USTA Play of the Day

by Michael Carter

The Meadows Racetrack and Casino Race 9 (Pick 5)
Date: 7/31/2018 Carryover: $3,637.78  Guarantee: $12,500

Ticket: 4,5,6/ALL (8)/1/4,6/3,4,10 – Cost: $36.00 (.50 base)

Yesterday’s Recap – We went two-for-five in a Pick 5 that paid on four out of five causing a carryover into today.  One of the longer priced horses in the sequence #4 ST LADS FLIRT was a horse we were able to come up with.  The official Pick 5 of 1/4/4/5/5,8,10 (4 of 5) returned $26.50.

Breakdown:

Race 9: #4 HEALTHY GAIN takes a drop in class and combines it with a good post looking to improve off a couple of tough races.  She doesn’t have a lot of early speed, but she does have three wins this year and she could make this one number four.  #5 ALBANY GIRL was a winner two back against this class and looked very sharp on the front end.  Her start last out jumps off the page as she was parked the mile and still managed to finish a strong third.  Look for her to be in the mix today.  #6 DIME A DANCE was a world record holder at two, being one of the faster two-year-old pacers in New York.  She has had a tough go of things as late, but look for her to be around later in the trip.

Race 10: We are going to go price fishing in this one with the all button hit, but my top pick is #1 PHOTO MASS.  He draws the rail this week after hitting the board in four of his last six starts.  He has some early speed to contend with and that could make the difference between these.

Race 11: #1 TSM ARTEMIS T takes a double drop in class to face a group she is going to be much more competitive with.  She isn’t the speediest mare in the world, but she is something to be watching out for at the end of the trip.

Race 12: #4 HS MISS NUTCRACKER has won two of her last three starts and has looked razor sharp in both of them.  She has some early speed to work with and gets a big change to Palone today.  I expect her success to continue.  #6 CRAZY SMART showed speed last week and just got nailed about a hundred steps from the line.  She gets a pretty good draw and a driver change (B. Brown) to help her improve.

Race 13: #3 U TURN HANOVER gets a driver change to Rawlings this week after a couple of decent efforts at The Meadows.  She has some early speed but likes to rate from off the pace.  #4 LADY DUDETTE raced extremely well from post eight last week making the lead and just missing in the end at big odds.  She picks up the services of Palone and you will not get those odds tonight.  #10 BIG CITY BROWN made a hard-charging effort last week to finish third coming home in 29.3.  Post ten shouldn’t be that big of an issue, look for her to be coming late.