The favorites went winless in the Keeneland’s Pick 4 last Friday, at the expense of three winners who paid $20 or more. It added up to a 50-cent Pick 4 payout of $6,307 on opening day. Will history repeat itself this Friday? It’s worth a bet to find out.
KEE 7th race (4:12 p.m. EST) -- CRIMSON ADVOCATE, a second-out stakes winner on the Gulfstream Park lawn, Group 2 grass sprint winner at Ascot and torrid pace-setter in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, should outrun her 6-1 morning-line odds in the $250,000 Limestone Stakes. But the 10 rivals she beat at Gulfstream are 4-for-57 since that race, so go a little deeper on the ticket. KODIAK WINTERGREEN is a longshot worth using. She broke her maiden on the Saratoga lawn, gets plenty of pace to rally into and her dam, Humble and Proud, produced two multiple graded stakes winners and Love Reigns, who won this race last year. NICE AS PIE seeks her third consecutive stakes victory in her first start on turf. She was geared down in victory in the 6-1/2F Valdale Stakes and advanced while in-hand on the turn in winning the 6F Serena’s Song. ZOE’S PRIME overcame a bumpy break and 6-wide fan at the top of the stretch to finish second to the favorite in her debut, then she romped next out in a race that timed 1-2/5 faster than 3-year-old MSW colts and geldings on the same card. PIPSY hasn’t raced since an October stakes victory in Ireland, but she is working well for her U.S. debut and lures Prat to ride.
KEE 8th race (4:44 p.m. EST) -- CLASSIC LEGACY made his seasonal debut off a nine-month layoff and made a late run at multiple graded stakes-placed winner Great Navigator at 6-1/2F, setting him up well for a winning-type run at 7F in a speed-laden field. TUNISIAN SPRING makes his seasonal debut for a high-percentage layoff barn but draws outside in a crowded field. He set the pace but couldn’t contain the 2-to-1 winner in a 6F race that produced several proven allowance runners, but he did carry his speed 7F to break his maiden prior to that. SUNCROFT was hand-ridden in a smashing debut, then chased but couldn’t foil a freakish performance by 11-1 winner Olazabal, who lost his previous seven starts by a combined 89 lengths, albeit a few in stakes company.
KEE 9th race (5:16 p.m. EST) -- Breeders Cup Mile champion MASTER OF THE SEAS seeks his fifth graded stakes victory at the distance in the Grade 1, $600,000 Maker’s Mark Mile. The rainy forecast, potential reported scratch of Du Jour and lack of pace could work against the late-running multi-millionaire, but he’s hard to overlook, nonetheless. KUBRICK won his U.S. debut for trainer Chad Brown in allowance company off a nine-month layoff at Tampa Bay Downs. He was pinched back at the start, raced 3- and 4-wide throughout, kicked clear in mid-stretch and has plenty of upside for a 24 percent ‘repeat’ barn at a big price.
KEE 10th race (5:48 p.m. EST) -- Good recent form abounds in this 1-1/16-mile starter allowance, with four of the 10 entrants winning at different tracks in their last start. LIPS SAY BLISS arrives from Oaklawn Park in excellent form and a proven off-track record that could resurface. He drifted out and lugged in when second in a triple key race two back, then withstood constant pressure on the front end to prevail by a neck at today’s distance. MIDNIGHT RAID has two wins and a second going a route of ground in his last five starts with an average 84 Beyer in those races. GILDEN CRAKEN was no match for MIDNIGHT RAID in the stretch, but he has progressed steadily since a $30,000 claim, worked well since that race and projects an ideal stalking trip at bigger odds. The light switch turned on for EJTIMAA when he raced with Lasix and won back-to-back long sprints at Tampa Bay Downs by a combined 15-3/4 lengths. He takes on older rivals from post 10 but lures Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride.
Suggested 50-Cent Ticket
KEE 7th Race: 1, 3, 4, 5, 10
KEE 8th Race: 3, 5, 11
KEE 9th Race: 4, 5
KEE 10th Race: 4, 5, 7, 10
Cost for 50-cent ticket: $60
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