Horses to play in Aqueduct's $98,633 Pick 6 carryover

From a sporting perspective, the Withers S. (G3)—a Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifier—is the highlight of the Saturday card at Aqueduct. But from a betting perspective, the highlight is the $98,633 carryover in the $1 Pick 6.

The sequence gets underway in Race 4 (post time 2:18 p.m. ET), and with a total of 60 horses in the sequence (averaging 10 per race), constructing a winning ticket won’t be easy. There are 968,000 possible outcomes to consider before scratches.

Further complicating matters is the fact the Aqueduct main track played strongly in favor of outside runners on Friday, which means correctly projecting race shapes (and identifying horses likely to race outside) will be important. Assuming, of course, the bias carries over to Saturday… which isn’t guaranteed.

Keeping these challenges in mind, here are a couple of horses we’re intrigued to support in the Pick 6:

Best single: Race 9, #10 Golden Code (5-2)

Trainer Todd Pletcher has been hot at Aqueduct this winter, going 5-for-22 (23%) since Dec. 9. He can pick up another victory courtesy of Golden Code, the morning line favorite to win this seven-furlong maiden special weight for New York-bred sophomores.

Golden Code ran well in his Dec. 18 debut sprinting six furlongs at Aqueduct, tracking the pace before staying on to finish second with a solid 83 Brisnet Speed rating. The son of Honor Code is bred to improve with maturity and will add Lasix for his 2022 debut, setting the stage for improvement. Throw in the fact Golden Code has drawn an outside post, and the bay colt has the appearance of a trustworthy single.

Live longshot: Race 6, #6 Halpert (6-1)

Halpert has spent much of his career competing on turf, but he ran just fine when switching to dirt for a $25,000 claimer sprinting six furlongs at Aqueduct last month. After settling a couple lengths off the early pace, Halpert fought on to finish third, beaten only 1 3/4 lengths.

Halpert will stick to the same class level on Saturday, and he fits the field well in terms of Brisnet Speed ratings. Drawing post six should afford Halpert an opportunity to stay outside of rivals, and there’s no reason to think he won’t fire a strong shot in his second start for ultra-hot trainer Michelle Giangiulio, who has gone 5-for-8 (63%) at Aqueduct since Dec. 9. Halpert looks capable of winning at an enticing price.

Good luck!