Stakes Pick 3 for Ellis Park on Sunday

Day 2 of Kentucky Downs Preview Weekend at Ellis Park features a quartet of black-type tilts on the lawn, and I will focus on a Pick 3 sequence that comprises three feature events. 

Wager:

• $1 Pick 3: 1,4,8,11 with 3,4,5,11,12 with 9 ($20)

Race 7 – Turf Sprint S. 

A dozen will dash 5 1/2 panels in the heat. I was fairly tempted to hit the ‘all’ button to start things but I will narrow my selections down to a more reasonable amount of runners. Claiming a horse off of Wesley Ward is never the easiest thing to do, but Eddie Kenneally will send out #1 Outadore (8-1), who is a fantastic 6-for-8 on the lawn in his lifetime. This Outwork gelding has won two straight as of late and gets the rail. 

#4 Mister Mmmmm (20-1), #8 Mo Stash (6-1), and #11 Coppola (3-1), each have some appeal to me and will make the ticket as well. 

Race 8 – Ladies Turf Mile S. 

The middle leg is for fillies and mares running one mile on the green. A full field of 14 will go postward in the second super-challenging race of the sequence. I feel that the morning-line maker did a fine job in predicting the odds of the affair, and I’m going five-deep in Leg 2 with the five shortest-priced contenders. 

#3 Regal Realm (5-1), #4 Neverwalkalone (10-1), #5 Fast as Flight (5-1), #11 Walkathon (3-1), and #12 Dana’s Beauty (8-1), are the ones. 

Race 9 – Pucker Up S. (G3)

The closing contest pits 10 sophomore fillies traveling nine panels on the green. It’s an aggressive single, but I really like #9 Mont Saint Michel (10-1) in this spot. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the Wootton Bassett filly was a game maiden winner at Woodbine two back, which preceded a fourth-place finish in the Christiana S. at Delaware Park in a race that was much better than one might think. The winner of the race, Whiskey Decision, is a fantastic prospect who has romped in three straight outings, and the third-place runner checked in second in a pair of graded races in Florida earlier this campaign. She gets blinkers for her local debut, and I expect her to be clear throughout while tracking just a few lengths off of the early tempo under Alex Achard. 

Good Luck!