How to bet the Big Daddy Stakes

A well-matched field of seven will travel six panels on Turfway’s Tapeta surface in Saturday’s $125,000 Big Daddy S. I expect the pace of the race to be robust and contested, so looking for a horse that can come from off the pace is the direction that I will turn. 

Big Daddy Wagers

• $5 exacta key box 1 with 3,5,7 ($30)
• $1 trifecta 1,3 with 1,3,5,7 with 1,3,5,7 ($12)

The Jorge Abreu-trained #1 Mischievous Angel (10-1) lacks the credentials of some in the field, but the six-year-old has some class to him, and he runs well off the layoff, as well. By Into Mischief, the gelding has yet to run over this oval but is a talented turf runner who has been lightly raced to date, and he has room to improve in 2026. The Kentucky-bred bay picked up a pair of stakes placings last season on the green, and he has the ideal running style for the race from the rail, too. He ships in from Palm Meadows and will have Vincent Cheminaud in the silks. 

Turfway Park often brings out the best in Wesley Ward’s #3 Arrest Me Red (8-5), who is the defending champ in the tilt. The bay son of Pioneerof the Nile led at every call in a fine allowance tally on the surface in his eight-year-old debut, and he is not showing any signs of slowing down, evidenced by the 100 Brisnet Speed rating he registered in the score. The homebred doesn’t need the lead in order to fire his best shot but will be close throughout, nonetheless, with Luan Machado in the stirrups. 

Multiple stakes hero #7 Joe Shiesty (5-2) closed 2025 with a game score in the Holiday Cheer S. on the surface and shows a trio of morning moves in advance of the heat. Trained by Eric Foster, the five-year-old gelding is three-for-six with a placing on the strip and will be seen forcing the tempo from the break with Fernando De La Cruz taking the reins. 

#5 G T Five Hundred (2-1) rides in on a three-race win streak on this surface and owns a five-for-six lifetime line at Turfway Park. The Astern gelding led at every call in a game tally in the Forego S. in his latest venture and has never been better for Mike Maker. Walter Rodriguez picks up the mount and will have the six-year-old in the mix from the start.