The Stronach 5 paid more than $43,000 for a $1 wager in three of the last eight weeks it was offered. This week's sequence covers four tracks nationwide and could produce another big payout. Here's an early look at the action, with an update to follow Friday after scratches:
LEG A: (Laurel Park, race 8, 3:57 EST) -- PIT STOP MAN raced inside a 4-way duel for the lead, battled back after the favorite cleared on the turn and got caught by a 33-1 deep closer. He will be an underlay but will be tough to beat as controlling speed. MONEY CODE trailed at the top of the stretch in the same one-mile race but finished strongly in the 2-path for third. KEEN ON YOU saved ground, lost contact with the leaders on the final turn and finished okay in a heavily-bet second start. He worked 4F in :47.3 after he was claimed in that November race and is a wake-up candidate with Lasix.
LEG B: (Gulfstream Park, race 8, 4:11 EST) -- READY TO FILM, much improved since adding blinkers, runs on a synthetic track for the first time after a pair of photo-finish placings on the turf behind winners who are a combined 4-for-10. CAGUA, one of four entrants coming in off a maiden claiming victory, rallied to win in a longer route race with first-time Lasix and should get plenty of pace flow in a repeat try. WAR OF AGES benefited from several troubled rivals behind her but still looked good drawing away to a second-out sprint victory after two months away.
LEG C: (Santa Anita, race 3, 4:33 EST) -- ARDIS chased a faster pace at 6F than a $50,000 sprint for the boys at 5/1/2F on the same card. She dropped back after she was bumped into the turn, now lures Prat for start number two. AN AGENT MISTAKE, a first-time starter by 2016 Del Mar Futurity winner Klimt (3-8, $468k), shows a series of steady workouts for her debut. PRETTY RENA encountered trouble in a pair of turf sprints, then tired badly in a double key turf-to-dirt mile. She gets Velazquez to ride for a 24-percent barn with MSW class droppers.
LEG D: (Gulfstream Park, race 9, 4:42 EST) -- Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher unveiled a pair of promising 3-year-olds this month at Gulfstream. AMERICAN ICON, a $400,000 sales buy, and IRON WORKS, a $550,000 purchase, won by a combined 12-1/4 lengths and fired bullet workouts since then. Pletcher runners repeat 28 percent of the time, so look for one of them in the winners' circle.
LEG E: (Golden Gate, race 3, 4:49 EST) -- Seven entrants ran for a higher claiming price in their last start and only two have won a race since last May. That being said, use WINK AND A DREAM and MINSKI, who both ran well despite trouble lines when last seen in winter sprints that produced next-out winners. BOURBONWITHATWIST should be used as the likely favorite with three consecutive runner-up finishes at the $6,250 claiming level.
Suggested $1 Ticket
Leg A: 3, 4, 7
Leg B: 4, 5, 8
Leg C: 3, 5, 7
Leg D: 3, 6
Leg E: 3, 5, 8
COST: $162
.svg){kind=logo}
