Fair Grounds stakes spot plays for Dec. 26

Fans of all-stakes, multi-race wagers will be excited to play the upcoming Saturday card at Fair Grounds. Three stakes events are on the agenda, arranged consecutively, for the convenience of double and Pick 3 bettors.

Keen to play along, but not sure where to begin? We’ve put together a series of spot plays on a $100 budget to help you get started.

Race 7: Pago Hop S. (1 mile on turf, 4:54 p.m. ET)

The lightly raced #4 Disobedient (5-1) has dominated her last two starts for trainer Brad Cox. She rallied to win a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden race by 7 1/2 lengths, then wired a 1 1/16-mile, off-the-turf allowance by five lengths.

A daughter of Into Mischief, out of a Scat Daddy mare, Disobedient is improving rapidly and can make her stakes debut a winning one.

We’ll bet this versatile filly to win, then single her to kick off double and Pick 3 wagers.

$30 to win on #4 Disobedient
$5 double: 4 with 1,3 ($10)
$2 Pick 3: 4 with 1,3 with 2,5,9 ($12)
$1 Pick 3: 4 with 1,3 with 4,10 ($4)
Total: $56

Race 8: Joseph E. Spanky Broussard Memorial S. (1 mile and 70 yards, 5:23 p.m. ET)

#1 Whoa Nellie (8-5) won the Pippin S. at Oaklawn Park last winter, with a sharp 96 Brisnet Speed rating. The Larry Jones trainee recently returned from a nine-month break to finish third in a quality renewal of the Chilukki (G3) at Churchill Downs.

Since Jones strikes at a 21% rate with horses running back for the second time off a layoff, Whoa Nellie is an obvious choice to prevail Saturday, especially with jockey Florent Geroux aboard.

The wildcard is #3 Beautiful Trauma (9-5), an inconsistent but occasionally brilliant 3-year-old. A 16-length allowance winner in her lone start at Fair Grounds last winter, Beautiful Trauma reiterated her talent when she wired a 1-mile allowance at Churchill Downs last month, when she defeated next-out winner French Empire by 4 1/4 lengths.

We’ll box Whoa Nellie and Beautiful Trauma in the exacta and use them equally for multi-race wagers.

$10 exacta box: 1,3 ($20)

Race 9: Woodchopper S. (1 mile on turf, 5:52 p.m. ET)

Texas Turf Mile S. winner #2 Bodecream (7-2), Del Mar Derby (G2) winner #5 Pixelate (4-1), and allowance winners #4 Spanish Kingdom (8-1), #9 Blackberry Wine (9-2), and #10 Telephone Talker (12-1) have also shown flashes of serious talent against quality competition.

Pixelate in particular has displayed a powerful turn of foot for trainer Michael Stidham, who has gone 7-for-21 (33%) to start the Fair Grounds meet.

Let’s key Pixelate in the trifecta, then use all five in varying degrees to end the Pick 3.

$1 trifecta: 5 with 2,4,9,10 with 2,4,9,10 ($12)
$1 trifecta: 2,4,9,10 with 5 with 2,4,9,10 ($12)
Total: $24

Good luck!