Jim Dandy 50-Cent Pick 4

So the 50-cent Pick Four has finally made it to NYRA, more specifically, Saratoga. So what's the difference between a 50-cent base bet versus a $1 - a lot. For me, this means I can break more own steadfast rule on Pick 4s - I don't need to single. 50-cents also means you can spread a lot farther in all directions, if you think a longshot or two can crack the sequence. I had a $96 Pick 4 based on a dollar (something I would never play) last Saturday that was knocked down to $48 with just the 50-cent base investment. The return was still a respectable $750 with two double-digit longshots coming in. (Don't ask why I didn't make the play even though I was on track and had the cash.)

So this brings us to this afternoon with a Pick 4 surrounded by two graded, one ungraded stakes races and with a beaten claiming race on the grass.  The strategy is to spread around using the 50-cent bet, hoping again, that a couple of double-digit finishes are in the cards.

Without further ado the Late Pick 4:

The Hattie Moseley for three year old fillies going a mile on the grass looks wide open. The two classy fillies on paper are Parting Words and Sassy's Dream (who are both at juicy odds) based upon facing the most stakes company and showing a good account of themselves. A grade two second place finish can certainly translate to a win at $75,000. For the bigger names and shorter prices - Juddmonte Farms sends Starformer stateside and Todd Pletcher has Artisanal breaking from the outside.

The Grade I Diana for fillies and mares going 1 1/ 8 miles on the grass is always a good race and this year's edition looks ultracompetitive, again, good for odds and playing. You should never look the other way when a horse reels off four wins in a row like Unbridled Humor has done to start her career. She steps up her, but why not a win? Aruna and Aviate look to be knocking on the door for a grade one win and both have all the right connections, which comes with lower prices that should include on your ticket. Romacaca has done everything right in her last four wins and her trainer Nick Canani does not ship without reason. At 15-1, she's the one you hope lands on top and gives some real value to the ticket.

A case can be made for all Jim Dandy entrants but I'm narrowing it down to Dominus who you should respect, Scotus who could surprise and Alternation who seems ready to explode on the scene.

The final race comes down to two for me - Free Brave, the favorite, and Saints Alive, a bomb. Got to do yard work, see ya!

The play at 50-cents is 3-5-8-10/1-6-7/2-4-7/2-10 for $48. Good luck with your plays.

Travers' Day Pick Four

Race 9 - Grade III Victory Ride Stakes for fillies

Beyondallboundarys– tactical speed and steady improvement in last three races, Amoss ain’t coming for nothing

Katy Now – now horse, ready to fire fresh on cut back in distance

Race 10 - Grade I Ballerina - wide open affair

Rightly So – gets the rail, off two excellent races, 2-for-2 at distance and fast works

Warbling – totally missed break in last and still ran well, should rate her back for one run

Jessica Is Back – was able to rate in last and got a rest before big time try here, grade one winner

Informed Decision – sprint champion working up to big score?

Qualia – what’s not to like, has finished first or second in all six of her races

Pretty Prolific – has the ability to close from back of pack if pace becomes too fast up front

Race 11 - Grade I King's Bishop for colts

D’Funnybone – five time stakes winner and four times seven furlong winner with two wins over the likely favorite Discreetly Mine (bounce candidate)

Bulldogger and Bank Merger are both stepping way up in class over impressive wins during their short careers, if either can win you get 5-1 or better

Race 12 - Travers' Stakes

Fly Down – should see a hot pace in front of him and has the ability to engulf the front runners with one strong move…the single

The $1 Pick Four Play: 7-9/1-6/3-5-6/8 for $36. Good luck with all your wagers!

Pick Four Saratoga Jim Dandy/Diana Day

Let's get right to it...

Race 8 - NY-Bred Maidens, 1 1/16 Turf

Simply put these races - most of the time - go to the right connections. That being said Chingachgook is an obvious pick. This son of Empire Maker has been knocking on the door for Graham Motion in his last two, sits in the garden spot for new jock Leparoux, who excels on the turf. No trainer is hotter than Chad Brown, picking up his fourth win yesterday from only eight starts. Atitlan has some decent turf pedigree and has been working steadily towards this unveiling. Look no further....

