Aqueduct: Single for Saturday’s $124,619 Pick 6 carryover

A 43-1 upset in Friday’s fifth race at Aqueduct ensured that the $1 Pick 6 went unsolved for the second day in a row, triggering a double carryover worth $124,619 into Saturday’s card.

Large fields await prospective Pick 6 bettors. Every race in the sequence has drawn at least nine entries before scratches, and assembling a winning ticket won’t be easy.

Fortunately, the Pick 6 sequence also contains a logical single… of sorts.

Horse(s) to single in Aqueduct’s $124,619 Pick 6 carryover

The opening leg of the Pick 6 is Race 5 (post time 3:06 p.m. ET), a $20,000 maiden claimer for three-year-olds and older horses racing one mile on dirt. A total of 10 horses have entered, and two of them—#1 Aerate (6-5) and #1A Sequential (6-5)—are coupled in the betting.

Together, the coupled entrymates are a viable “single.” Normally a single means using only one horse, but in this case we get an appealing two-for-one deal.

Aerate and Sequential are both trained by Linda Rice. Aerate is dropping in class after finishing third and fourth in his last two starts against $50,000 maiden claiming competition at Aqueduct. On May 8, he was beaten only five lengths in a 6 1/2-furlong dirt dash, earning an 82 Brisnet Speed rating that is easily the highest recent number earned by any horse in Saturday’s field. Since Rice wins at a powerful 31% rate with horses dropping multiple levels down the class ladder, Aerate is a logical win threat in this $20,000 maiden claimer.

Sequential is likewise plunging down in class after running sixth in a $75,000 maiden claimer sprinting seven furlongs over the Aqueduct dirt, his first start since being claimed by Rice. The son of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Nyquist should find the $20,000 level much more manageable, and take note, Rice wins at a 29% rate with horses running for the second time under her care.

It’s tough to determine whether Aerate or Sequential is more likely to prevail on Saturday, but since they’re coupled in the betting, we don’t have to. We can single the entrymates and feel confident one or the other will prevail.

Good luck!