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

Racing at Presque Isle Downs (Photo by Coady Media)
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.
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- 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.
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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!
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