Race 9 - Diana - Grade 1 F&M 1 1/8 Turf

Wow! You won't see many Grade 1 fields as tight and talented as this one. Each entrant has a graded stakes win with Proviso, Phola and Forever Together having multiple Grade 1 victories. I see two ways go, using the three top-tier fillies or mare listed above or hitting the "All" button. Call me chicken, but the "All" button is where I'm going. Just as an argument can be made against the rest of field, let me make a case for: My Princess Jess (win over the track an only a neck and half away from Proviso in last); Dynaslew (has awoken in last three with new trainer Seth Bezel and has potential to wire field); Shared Account (back-to-back top notch efforts) and Maram (did I mention she is trained by Chad Brown?) Dismiss any of these at your own risk.

Race 10 - Jim Dandy - Grade II - Colts 1 1/8

A field of nine that lacks the star power of Monmouth's Haskell and as I see it, a much easier race to handicap. A Little Warm and Miner's Reserve put up two of the best Beyer speed figures of all three-year-olds in their one-two finish in an optional claimer at Deleware. I like A Little Warm more since he doesn't need the front as much as Miner's Reserve and there looks to be several others that want the front in here. The classiest of all here is probably Fly Down. Besides his steadied Louisiana Derby run, he's won two and just missed in the Belmont Stakes.

Race 11 - $25,000 Claiming, 3YO and Up, 1 1/16 Turf

The definition of a difficult handicapping race - six last out winners from the first eleven entrants...whew. If I get this far, the three that will be on my ticket are: Chromospere goes for mediocre jockey turned crazy good trainer Rudy Rodriguez. You simply have to include this one off Rodriguez's recent success! Ticondero is two for his last three and you might get a price due to his trainer and his shipping in from Churchill. Although with Leparoux up, he could end up the favorite. British Banker is my top choice even though you have to go back to February for his last win. Going from an allowance starter to this level may even be considered a class drop and by the way, Chad Brown trains....

For those keeping track, that's a $1 Pick Four of: 1-5/ALL/5-9/1-3-9 for $84

Belmont Stakes on the Cheap

• Here's my take on the Belmont Stakes and the five other stakes races on the card with some very affordable and quite hittable multi-race wagers.

Race 6 Woody Stephens Stakes, 7 furlongs for 3 YOs

• A compact but fairly talented field here. For me it comes down simply to the horse I believe is the fastest - Eightyfiveinafifty. Take away the Churchill mud and the bizarre Whirlaway Stakes in which his bridle broke and he ran off the track, and he's run two triple-digit Beyer scores. While D'Funnybone is 3-for-3 at the tricky, 7 furlong distance and doesn't need the lead, Eightfiveinafifty may force his hand to go along at a rapid pace - one that he may not be able to keep up with. Derby entrant, Discreetly Mine, is the wild card.

Race 7 Just a Game, 1 mile turf for fillies and mares

• Another compact field with a few stand outs...Speak Easy Gal is the price play at 7-2, if there is such a thing. Castellano, who excels on the turf, will likely play catch-me-if-you-can with a loose lead. Proviso, a two-time Grade I winner and against the boys no less in her last. Must respect. Phola has won three straight in going from allowance to grade three to grade two company with rising Beyers in each, which makes her tough to ignore.

Race 8 True North Handicap, 6 furlongs for older males

• A crowded field that can be pared down to three contenders. Custom for Carlos brings his A-game just about every time and excels at this sprint distance. Strasbourg is an X-factor moving way up to Grade II company coming off a tough allowance loss at a mile. Trainer Albertrani wins at just about 25% second off a mid-layoff and you'll get at least double digit odds for this $450,000 purchase out of champion Friends Lake. Checklist rounds out the top three coming off a triple-digit score and a short rest. He'll either win by 10 lengths or lose by 25.

Race 9 Acorn, 1 mile for 3YO fillies

• Really no standout in this division, so just about everyone is live here, but let me try to narrow it down to a little. Tanda goes from synthetic to dirt and west to east here, but owns the last two highest Beyers. Hollywood strip plays like dirt and trainer Dan Hendricks isn't bringing her all this way for nothing. While Seeking the Title dropped her rider during the Black Eyed Susan Stakes, she should not be faulted for this and Desormeaux comes right back to ride. Streaker from the powerful Phipps Stable has every right to improve off two, single-turn wins at Gulfstream and Belmont and could pass class test with flying colors. Not sure what to do with either Amen Hallelujah or Quiet Temper - both are inconsistent while showing flashes of brilliance. With blinkers on, Indian Burn should be included for deep tickets.

