1/ST BET and Xpressbet are offering a $25,000 Hit & Split promotion on Saturday’s all-stakes pick five at Fair Grounds. The 50-cent minimum wager will encompass Races 10-14 and culminate with the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes and its potential impact on the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes trail.
Be sure to opt into the promo when you play Saturday at 1/ST BET and Xpressbet, and not only will you cash your pari-mutuel winnings if successful in the all-stakes pick five, but you’ll share in that $25,000 of bonus money only with other players on our platforms who also solve all five races. Watch Eddie Olczyk's keys to the sequence and then check out more below.
Fair Grounds // Race 10 // $100,000 Al Stall Memorial Stakes
Comments: 13 are entered with #5 Spirit And Glory, a well-traveled mare who has lost 7 of her last 8, a tepid 3-1 morning line favorite. #3 Creative Cairo won the local prep last out, snapping a 10-race losing streak in her last-to-first rally.
Key Betmix Stat: Favorites own a sharp 12: 5-4-0 record in turf stakes at the current Fair Grounds meet, including 7 of the last 8 in the exacta.
Fair Grounds // Race 11 // $250,000 Grade 3 Mineshaft Stakes
Comments: 8 of the 9 entrants have morning line projections between 3-1 and 8-1 odds in a wide-open forecast. None of these exit a stakes victory and only 2 runners won last time out, both in allowance company. Saudi Crown dominated the local prep, the Louisiana Stakes, but he’s off to the $20 million Saudi Cup next week and leaves 3 of his pursuers here to pick up the pieces. #8 Happy American has 13 local starts, while the remaining 8 runners have combined for just 5 trips over the FG main track and a lone victory by #7 Money Supply.
Key Betmix Stat: Trainer Todd Pletcher’s 5 stakes shippers to Fair Grounds last year netted 2 wins and a runner-up, including Pioneer of Medina’s victory in the Mineshaft. He sends #4 Gasoline from Florida.
Fair Grounds // Race 12 // $175,000 Grade 3 Fair Grounds Stakes
Comments: Dozen entered at 1-1/8 miles on turf, including odds-on local prep winner #3 Strong Quality for Mark Casse, who is the 3-1 morning line favorite. The top-5 finishers from that Colonel E.R. Bradley Stakes are back. #11 Gigante won December’s Woodchopper and bypassed the Colonel E.R. Bradley, coming in freshened off four well-spaced workouts for Steve Asmussen.
Key Betmix Stat: Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. has been exceptional in Fair Grounds turf races at this 1-1/8 miles trip over the past 5 years, winning 7 of 20 (35%) for a whopping $3.80 ROI for every $1 bet. He partners with #8 Camp Hope, who has been away since August.
Fair Grounds // Race 13 // $300,000 Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra Stakes
Comments: Field of 7, the shortest lineup in the all-stakes pick 5, puts Kentucky Oaks hopefuls in the spotlight over 1-1/16 miles. Just in the last 6 years, this race has produced star winners like Monomoy Girl, Serengeti Empress, Clairiere and Pretty Mischievous. Saturday’s lineup includes victors of the Untapable Stakes (#5 Alpine Princess) and Silverbulletday Stakes (#7 West Omaha) already at the Fair Grounds meet. Those two Brad Cox trainees also are joined by Churchill Downs’ top freshman fillies from a year ago, Pocahontas winner #6 V V’s Dream and Golden Rod winner #4 Intricate.
Key Betmix Stat: Trainers Brad Cox and Steve Asmussen have combined to win 13 of the 19 Fair Grounds dirt route stakes for 3-year-old fillies since 2020. Cox saddles Tarifa, Alpine Princess and West Omaha, while Asmussen counters with Perfect Shot.
Fair Grounds // Race 14 // $400,000 Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes
Comments: 12 Triple Crown hopefuls match up over 1-1/8 miles as #11 Track Phantom is the lukewarm chalk at 7-2 odds after victories in the Gun Runner and Lecomte Stakes already this meeting. He’ll take on almost an entirely new cast as only one alumnus of those previous meet stakes is back to challenge. The great Gun Runner won this race in 2016 and will be represented by two sons who may vie for favoritism, #4 Sierra Leone and #7 Hall of Fame. Arguably the deepest Kentucky Derby prep so far this year has last-out runners from Gulfstream, Oaklawn, Aqueduct, Churchill Downs and Fair Grounds in an inter-regional showdown.
Key Betmix Stat: Here are the win percentages over the past 5 years for horses racing in Fair Grounds dirt stakes races based on their last prep location: Churchill Downs (21%), Oaklawn (17%), Gulfstream (15%), Aqueduct (15%) and Fair Grounds (14%).
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