Horses of note in the $175,759 Buckeye Pick 6 carryover at Mahoning Valley

The 20-cent Buckeye Pick 6 jackpot just keeps growing. The carryover for Mahoning Valley’s signature wager has climbed to $175,759 for Monday’s nine-race card.

Favorites dominated the action during Saturday’s six-race sequence, which saw every winner start at less than 3-1. Betting a Pick 6 ticket using the top two favorites in each race would have cost just $12.80 for a return of $307.64—not bad for such a chalky outcome.

Of course, just 48 horses started in Saturday’s Buckeye Pick 6, which featured only 222,264 possible outcomes. In contrast, Monday’s sequence looks considerably tougher with 63 horses and 1,293,732 outcomes in the mix before scratches.

Need help assembling tickets for the Monday’s Buckeye Pick 6? Here are a few horses to play (or oppose) throughout the card:

Best single

• Race 6: #3 Good Alternative (2-1)

Good Alternative has placed in two of her three starts sprinting on synthetic tracks, and her lone off-the-board effort came in a competitive event at Turfway, where she finished ninth behind the promising runaway winner Twenty Carat. From a pedigree perspective, the switch to dirt shouldn’t be a big issue for Good Alternative—sire Alternation was a four-time graded stakes-winning dirt router, and he’s already achieved renown as the sire of 2019 Kentucky Oaks (G1) heroine Serengeti Empress. Mahoning’s leading rider Sonny Leon will guide Good Alternative on behalf of hot trainer Eric Reed, stamping Good Alternative as the filly to beat at a short price.

Vulnerable favorite

• Race 8: #9 Cortege (3-1)

The eight-year-old veteran Cortege has been facing tougher company, but he hasn’t run since October and has spent the majority of his career competing on turf and synthetic. His 29-4-5-3 combined resume on those surfaces is considerably better than his 4-0-1-1 record on dirt, which includes an 11th-place finish in his lone start over a fast dirt track. Throw in the fact Cortege has drawn the outside post, and he looks vulnerable as the 3-1 favorite.

Live longshot

• Race 8: #5 Young American (10-1)

Granted, Young American completely misfired when stretching out over one mile in his most recent run. But he hasn’t missed the board in his last 15 sprint starts, and he’s been posting competitive Brisnet Speed ratings against this caliber of competition. Freshened since Jan. 23, Young American enters off a bullet half-mile workout from the Mahoning starting gate, a positive sign considering trainer Anthony Rini wins at a 24% rate with horses returning from layoffs of 46-90 days. With Sonny Leon named to ride, Young American appears capable of outrunning expectations at double-digit odds.

Good luck!