Race 10, Manhattan Handicap, 1 1/4 miles turf for older runners

• Either everyone is in here or everyone is out except for one. I'm going with just the one because 11 entries are just too many to play. Gio Ponti, older turf champion, has yet to score this year, but has run two sneaky good races. He loves Belmont, winning and $3.5 million in the bank is enough for me to single here.

Race 11, Belmont Stakes, 1 1/2 miles for 3YOs

• No Derby or Preakness winners here, so a big evenly-matched field goes forward. I can see a case to be made for every hopeful except Dave in Dixie - overmatched, Stately Victor - overrated and Uptowncharlybrown - poorly breed for such a distance. I've been trying to get it down to less than four choices and if I could only pick one, it would be First Dude. He's the most likely candidate to go coast-to-coast ripping off 24 and change quarters along the way. Fly Down showed a great turn of foot in Dwyer and is most likely to inherit a lead at the top of the lane. Spangled Star has the breeding to get the job done and nothing else. Worth some sort of play at 30-1 or greater. Trying to like Ice Box, Drosslemeyer and Make Music for Me, but at this time will probably include the chalk, Ice Box, just in case.

The Picks:

• Pick 3 (Races 6-9) - a cheap pay looking for $50 plus return: 1-5/1-3-5/2-8 for $8
• Pick 6 - an affordable triple single play 1/1-3/2/2-4-5/1/2-5-6-11 for $48
• Pick 4 (Races 8-11) affordable with big payoff potential 2-4-8/2-4-5-11/1/2-5-11 for $36

Good luck with all your Belmont Day wagers!

Early Scratches Changes to Wagers

• Pick 3 (Races 6-9) 1-5/1-3/3-6-7-8-9 for $20
• Pick 6 1/1-3/6-8/2-4-5/1/5-11 for $48
• Pick 4 (Races 8-11) 3-6-8/2-4-6-8/1/2-5-11 $36

Quickie Fair Grounds Pick Four

Not much time to write so let me make it quick:

Race 7 Crescent City for Louisiana Breds

• With the scratch of Tensas Cat, Redsugar looks like an on-the-loose single.

Race 8 New Orleans

• With Stonehouse, Battle Plan and General Quarters all on or near the pace from the far outside, there is a potential for a traffic jam from the start and the possibility of a closer to come late. Let's take two out of the three from the outside: Battle Plan and General Quarters and throw in horse-for-the-course Star Guitar.

Race 9 Mervyn Muniz Jr.

• A turf event, so I might as well spread with Jet Propulsion - possible coast-to-coast candidate, El Caballo to rate just off his flank, Pick Six to pick up the pieces if the pace collapses, Blues Street for getting so good at six.

Race 10 Louisiana Derby

• There's plenty of pace in here, so we'll find out who can take the pressure and who will fold. Let's take take one up front and one from way back - Discreetly Mine to repeat his Risen Star feat and Stay Put to out kick Ron the Greek to the front, if too many want the lead.

The play for 50-cent: 3/7-9-10/2-4-5-8/7-9 for $12. Good luck with your plays...

All Turf Pick 4

Now here's a play worth making - the all turf Pick 4 at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. Let's simply get to it:

Race 7, Herecomesthebride, Grade III at 1 1/8 miles

I'm steering clear of favorites right off the bat. Neither the first, second or fourth place finishers from the Coconut Grove make my ticket. Instead I am making the fifth place finisher my top choice here. Upperline finished less than two lengths from long shot 'Grove winner In the Rough while making up the most ground in the stretch. Here Upperline gets another 1/16 of a mile to work with as well as getting a positive jock switch to Castellano. Well-bred and inexperienced fillies Apple Charlotte and Dynazaper also go on the ticket just in case they run up to their breeding today.

