Saturday Pick 3 Play for Pleasanton

The opening-day feature at Pleasanton on Saturday is the $75,000 Bart Heller S., which is for fillies and mares run at 1 1/8 miles. I will take a swing at the Pick 3 sequence that concludes with the leading event of the afternoon. 

Race 6 Wager

• $2 Pick 3: 5,6,7,8,9 with 1,5,9 with 1 ($30)

Race 6 – Allowance

A competitive cast of nine will contest the six-furlong dash. I feel that each of the five runners drawn to the outside has a winning chance in the heat. #5 Melanie’s Tiger (5-2), #6 Grubauer (3-1), #7 Mio Bambino (8-1), #8 Regal Patriot (6-1), and #9 Lord Prancealot (4-1) will all make my ticket in the opening leg. 

Race 7 – Claiming

A total of nine geldings will go postward in the $16,000 claiming test at six panels. I can’t single any runner in the well-matched field and will spread with a trio of the entrants. My top choice is #9 Light the Beam (5-1) for conditioner Jamey Thomas. The Stay Thirsty gelding made a big late surge to finish third by a neck off the bench while making his dirt bow last time out, and the sophomore could easily improve on Saturday despite the rise in class. He will be doing his best work inside the final furlong. 

#1 Pineapple Juice (5-2) is a logical inclusion for Tim McCanna. Coastline gelding was a huge runner-up at this level two back at Del Mar and will be tough to deny with anything resembling that showing from the rail beneath Frank Alvarado. And I’ll also include #5 Adios Nicanor (10-1) off the short layoff. Idiot Proof gelding has been facing much better in the starter allowance ranks as of late and will appreciate the class relief in this spot. 

Race 8 – Bart Heller S. 

#1 Anthonys Cleopatra (4-1) has speed, class, and the rail. The five-year-old daughter of Constitution is stakes-placed on the surface and comes in off of a nice prep run when second in a dirt sprint effort at Fresno in her first appearance since January. Washington-bred mare simply looks best in a modest field, and the Tim McCanna pupil figures to take the field all the way on the front end with Frank Alvarado in the irons. 

Good luck!