Los Alamitos: Horse racing pick of the day for Dec. 11

Weekday picks and plays for Thoroughbred racing.

Friday, Dec. 11

Los Alamitos, Race 6: Maiden special weight (5 1/2 furlongs, 6:28 p.m. ET)

The Bob Baffert trainees #6 Medina Spirit (2-1 on the morning line) and #9 Democrat (9-2) figure to attract plenty of support in their debut runs. Baffert strikes at a 36% rate with first-time starters, and Medina Spirit has shown signs of talent with a sharp series of workouts.

But don’t overlook the chances of #3 Kennebec (9-2). The Ryan Hanson-trained runner wasn’t disgraced in his debut dashing 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita, where he tracked the pace and finished third, behind Baffert’s flashy maiden winner and future Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) participant, Classier.

Kennebec has trained sharply in the interim and might appreciate the cutback to 5 1/2 furlongs.

I’m willing to bet he can beat one (or both) of the Baffert runners, so I’ll key Kennebec in the exacta.

$5 exacta: 3 with 6,9 ($10)
$10 exacta: 6,9 with 3 ($20)
Total: $30

Good luck!