Player Quick Pick: Saratoga Late Pick Four for 8/27/14
August 27th, 2014
By Andrew Champagne
We're officially in the home stretch of the Saratoga meet. Only five cards are left on the slate, and this is the final Wednesday program in upstate New York. With that in mind, here's how I'll approach the day's late Pick Four.
RACE #7: We open with a turf sprint that's drawn a really nice field. I think one stands out, though, and my single is #6 Console (1-1).
Betting favorites is no fun most of the time, but Console absolutely loves Saratoga's turf sprint course. This is his preferred route of ground, and he thrashed his main competition (Isn'tlovejustgrand) in his last outing. Singling allows us to go deeper in later legs, and that'll come in handy.
RACE #8: This is another fun one, a starter allowance going two turns on grass. I'm going three-deep, using #2 Desvelo/#2B Saint Pierre (6-1), #4 Treasury Devil (5-1), and #9 Media Kid (6-1).
It was tough picking a horse on top, but I went with Media Kid, who returns to his preferred surface after his last outing was rained off the turf. He doesn't like winning, and that's a concern, but he never seems to run badly on grass, and his lone turf win came going two turns at this level (as opposed to one-turn routes at Belmont). It's a tough race, but he gets the nod.
RACE #9: Remember when I mentioned how singling the first leg would allow us to go deep later? This is the leg I was referring to. It's a turf sprint for older horses, and the 8/5 favorite is 1-for-12 over this turf course and has drawn the outside post in a field of 10.
I think #10 Ziptronic (8/5) is vulnerable, and I don't think he wins, but everyone else figures about the same. Therefore, I'm doing what I hate to do, and that's hitting the dreaded "ALL" button. We get all nine entrants covered by doing this, and hopefully we get Ziptronic beat and are live to some nice will-pays going into the fourth leg.
RACE #10: The Wednesday finale is a maiden claimer on turf, and it features a bunch of horses that have never gone long on the grass before. I'm using the three horses who have done so in reasonably effective fashion: #5 Romans Paradise (2-1), #6 Morse (6-1), and #9 Retire Fifty Five (8/5).
Retire Fifty Five ran a career-best race last out. If not for a rank start, he may very well have won that day. Jose Ortiz stays aboard, which is encouraging, and he doesn't catch a great field. A repeat of his last race most likely wins this.
The wager comes out to $40.50 for a 50-cent wager. Even with the "ALL" leg mixed in, it's not a terribly expensive bet. If we catch a longshot in that leg, and the rest of the races run to form, maybe we can start off closing week on a winning note. Good luck!
We're officially in the home stretch of the Saratoga meet. Only five cards are left on the slate, and this is the final Wednesday program in upstate New York. With that in mind, here's how I'll approach the day's late Pick Four.
RACE #7: We open with a turf sprint that's drawn a really nice field. I think one stands out, though, and my single is #6 Console (1-1).
Betting favorites is no fun most of the time, but Console absolutely loves Saratoga's turf sprint course. This is his preferred route of ground, and he thrashed his main competition (Isn'tlovejustgrand) in his last outing. Singling allows us to go deeper in later legs, and that'll come in handy.
RACE #8: This is another fun one, a starter allowance going two turns on grass. I'm going three-deep, using #2 Desvelo/#2B Saint Pierre (6-1), #4 Treasury Devil (5-1), and #9 Media Kid (6-1).
It was tough picking a horse on top, but I went with Media Kid, who returns to his preferred surface after his last outing was rained off the turf. He doesn't like winning, and that's a concern, but he never seems to run badly on grass, and his lone turf win came going two turns at this level (as opposed to one-turn routes at Belmont). It's a tough race, but he gets the nod.
RACE #9: Remember when I mentioned how singling the first leg would allow us to go deep later? This is the leg I was referring to. It's a turf sprint for older horses, and the 8/5 favorite is 1-for-12 over this turf course and has drawn the outside post in a field of 10.
I think #10 Ziptronic (8/5) is vulnerable, and I don't think he wins, but everyone else figures about the same. Therefore, I'm doing what I hate to do, and that's hitting the dreaded "ALL" button. We get all nine entrants covered by doing this, and hopefully we get Ziptronic beat and are live to some nice will-pays going into the fourth leg.
RACE #10: The Wednesday finale is a maiden claimer on turf, and it features a bunch of horses that have never gone long on the grass before. I'm using the three horses who have done so in reasonably effective fashion: #5 Romans Paradise (2-1), #6 Morse (6-1), and #9 Retire Fifty Five (8/5).
Retire Fifty Five ran a career-best race last out. If not for a rank start, he may very well have won that day. Jose Ortiz stays aboard, which is encouraging, and he doesn't catch a great field. A repeat of his last race most likely wins this.
The wager comes out to $40.50 for a 50-cent wager. Even with the "ALL" leg mixed in, it's not a terribly expensive bet. If we catch a longshot in that leg, and the rest of the races run to form, maybe we can start off closing week on a winning note. Good luck!
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