Wednesday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: Presque Isle Pick 5 single

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Wednesday, July 17 at Saratoga and Horseshoe Indianapolis, along with a horse to single in the $1,758 Pick 5 carryover at Presque Isle Downs.

Today’s special offers from TwinSpires include:

• Hoosier Park $10 Money Back: Receive refunds on win bets (up to $10) if your horse finishes second in any eligible race at Hoosier Park every Wednesday in July.
• Horseshoe Indianapolis $10 Money Back: Receive refunds on win bets (up to $10) if your horse finishes second in any eligible race at Horseshoe Indianapolis every Wednesday in July and also Saturday, July 6.

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Saratoga: Race 1: A. P. Smithwick Memorial (G1, 2 3/8 miles over national hurdles on turf, 1:10 p.m. ET)

#7 Pickanumber (2-1) was privately sold and transferred to U.S. trainer Leslie Young after obliterating the 1 15/16-mile Swinton H. (G3) at Haydock in the United Kingdom by 15 lengths. The improving six-year-old has won four of his five starts this year and should have every chance to shine in his stateside debut.

#2 Abaan (9-5), a graded stakes winner on the flat who has won four straight races over fences (including three stakes), can complete the exacta.

Selections

• #7 Pickanumber (2-1)
• #2 Abaan (9-5)
• #5 L’Imperator (3-1)

Wagers

• $20 to win on #7 Pickanumber
• $10 Exacta: 7 with 2
  Total: $30

Horseshoe Indianapolis: Race 3: Maiden Special Weight (five furlongs on dirt, 3:12 p.m. ET)

Unraced two-year-old #3 Ace of Cats (9-2) has put together a respectable work tab for trainer Anthony Granitz, a 19% winner with horses debuting in maiden special weights. A daughter of Isotherm, who won the Pilgrim (G3) as a juvenile. Ace of Cats has twice breezed half a mile at Horseshoe Indianapolis in :49 1/5 or faster.

This isn’t the toughest field on paper, and 9-2 morning line odds are enticing, so let’s place a win bet on Ace of Cats.

Selections

• #3 Ace of Cats (9-2)
• #5 Mi Caprichuda (4-1)
• #6 The Flint Express (6-5)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #3 Ace of Cats

Horseshoe Indianapolis: Race 7: Maiden Special Weight (five furlongs on turf, 5:16 p.m. ET)

#4 Onwatch (7-2) hails from the first crop of foals sired by Rowayton, a debut-winning juvenile who placed in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) and American Pharoah (G1) during his two-year-old campaign.

Onwatch has put together a lengthy work tab in preparation for his debut, including a bullet five furlongs in 1:01 4/5. Trainer Paulo Lobo wins at a 24% rate with first-time starters and has gone 3-for-6 (50%) debuting juveniles at Horseshoe Indianapolis since 2023 (which includes a 2-for-2 tally this year), so Onwatch’s 7-2 morning line odds are appealing. A win bet is in order.

Selections

• #4 Onwatch (7-2)
• #2 Stargazzers Dream (8-1)
• #1 Turf Cat (4-1)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #4 Onwatch

Carryover Watch

Presque Isle Downs: Race 1: $1,758 Pick 5 carryover (3:00 p.m. ET)

The Wednesday card at Presque Isle Downs is kicking off on a high note with a $1,758 carryover up for grabs in the 50-cent Early Pick 5.

If you’re planning to play along and find yourself seeking for a single to build tickets around, we recommend exploring Race 2, a $6,250 claimer for fillies and mares who have never won two races. The six-furlong Tapeta sprint has drawn only seven entries, and in terms of recent Brisnet Speed ratings, morning line favorite #3 Kagero (9-5) appears to have this field measured.

The par winning Brisnet Speed rating for Wednesday’s conditions is 68, a number Kagero has matched or exceed in each of her three starts at Presque Isle Downs this season. She posted a 68 when closing from midfield to win a $15,000 maiden claimer by 1 1/2 lengths, then matched that number when second by a neck in a six-furlong sprint over Wednesday’s class level.

Kagero improved to a 72 in her most recent start, when she launched a last-to-first rally to finish second by 1 1/4 lengths in a six-furlong $25,000 claimer for non-winners of two races. That marked a career-best number from the six-year-old mare.

None of Kagero’s rivals have recently posted a higher number. #2 Ready She Is (3-1) threw down a 71 at the end of 2023, but her two ratings this year are 67 and 68.

There are other positives in Kagero’s corner. She’s trained by John Fennessy, a 21% winner with horses dropping multiple levels down the class ladder. And she’ll be ridden by hot jockey Walber Alencar, a 29% winner at Presque Isle this meet and a 39% winner teaming up with Fennessy over the last two months.

Some bettors might hesitate to play Kagero since she’s a late runner in a field with zero obvious pacesetters on paper, but speed horses don’t typically hold a major advantage sprinting six furlongs at Presque Isle, and closers actually perform quite well. This fact, coupled with Kagero’s appealing profile, leads us to recommend the improving mare as a Pick 5 single.

Good luck!