Playing trifectas in the Martha Washington and Not Surprising

Gulfstream Park is set to host a pair of 1-mile turf stakes races for 3-year-olds Saturday, the $100,000 Martha Washington S. for fillies and the $100,000 Not Surprising S. for all comers.

Both races have drawn wide-open fields, ripe with the potential for lucrative payoffs. We’ll aim for a rewarding day by playing a series of win bets and trifecta tickets.

Race 9: Martha Washington S. (4:14 p.m. ET)

#7 Tournesol and #3 Yesterdayoncemore finished just a neck apart when they ran first and second in Gulfstream’s 1 1/16-mile Portofino Bay S. last month, and they’re logical contenders to vie for victory again Saturday.

Herecomesthebride (G3) fourth-place finisher #6 Lucky Polly  is another obvious player, against easier company in her first start since March, and #5 R Calli Kim is intriguing, after she dominated a $35,000 claiming race over this course and distance for high-percentage trainer Georgina Baxter.

But the horse I’m most interested to play is #4 Bankruptonthebeach, who will make her turf debut for trainer Mike Maker, a 21% winner at Gulfstream. Bankruptonthebeach has shown promise in sprints on dirt, where she finished third in the 7-furlong Azalea S., but as a daughter of underrated turf stallion Temple City (sire of Grade 1 winners Miss Temple City, Bolo, and Annals of Time), Bankruptonthebeach is bred to relish the grass.

A win bet on Bankruptonthebeach is in order, but we’ll also key her in a trio of small trifectas.

$12 to win on #4 Bankruptonthebeach
$0.50 trifecta: 4 with 3,5,6,7 with 3,5,6,7 ($6)
$0.50 trifecta: 3,5,6,7 with 4 with 3,5,6,7 ($6)
$0.50 trifecta: 3,5,6,7 with 3,5,6,7 with 4 ($6)
Total: $30

Race 11: Not Surprising S. (5:21 p.m. ET)

#2 Graceful Kitten showed plenty of talent to win his first three starts at Gulfstream as a juvenile and even wired a pair of stakes races. In the 1-mile Armed Forces S., Graceful Kitten cruised home by two lengths over Jolting Joe, who returned to win a stakes at Saratoga earlier this week.

Graceful Kitten subsequently faltered against tougher competition in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) and Pulpit S. He bolted in the latter to finish last, behind Kentucky Derby (G1) contenders Sole Volante and King Guillermo.

But the son of Kitten’s Joy has been freshened by trainer Amador Sanchez (a 20% winner with horses returning from long layoffs), and if Graceful Kitten improves at all in his 3-year-old debut, he’ll have every chance to win at a fair price.

Let’s bet Graceful Kitten to win and play around with him in the trifecta, with emphasis on #3 Kokokomo (2-for-2 over this course and distance for trainer Todd Pletcher) and #5 Monforte (winner of three straight races since he was claimed by Ruben Gracida) for the remaining slots.

$12 to win on #2 Graceful Kitten
$1 trifecta: 2 with 3,5 with 3,5,7,9 ($6)
$1 trifecta: 2 with 3,5,7,9 with 3,5 ($6)
$1 trifecta: 3,5 with 2 with 3,5,7,9 ($6)
Total: $30

Good luck!