Frank Carulli: Laurel Park Pick 4 Analysis | Saturday, November 26, 2022

Laurel Park will serve up a post-Thanksgiving Day feast with three, $100,000 stakes races on its Saturday, Nov. 26 card. Players at 1/ST BET and Xpressbet will play for an additional $5,000 in the Hit & Split promotion in this sequence. The stakes drew an average field size of 12 and are part of a 50-cent Late Pick 4 that looks like this:

LRL 6th race (2:56 EST) -- Get through this crowded field in the $100,000 Safely Kept Stakes and you could be on your way to a lucrative Pick 4 payout. LAST LEAF won three consecutive minor stakes – two at today’s 7F distance – but finished out of the money in a pair of graded stakes since then. She met the likes of multimillionaire Echo Zulu, multiple G-II winner Wicked Halo and multiple G-I-placed Tarabi and should sit an ideal trip with first-time Lasix. DIVINE HUNTRESS, the closest pursuer of millionaire and 1-to-5 winner Matareya, finished second in the Grade I Acorn Stakes but turned in a dull follow-up try around two turns at Charles Town. NOVEMBER REIN stalked a contested pace 4-wide after a bumpy start, got first run on the favorites and dug in for a 19-1 upset against NY-breds in the Iroquois Stakes. She will retain plenty of betting value in this spot. SWAYIN TO AND FRO won ‘in hand’ and ‘ridden out’ and handily during a 6-for-9 run on the main track this year. She ran on short rest when third in an allowance but starts fresh today.

LRL 7th race (3:27 EST) -- NIMITZ CLASS has five wins in his last eight starts on conventional dirt and overcame a stumbled start to finish second in the 7F Concern Stakes at Laurel, finishing ahead of Scarmouche, who came back to win three in a row, including the G-II Gallant Bob at Parx from post 13. UNDERCOVER KITTY has shown steady progress, could be well-suited to stalk a fast pace on the cutback from several long-distance tests and should be used as a price play in the $100,000 City of Laurel Stakes. RADICAL RIGHT will be undervalued after he benefited from a fast pace to win back-to-back allowances, but he could sit a similar trip and is hard to leave off the ticket in his current form.

LRL 8th race (3:58 EST) -- OURNATIONONPARADE won the Maryland Million Classic in his first start at 1-1/8 miles and first for a high-percentage new-acquisition barn. He patiently tracked the pace while 4-wide, cruised past the longshot leader on the final turn and widened when asked for stretch run. He is today’s solo play to make it five wins in a row in the $100,000 Richard Small Stakes.  

LRL 9th race (4:29 EST) – ALL WORKED UP has speed, a solid work tab for her return and was last seen fading against runner-up Patria, who won a turf allowance at Aqueduct last Saturday. ART I SOMETHING held second in a turf-to-dirt sprint won by a 4-to-5 first-time starter in MSW company two back. BACKSTREET AFFAIR lures leading jockey Jeiron Barbosa for a 26-percent new-acquisition barn and makes the ticket as a result. KRONE offered only a ‘mild response’ in a well-bet debut and is worth using at an inflated price.

Suggested 50-cent Ticket

LRL 6th Race: 1, 8, 9, 11
LRL 7th Race: 5, 6, 11
LRL 8th Race: 1
LRL 9th Race: 3, 5, 6, 7

COST: $24

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