Mucciolo's Pick 4 play at Aqueduct for Jan. 10

I will take aim at the early Pick 4 at Aqueduct on Sunday.

Pick 4 Analysis

Race 2 -- Claiming (12:50 p.m. EST)

A 7-furlong test attracted eight overall, with six betting options. The entry of #1 Bad Guy and #1A Not That Brady will be formidable with a top showing for Rudy Rodriguez. 

Also included in a tricky opening leg will be the recently claimed #3 Complexifier, and the late-running #6 Smile Bryan, who makes his second run off the claim.

Race 3 -- Claiming

Fillies and mares will travel 6 1/2 furlongs on the dirt in a well-matched affair. I will use the four innermost horses in the field to get me through to the next leg. #1 Fair Regis, #2 Vip Nation, #3 Blitchton Lady, and #4 Awesome Alana are the ones.

Race 4 -- Claiming

My single will come in the third leg, a $25,000 claiming event for fillies and mares. The Mark Hennig-trained #6 Fun Finder looks like a solid play despite being winless dating back to 2018. Cross Traffic mare takes a big class drop into a soft field, and she also has excuses for her last pair. I expect Dylan Davis to be keeping the mare closer to the pace early, before edging clear inside the final furlong.

Race 5 -- Maiden Special Weight

Sophomore fillies will travel one mile on the main strip in a tough finale to the sequence. My top pick is #7 Coffee Bar for Pletcher, but the filly is not close to being a single in my opinion. Outwork second-timer showed promise on debut, and she shows three morning drills in the interim, too.

#6 Teetotaler is a must-use for Chad Brown coming off a narrow defeat on the course most recently. $500,000 daughter of Uncle Mo gets Lasix for the initial time, as well. #1 Pop the Bubbly, #2 Caumsett, and #3 Vallarand also make sense to me in a field lacking a standout.

Wager:

• 50-cent Pick 4: 1,3,6 with 1,2,3,4 with 6 with 1,2,3,6,7 ($30)