The weather forecast calls for partly sunny skies with temperatures around 70 for this Friday’s card at Gulfstream Park. That’s comforting news for horseplayers, who have endured several track cancellations throughout the country since the start of the New Year. Warm to the task by playing the $1 pick 3 on races 7-9.
GP 7th race (3:35 p.m. EST) -- JUSTDENY is the lone entrant to win at 1-3/8 miles on the turf and holds a class and tactical edge over this entry-level allowance field. She swung 5-wide in upper stretch in the Grade 3 Jockey Club Oaks two back at Aqueduct but was no match for the closing kick of Beautiful Love, who got beat a length in the Breeders’ Cup Fillies & Mares Turf next out. She figures up close from the rail in a field that lacks quality speed and will carry the hopes of the Bet 3 ticket as a solo play.
GP 8th race (4:05 p.m. EST) -- DENVER’S ALLEY dueled hard and drifted 5-wide before a trio of closers passed by in the stretch in a shorter sprint on the all-weather track. But the race came up gangbusters with three next-out winners, two runners-up and three 75-plus Beyer speed figures. She is a must use in her first start on conventional dirt, but she must avoid a battle with rail-sitting favorite STORMY MITOLE, who class drops and shortens up for leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. If the pace falls apart, BAH HUMBUG should be poised for a winning rally. She repelled a bid by recent allowance runner-up Quiet Confidence to win a $50,000 maiden claimer in her first start on dirt. She was no threat in a pair of follow-up allowances but fits well in here.
GP 9th race (4:37 p.m. EST) -- LUSH LIPS was well-beaten in her U.S. debut on turf, but she returned 2-1/2 months later with a smashing victory on Gulfstream’s all-weather track, wearing blinkers for the first time. She broke sharply from post 11 to secure 2-path position, tracked the pace-setting favorite under a snug hold and simply took over on the far turn en route to a 7-length win. The only knock is that the runners she defeated were 8/0-0-0 in their next start. The good news is that she posted two bullet workouts on the lawn since then, the latest at 5F in 1:01, more than a second faster than 10 of 12 others that worked at Palm Meadows that day. Her uncoupled stablemate, SASHAY AWAY, starts fresh and gets Lasix after a dull allowance effort in which she was forced to check early and raced 7-wide at the top of the stretch. But she was made the favorite off a decent try in a Grade 2 stakes, when she rallied on the rail into stretch traffic and got beat 3 lengths by millionaire May Day Ready, the eventual runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. RAMSAY POND beat LUSH LIPS by 18-3/4 lengths to break her maiden, then rallied 3-wide on the turn and finished third to Grade 3-placed Civeta at 7-1/2F. CHEESE got up in the closing yards to break her maiden against Florida breds and reward her loyal backers in start number six. Her sire was a stakes-winning router and her dam was 2-3 in turf route races, so she should handle the added ground. Her trainer, Mark Casse, won five turf races at Gulfstream since Dec. 7 at odds of 7-1 or higher. ORIGAMI earned favoritism with a bumpy trip and 3-wide rally for third in her U.S. debut against speedy, Grade 2-placed winner Clock Tower and next-out Maiden Special Weight winner Scipio.
Suggested $1 Ticket
GP 7th Race: 1
GP 8th Race: 1, 2, 8
GP 9th Race: 3, 4, 5, 7, 8
Cost: $15
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