Pick 4 of the Week: Fair Grounds Saturday

A quartet of Pick 4 wagers will be offered on Saturday at Fair Grounds. I fear that the latter portion of the card could be littered with short-priced winners, so I will take aim at the earliest one with the Pick 4 of the Week. 

Race 2 Wager

50-cent Pick 4: 2,4,5,6,8,11 with 3,6,7,10 with 1 with 2,3,4 ($36)

Race 2 – Maiden Special Weight

Cajun-bred boys will dash six panels on the dirt in the opening leg, with an overflow field of 16 signed on. I’ll spread to kick off the play with multiple runners since I’m not fully in love with the favorite. #2 Free Scrim (6-1), #4 Clearly Majestic (8-1), #5 Yorktown Panther (8-1), #6 Mai Tai No Ice (4-1), #8 Shot Gun Shack (9-2), and #11 Custom’s Cleared (3-1) will all make my ticket. 

Race 3 – Maiden Special Weight

A nice cast of three-year-old filly prospects will vie in a six-furlong tussle in the second leg. I will focus mostly on the first-time starters on a big day of racing in the dash, but a second-timer will also be included. #3 Shewontbudge (4-1), #6 Saucier (9-2), #7 Atarah (6-1), and top pick #10 Stylish Lady (9-2), are the quartet to help me advance in this ambitious wager. 

Race 4 – Allowance Optional Claiming

A competitive turf test for the boys attracted an overflow field in the third race of the sequence. #1 St. Armands Key (3-1) is the clear one to beat for Joe Sharp, although I’m a bit confused as to why he will race as a gelding coming off such a dominant showing on the oval last time out. The Lost Treasure gelding dons a 3-2-0-1 mark on the course in his lifetime, and if he runs his race while being in for a tag for the first time under Irad Ortiz Jr., then he will be nearly impossible to beat. He’s a bit curious, but a logical single at the same time. 

Race 5 – Crescent City Oaks

A two-turn test for sophomore fillies bred in Cajun country caps the play. The affair looks like a three-horse race with each of the three morning-line choices boasting the credentials to win the contest. I’ll be confident with the trio of Steve Asmussen’s recent stakes heroine #2 Blue Fire (9-5), the once-beaten #3 Secret Faith (7-5), and Brendan Walsh’s #4 Margie’s Intention (4-1), to close out my winning play.