Player Quick Pick: Gulfstream for 4/13/2014
by D.S. Williamson
There is a slight chance of rain at Gulfstream Park today, but it shouldn’t be bad enough to force the grass races to the dirt. The feature is a terrific 6f allowance sprint over the main track.
Gulfstream race 6 | 4:00 pm ET Claiming (35) for 3&up F&M going 1-1/16 mi.(T)
9 – Maydell – 28% winning trainer Peter Walder saddles this daughter of Sky Classic who has a second and a third place finish out of four starts over Gulfstream’s turf. Walder is an expert at placing his horses as evidenced by the 33% win rate with his horses going up 2+ class levels. Sure, the sample is small, but it takes a great horseman to pull that off. Jockey Ramsay Zimmerman has only been atop 24 horses this year but he’s made the most of it by riding into the money 14 times.
4 – Almost An Angel – Trainer Bobby Dibona wins 24% second after the claim, which is the set up with this Artie Schiller four-year-old filly. Dibona and jockey Gabriel Saez have a $1.55 ROI together and she’s got some speed in a race that appears to be lacking it. The chalk looks difficult to beat. One thing to note, though, is that Almost An Angel hasn’t hit the board over Gulf’s turf in four tries.
8 – Nickerdoodle – Patricia Farro grabbed this one from Tony Dutrow in its last. Farro does decently enough, 18%, first after the claim and she puts blinkers on Nickerdoodle meaning that horseplayers should expect more speed. She’s another with a shot in a competitive claimer. You can’t leave her off of any tickets.
Gulfstream race 7 | 4:31 pm ET Allowance for 3&up F&M going 6(f)
8 – Shenton Park – On paper it looks like there is a lot of speed, but I still can’t look past this Jorge Navarro trainee for the top spot. Shenton Park figures to be the speed of the speed and Navarro’s numbers are excellent. He’s winning at 30% overall, he wins 40% second off of a layoff and 31% with his sprint starters. Out of 696 dirt starts, Navarro has won 31% of the time. Turf to dirt is another strong angle for Navarro runners since he wins 27% of the time. There’s a lot to like about Shenton Park.
1 – Indian Rain – The maiden score two back over the Gulfstream dirt is plenty good enough to win this. Indian Rain may have been aided by a speed bias in that race since the follow-up wasn’t nearly as impressive, and if nobody goes with her, she could coast to a victory.
9 – Royal Rhiannon – This five-year-old mare goes first time for trainer Wayne Catalano. She hasn’t run since November of 2012. Back then, she was racing at Belmont, Saratoga and Churchill Downs. In fact, she broke her maiden at Saratoga in an $80K maiden special event. Is she good enough to beat these off of such a long layoff? Absolutely she is, but horseplayers should expect at least the morning line odds since she might be too short to pull off of the victory.
There is a slight chance of rain at Gulfstream Park today, but it shouldn’t be bad enough to force the grass races to the dirt. The feature is a terrific 6f allowance sprint over the main track.
Gulfstream race 6 | 4:00 pm ET Claiming (35) for 3&up F&M going 1-1/16 mi.(T)
9 – Maydell – 28% winning trainer Peter Walder saddles this daughter of Sky Classic who has a second and a third place finish out of four starts over Gulfstream’s turf. Walder is an expert at placing his horses as evidenced by the 33% win rate with his horses going up 2+ class levels. Sure, the sample is small, but it takes a great horseman to pull that off. Jockey Ramsay Zimmerman has only been atop 24 horses this year but he’s made the most of it by riding into the money 14 times.
4 – Almost An Angel – Trainer Bobby Dibona wins 24% second after the claim, which is the set up with this Artie Schiller four-year-old filly. Dibona and jockey Gabriel Saez have a $1.55 ROI together and she’s got some speed in a race that appears to be lacking it. The chalk looks difficult to beat. One thing to note, though, is that Almost An Angel hasn’t hit the board over Gulf’s turf in four tries.
8 – Nickerdoodle – Patricia Farro grabbed this one from Tony Dutrow in its last. Farro does decently enough, 18%, first after the claim and she puts blinkers on Nickerdoodle meaning that horseplayers should expect more speed. She’s another with a shot in a competitive claimer. You can’t leave her off of any tickets.
Gulfstream race 7 | 4:31 pm ET Allowance for 3&up F&M going 6(f)
8 – Shenton Park – On paper it looks like there is a lot of speed, but I still can’t look past this Jorge Navarro trainee for the top spot. Shenton Park figures to be the speed of the speed and Navarro’s numbers are excellent. He’s winning at 30% overall, he wins 40% second off of a layoff and 31% with his sprint starters. Out of 696 dirt starts, Navarro has won 31% of the time. Turf to dirt is another strong angle for Navarro runners since he wins 27% of the time. There’s a lot to like about Shenton Park.
1 – Indian Rain – The maiden score two back over the Gulfstream dirt is plenty good enough to win this. Indian Rain may have been aided by a speed bias in that race since the follow-up wasn’t nearly as impressive, and if nobody goes with her, she could coast to a victory.
9 – Royal Rhiannon – This five-year-old mare goes first time for trainer Wayne Catalano. She hasn’t run since November of 2012. Back then, she was racing at Belmont, Saratoga and Churchill Downs. In fact, she broke her maiden at Saratoga in an $80K maiden special event. Is she good enough to beat these off of such a long layoff? Absolutely she is, but horseplayers should expect at least the morning line odds since she might be too short to pull off of the victory.
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