Pick 3 of the Week: Fair Grounds Saturday [March 8]

The ‘Pick 3 of the Week’ will come from Fair Grounds on Saturday and the sequence concludes with the feature on the card. 

Race 6 Wager

• $1 Pick 3: 2,4,5,7 with 1,4 with 2,4,5,6 ($32)

Race 6 – Optional Claiming

A turf dash for the boys traveling about 5 1/2 panels will commence the play. #4 Demolition Duke (3-1) and #7 Gilded Ruler (7-2) finished third and fifth, respectively, in a recent stakes race on the strip and must be used. The former is a late runner who has won or placed in all of his eight lifetime runs on the weeds, while the latter dominated a field similar to this one on the course two back. 

Brittany Russell’s #5 Petcoff (7-2), who is 2-for-3 at the meeting, is also a logical contender in the difficult opening leg. The Munnings gelding will be stalking the pace to the top of the lane. #2 Felix (6-1) has appeal at a price for trainer Thomas Morley. This Cupid gelding needed his race last coming off a 14-month absence, and I am expecting a big move forward from him while he is involved from the start. 

Race 7 – Maiden Special Weight

The middle leg of the sequence is for the boys going six panels on the dirt. I feel that sophomores are at a fairly big disadvantage when facing their elders at this time of the season, even with the eight-pound weight break that they receive. First-time starter #1 Darioush (3-1) and Steve Asmussen’s debuting #4 Fire in My Sul (5-1) are the duo that I will stand pat on. 

Race 8 – Allen Black Cat LaCombe Memorial S. 

Three-year-old fillies will travel about 1 1/16 miles on the lawn in the closing leg. An evenly matched field will vie in the grassy feature, and I will use multiple runners to cap the play. #6 Fionn (7-2) looks best to me and comes off two straight wins on the surface leading up to her stakes debut. The three-year-old daughter of Twirling Candy possesses a fine turn of foot and will be tough to deny late under Marcelino Pedroza. 

#2 Play With Fire (3-1), #4 Aterradora (7-2), and live longshot #5 Merry and Bright (8-1) will also make the ticket.