloshot is facing fellow three-year-old fillies on Friday, opening the door for a breakthrough victory. She’s picking up five-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and looks like a compelling win play at her 3-1 morning line odds.

Selections

• #5 Soloshot (3-1)
• #1 Sohana (4-1)
• #3 My Shea D Lady (9-2)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #5 Soloshot

Carryover Watch

Santa Anita: Race 1: $9,051 Super High 5 carryover (4:00 p.m. ET)

One of the most enticing non-jackpot carryovers up for grabs on Friday can be found in the $1 Super High 5 at Santa Anita, which features a $9,051 prize pool after a 32-1 longshot upset Thursday’s final race.

The carryover is on the table in Race 1, a $20,000 allowance optional claimer for California-bred fillies and mares sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs on turf. These conditions should suit #2 Vronsky Feint (4-1) and #1 Grazen in the Sun (3-1) just fine. The five-year-old mares were separated by three-quarters of a length when finishing 1-2 in a six-furlong dash over this course and class level on May 10. Their Brisnet Speed ratings (84 and 82) topped the par winning rating (80) for Friday’s conditions, and the form was flattered when third-place finisher Hotitude returned to win a $25,000 starter allowance against non-state-restricted competition.

Vronsky Feint and Grazen in the Sun have strong chances to record top-four finishes on Friday, and we’ll count on them to do so. But they’re not the only win contenders—morning line favorite #6 Safa (5-2) might have an even stronger chance to reach the winner’s circle. While she’s shown a tendency to settle for minor awards (finishing second in seven of her 11 starts), she’s also run well against tough competition on both dirt and turf. She’s placed in multiple stakes and hasn’t missed the trifecta in her four grass starts, so Safa has every chance to shine while dropping down the class ladder.

Keeping this in mind, how should we play the Super High 5? We’ll simultaneously spread and simplify by counting on Vronsky Feint, Grazen in the Sun, and Safa to finish in the top four. We’ll play all three on top, since there appears to be little separating them.

For the remaining slots, we’ll emphasize #3 Putt for Dough (10-1), who has graded stakes appearance, and #5 Raising Silver (6-1), a last-out maiden winner with the pedigree to handle switching from dirt to turf. 

• $1 Super High 5: 1,2,6 with 1,2,6 with 1,2,6 with 3,5 with 3,5,7,8 ($36)
• $1 Super High 5: 1,2,6 with 1,2,6 with 3,5 with 1,2,6 with 3,5,7,8 ($36)
  Total: $72

Good luck!