Pick 4 of the Week: Gulfstream Park Saturday, Jan. 24

Gulfstream Park offers four Pick 4 wagers on their sensational card on Saturday, and I would love nothing more than to pad my bankroll early, leading into the marquee races later in the day.  

Race 2 Wager

• 50-cent Pick 4: 2,3 with 2,3 with all with 2,4,5 ($72)

Race 2 – Maiden Special Weight

Sophomore fillies will run six panels on the dirt to get things started. When I see a well-bred Pletcher youngster entered on a big day of racing in South Florida, I often run to the windows. #3 Beneficence (5-1) has trained well in advance of this and will have Irad in the silks. 

Bill Mott’s #2 Swing Vote (3-1) ran an excellent one despite breaking poorly from the rail in her unveiling, and the Constitution filly will be formidable with improvement in the first leg. I’ll use two fillies to get things started. 

Race 3 – Optional Claiming 

Turf test for the boys brought out a full field. I’ll use Grade 3 star #2 Battle of Normandy (2-1), who is the class of the field, as well as Chad Brown’s #3 Risk Tolerance (9-2), in the second portion of the play. 

Race 4 – Handicap

Fillies and mares will go two turns on the synthetic in a very tough third piece of the sequence. I only have a few horses that I could omit in the contest, so instead of trying to get picky, I will utilize the ‘all’ button in the penultimate leg of the wager. 

Race 5 – Christophe Clement (G3)

A fine field of nine fillies and mares will travel 1 1/2 miles on the lawn in the closer. I think that #2 Alluring Angel (8-1) is very interesting in the affair with the blinkers coming off. The Bill Mott pupil has surely appreciated the move to marathon distances as of late, and I will give her a pass for his latest attempt. The Fastnet Rock six-year-old will have Junior Alvarado on board. 

#4 No Show Sammy Jo (9-5) rolled home to an emphatic tally in the Via Borghese S. on the course in her latest appearance and is a must-use for Graham Motion. The Lope de Vega six-year-old is another who has found her best stride since stretching out in distance and looms large with a repeat of her latest. I’ve sold Grade 1 victress #5 Fionn (5-2) short on numerous occasions, which hasn’t worked out well for me, so I have to use her here in her four-year-old bow. The Twirling Candy filly bypassed the Pegasus for this, which suggests her connections prefer her better at 1 1/2 miles. Prat has the assignment.