Thanksgiving will come nearly a week early for any Gulfstream Park bettor who picks the last five winners on the card this Friday. The 50-cent Late Pick 5 wager features a $64,848 carryover pool that will likely grow exponentially on race day. Here’s a look at the action with a suggested $81 ticket:
GP 5th race (2:31 p.m. EST) -- RACHEL’S SONG won going away in her last three route races on the all-weather track, meets all Florida-breds for the first time and holds a tactical advantage over her main rivals. She will be a popular play in the leadoff leg, but the steadily improving VICTORY BADGE is a viable second option. She rallied for minor awards in 4 of her last 5 allowance route races and gets Paco to ride.
GP 6th race (3:02 p.m. EST) -- MANHATTAN BOY made first run to a brief stretch lead and finished between three deep closers at 1 mile and 70 yards. More importantly, the ninth and 10th-place finishers in the field came back to win with 82 and 73 Beyer speed figures, respectively. MR. SCATTER ‘powered clear’ in the final sixteenth to spring an 11-1 upset for his new connections. He gets ample pace flow to do it again in a field that is a combined 15/0-3-5 at 7F. LASSO recovered from a bumpy start and rallied for second behind runaway favorite Raging Fury, who came back to finish second in a 7F state-bred allowance last Saturday.
GP 7th race (3:33 p.m. EST) -- WHITE ABARRIO, the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic champion and $5 million earner, was re-united with trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. after his most recent start in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap in June of this year. The three-time G-1 winner ran away from three next-out winners the last time he raced 7F for these connections. He is working steadily for his return and will be the overwhelming favorite. His stablemate, MISH, is a Pick 5 consideration with a 12/5-4-3 record and six 90-plus Beyers in the last 17 months, including two 7F victories at Gulfstream.
GP 8th race (4:04 p.m. EST) -- STEAL SUNSHINE has a Grade 2 victory and three more graded stakes placings in his last eight starts, more than the rest of the field combined. He’s also 5-for-10 at Gulfstream. But those looking for better value should take a second look at SUPER CORINTO and GOLDEN GLIDER in Leg D of the sequence. SUPER CORINTO turned heads in his 2022 North American arrival at Gulfstream Park, running 1-2 in allowance company with upper 90 Beyers. He lost by a combined 82 lengths in his next three starts, but he makes his first start for the red-hot Joseph barn off a five-month layoff. GOLDEN GLIDER, Grade 3-placed on conventional dirt as a 3-year-old, reawakened on the switch from turf to dirt two starts back, beating a non-descript field of $35,000 claimers who were a combined 0-for-6 next out. But he ran okay despite a very wide trip on the class rise, now adds blinkers today at a proven distance.
GP 9th race (4:35 p.m. EST) -- Take the last four starts from the nine entrants in this 1-mile and 70-yard allowance for Florida breds and you’ll notice an overall 36/7-6-5 record. Take no chances instead and hit the ‘ALL’ button in hopes that a lucrative Pick 5 payout awaits.
Suggested 50-Cent Ticket
GP 5th Race: 2, 5
GP 6th Race: 1, 6, 7
GP 7th Race: 2 (If scratched, use #4)
GP 8th Race: 3, 4, 8
GP 9th Race: ALL
Cost: $81
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