Golden Gate: How to bet the $3,122 Super High 5 carryover

The Sunday card at Golden Gate Fields is highlighted by a $3,122 Super High 5 carryover.

The $1 wager is available to play in all races featuring seven or more starters. On Sunday, the first suitable race (and the race in which the carryover is up for grabs) is Race 6, a $5,000 maiden claimer for fillies and mares sprinting five furlongs on Tapeta. With eight horses in the entries, there are 6,720 possible Super High 5 outcomes.

A competitive field has entered, but we’re drawn to #6 Pleasant Warning as the most likely winner. A three-year-old filly conditioned by hot trainer Jack Steiner (who has gone 4-for-8, 50% at Golden Gate since Oct. 21), Pleasant Warning is dropping in class after finishing fourth in an $8,000 maiden claiming sprint over this track.

Two starts back, Pleasant Warning employed pace-pressing tactics to finish second in a $5,000 claimer dashing five furlongs at Golden Gate. And three starts back, she carved out the pace in an $8,000 claimer over 5 1/2 furlongs and finished second by a neck. Actually, the latter effort marked the culmination of four straight top-three placing at the $8,000 maiden claiming level.

Pleasant Warning’s speed should be dangerous while sprinting five furlongs, considering pacesetters have gone 3-for-6 (50%) over this track and distance since Aug. 26. Throw in the fact she’ll be ridden by Evin Roman (a 22% winner teaming up with Steiner over the last two months), and Pleasant Warning looks like a filly to key on top in the Super High 5.

Who should we use underneath? #4 Sahara Sue (4-1), runner-up by a neck in a $5,000 maiden claimer on dirt at Fresno last month, is a logical contender even while trying Tapeta for the first time. #5 Lochmara (4-1) is worth supporting too; she finished only half a length behind Pleasant Warning when third in the five-furlong $5,000 maiden claimer mentioned above.

#7 Lit de Tiger (12-1) is an interesting longshot after debuting with a fifth-place finish in a $16,000 maiden claimer at Fresno. And don’t dismiss #1 Autism Shine (6-1), a trifecta finisher in her last two starts sprinting against $5,000 maiden claiming competition at Fresno. She’s run okay in a few starts against tougher competition over the Golden Gate Tapeta, even finishing second in a $12,500 maiden claimer last spring.

Here’s how we’ll bet the Super High 5:

• $1 Super High 5: 6 with 1,4 with 1,4 with 5,7 with 2,3,5,7,8 ($16)
• $1 Super High 5: 6 with 1,4 with 5,7 with 1,4 with 2,3,5,7,8 ($16)
• $1 Super High 5: 6 with 1,4 with 5,7 with 2,3,5,7,8 with 1,4 ($16)
  Total: $48

Good luck!