Singles for carryovers at Aqueduct, Fair Grounds, Turfway

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson suggests singles for a trio of non-jackpot Pick 5 and Pick 6 carryovers on Saturday at Aqueduct, Fair Grounds, and Turfway Park.

Today’s special offers from TwinSpires include:

• New Players $200 Sign-Up Bonus: Open your TwinSpires.com account using the offer code BET200 to start earning a $200 bonus.
• Woodbine Mohawk 15% Profit Boost: Receive a 15% boost (up to $25 per day) on your winning win, exacta, trifecta, and superfecta wagers at Woodbine Mohawk each Saturday through Jan. 25.
• 8x Points at Your Most Wagered Track: Receive 8x reward points on all wagers (excluding show bets) at your most wagered track each day this week from Monday through Sunday.

Today’s TwinSpires tournaments include:

• $160 Tampa Bay Downs Bonus Feeder to 1/18 Lecomte KDBC Qualifier
• $200 Turfway Feeder to 1/26 Fair Grounds/Oaklawn KDBC/NHC Qualifier

Aqueduct, Race 4: $22,199 Pick 6 carryover (1:40 p.m. ET)

The best chance for a single in the $22,199 Pick 6 carryover at Aqueduct is arguably #10 Vekinda (2-1) in Race 9, a six-furlong dirt dash for New York-bred three-year-olds.

Vekinda hasn’t missed the trifecta in three starts over this distance and class level, including two on dirt. Last time out he finished second at Aqueduct, beaten only by Sand Devil, who returned to dominate an $80,000 allowance optional claimer at Aqueduct by 12 1/2 lengths.

Vekinda’s last two starts have yielded Brisnet Speed ratings of 88 and 87, easily the highest numbers in Saturday’s field. If he runs as well or better while adding Lasix for his three-year-old debut, Vekinda will be tough to beat.

Fair Grounds, Race 4: $6,861 Pick 6 carryover (3:45 p.m. ET)

One of two stakes in the sequence for the $6,861 Pick 6 carryover at Fair Grounds is Race 8, the Gary P. Palmisano Memorial for Louisiana-bred older horses sprinting six furlongs over the main track.

#3 Geaux Sugar (9-5) looks like a viable single. He enters in red-hot form. He’s wired his last two starts sprinting six furlongs at Fair Grounds, both of them stakes for Louisiana-breds. Last time out, he led by daylight at every call of the Louisiana Champions Day Sprint, winning by 4 3/4 lengths while defeating four of the seven rivals he’ll face on Saturday.

A repeat performance can send Geaux Sugar to the winner’s circle at a short price.

Turfway Park, Race 5: $180,036 Pick 5 carryover (7:55 p.m. ET)

A top-notch racehorse is entered to compete in Race 7 on Saturday at Turfway Park, the middle leg of a Late Pick 5 featuring a $180,036 carryover.

Race 7 is a $62,500 allowance optional claimer for older horses racing 6 1/2-furlongs on Tapeta, and the top-notch horse we’re thinking of is #12 Nobals (2-1), winner of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1).

Much of his success has come on grass, but Nobals also boasts a 9-6-2-0 tally over synthetic tracks. He exits a victory in the six-furlong Kennedy Road (G2) on Tapeta at Woodbine, and in the past he’s gone 3-2-1-0 at Turfway, most notably winning the Turfway Prevue and Animal Kingdom S.

Returning to Turfway for red-hot trainer Larry Rivelli (who has gone 8-for-16, 50% at Turfway since Dec. 4) stamps Nobals as a viable Pick 5 single.

Good luck!