Race 8, OC 62k/N2X at 1 1/16 miles

OK so you need a single in a turf race - good luck! And really most of my published singles have been stinkers of late...but I carry on nonetheless. While it took Uncle Indy ten tries to break his maiden, it appears the six-year-old finally got the hang of things last year and simply ran into trouble in his last race and 2010 debut at Gulfstream. Breeding, pace, trip and trainer/jock numbers are too overwhelming to ignore. He'll even get a pace to run at from his good inside post, which makes it easier to swallow a chalky single in a turf route. C'mon Uncle Indy!

Race 9, Palm Beach, Grade III at 1 1/8 miles

Man, if you watched the Hallandale Beach a few weeks back and are not a fan of Bim Bam, I'm surprised. While headed in the lane by well-regarded and possible Derby contender Interactif, Bim Bam stuck his head right back in and out fought Interactif to the wire in dramatic fashion. I had the exacta box and cheered mightily as Bim Bam gave me 2x what I would have won had the finish been reversed! Much traveled Dean's Kitten and inexperienced Center Drive back up Bim Bam in case he bounces off such a hard race.

Race 10, Maiden Sp Wt 45k at 1 1/16 miles

Let's close out with four choices in a wide open race. Seriously folks in this kind of race I look to positive trainer results and they are not hard to find here. Pletcher wins at 14% clip for horses debuting over a mile - really that's unheard of so Paseo Alegro gets in. Once Hurricane Day figured things out heading towards home in his debut five weeks ago, he really ran on late. A small step forward and he's a winner. Mystic figures to be double-digit odds for Mott/Desormeaux, which is something you just don't see. Truly capable of waking up in turf debut despite lousy dirt form. Finally Beau Choix seems to be the class of this field, so I'll put him on as insurance.

There's quite a bit of chalk on the ticket, but if my handicapping is right in the first leg and I get just one more upset in legs three or four, I could finally have a decent Pick 4 payout.

The play for 50 cents: 6-7-9/3/2-6-7/3-4-8-10 for $18. Good luck with your plays!

Gulfstream Pick 4, Take 4

This is my fourth stab at Gulfstream's, 50-cent minimum Late Pick 4. The best I've mustered is two, three-out-four scenarios. Let's see if I can get off the snide today.

Race 7, Grade III Sabin at 1 mile

• Single, pure and simple - Justwhistledixie. If you get 5-2 consider it a gift. By far the class of the field with her two biggest stakes wins coming right here at Gulfstream last year. The only graded stakes winner on dirt in the field will get a pace to run into from a likely rail stalking, ground saving trip.

Race 8, Grade II Davona Dale at 1 mile

• The only knock against singling Bickersons is that she may have run too big a race in her last to duplicate another such effort. Her Grade II Forward Gal win at seven furlongs was dominating and never in doubt. If she runs anything close to that one again, forgetatabout. No other filly comes close to Bickersons on pure speed numbers, but Sassy Image may improve enough to catch the chalk if she falters. Trainer Dale Romans is winning at a 25% clip and Sassy Image pulled away from a small field in her last over the Gulfstream slop.

Race 9, Grade III Very One at 1 3/8 miles on the turf

• Since none of these fillies or mares have won at this demanding distance and the late charging favorite Lady Shakespeare is parked all the way out on the 14 post, why not take a few shots?I'm taking two, double-digit fillies coming out a 1 7/16 turf race earlier this month. Both Kiawah Cat and Proud Lisa ran well coming over four month layoffs. The two finished within a length of each other tracking a very slow pace in the marathon allowance. I liked Cable in her last start enough to include her in my vertical wagers. In that race she was getting to a loose on the lead winner and will get two additional furlongs for her closing bid.

Race 10, Maiden $35,000 claimer, 1 1/16 miles on turf

• What, at first, looks like an impossible condition to finish the Pick 4 is a race that really isn't that hard to handicap. From The Keep It Simple Stupid Department: Michael Maker is 29% first off the claim the last two years and has Tigresco going under that condition here. Enough said. In a seemingly paceless race, Smart Selection goes second time with blinkers and went the fastest of five workouts on February 19, so he may get a lead that he won't relinquish. For kicks and giggles why not toss in Charismaticspring at 20-1 or better just in case he runs back to his May 2, 2009 form - the last time he was on the turf and finished an OK third.

The play for 50 cents: 1/4-8/1-5-12/2-9-11 for $9. Good luck with your plays!