By Ciaran Thornton
12/27/2014
You know the Late Pick 4 sequence was a hard one when there is a carryover in the Pick 6 of $146k, and odds-on Shared Belief wins and the Pick 4 still pays $1,969! It seems the start of all the Southern California meets this year have seen big payouts in the first few days and that is our kind of meet! Let’s see what we can do today in another tough sequence that is sure to pay a very nice price again.
Starting off in the 6th race today we have a first time Irish starter on turf, #2 Ernest Shackleton. As you will come to know I always bet the first time Irish so this is a lock for me and the morning line price of 15-1 and first time Lasix for this O’Neill trained horse is right up my alley! The morning line favorite # 3 Daddy DT is a late running dropper that will still give us a good price here. I’m also going to use the #11 Bolo who won his last race and had a fast workout last week.
In the second leg the 7th race we have the morning line favorite #5 Dancinthenightaway (which I hope we will be doing after we score a nice Pk4 win!) Dancin is 2 for 2 and running in a longer race this time, and while some may single it I’m not so sure. I’m going to use the #10 Sayes So who won her debut and is another speed horse like Dancin. Because a speed duel is possible here I’m going to also use #8 Mums Truckee, a late closer who could steal it away at a decent price.
In the 8th race the # 8 Kathleen Rose is a horse that is always in the mix. In 9 starts at Santa Anita she has 5 wins and 3 seconds and we get a decent price of 6-1. Keep in mind though that this is the longest this horse has run. #3 Lady Pimpernel is a second start European invader that had a troubled trip last time and should have won in my book. I bet Pimpernel in that last race using my dad’s theory that “1st time European horses are always live” (and why I’m using #2 in the 6th) so let’s see if we get rewarded today. I’m not going to use the morning line favorite here #11 Rusty Slipper even though it is free-falling in price for one reason, it has mostly raced out of State and I give more credit to California runners. Instead I’m going with my main man Joe Talamo on #7 Blingismything who is 2 for 2 and moving up in class.
In the final leg, race 9, we have the morning line favorite #5 Cyrus Alexander who cost $1.7m. 3rd then 2nd could third time be the charm? The Smith/ Hollendorfer tandem adds to the appeal. After this its anyone’s guess who to use. This is a leg where an argument for ALL has merit but we are playing a small ticket so cant. Instead I’m going to use the #9 Kantune who ran second on dirt here in October. For my bomb today I am going to go with #8 Ghost of Navigator who caught my eye running first time Lasix.
Today’s Pick 4 bet will cost $40.50, three by three by three by three.
2,3,11
5,8,10
3,7,8
5,8,9
Good luck today!