Pick 4 of the Week: Keeneland Saturday, April 18

A challenging and attractive final four races on the Keeneland Saturday card will comprise the Pick 4 of the Week. 

Race 8 Wager

• $.50-cent Pick 4: 1,6,7,11 with 1,2,4,6 with 2,6,12 with 9,12 ($48) 

Race 8 – Allowance

A big field of turf dashers will run 5 1/2 furlongs on the lawn to commence the sequence. #1 Troubleshooting (6-1) will not go off at this kind of price, but the Grade-1 winner is an excellent turf sprinter who is also two-for-two at Keeneland. He’s a must-use in his four-year-old debut with Tyler Gaffalione in the irons. 

#6 Works for Me (4-1) has run some big ones in his lifetime and is a nice fit in the group for his local bow. The Joseph Lee charge will have Flavien Prat on board. Brian Lynch’s #7 Silent Heart (10-1) and $1.5 million earner #11 Arrest Me Red (3-1) will also make the ticket. 

Race 9 – Ben Ali (G3)

The 1 3/16-mile dirt tilt for the boys is the second piece of the play. #1 Stars and Stripes (4-1), one of two major players in the field for Bill Mott, has a fine draw on the fence and also boasts a very good turn of foot, too. The four-year-old Not This Time colt is lightly raced with room for improvement, and he will be especially tough with his best beneath Saez. 

Race 10 – Elkhorn (G2)

A full field will run 1 /2 miles on the grass in leg three. Sycamore (G2) hero #2 Desvio (8-1), Grade 1 winner #6 Burnham Square (4-1), and Mike Maker’s #12 Anegada (15-1), are the trio that interests me the most in the very tough turf tilt. 

Race 11 – Maiden Special Weight

The finale will be contested for sophomore fillies going about seven-eighths on the main oval. #9 Govern (10-1) was third on debut at Santa Anita behind a filly who looks like a fine prospect, and I expect the Peter Eurton trainee to show vast improvement with more ground with which to work with in her local debut. The Independence Hall homebred will have John Velazquez in the irons. 

I don’t love the widest post for #12 Miss Complicated (5-1), but the Grade-3 placed Ian Wilkes pupil has been second in three of her last four attempts and seems poised to break through sooner than later.