Friday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: $33,199 Sunset Pick 6 carryover

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Friday, Feb. 13 at Fair Grounds and Turfway Park, along with a horse to single in the $33,199 Sunset Pick 6 carryover.

Today’s special offers from TwinSpires include:

• New Players $200 Sign-Up Bonus: Open your TwinSpires.com account using the offer code BET200 to start earning a $200 bonus.
• 5x Rewards Points at Woodbine Mohawk: Receive 5x rewards points on all wagers at Woodbine Mohawk each racing Friday in February.

Today’s TwinSpires tournaments include:

• $50 Aqueduct Challenge
• $200 Fair Grounds Feeder to 2/21 Oaklawn KDBC/NHC Qualifier
• $70 Oaklawn Challenge
• $320 Oaklawn Bonus Feeder Friday to 2/14 Risen Star KDBC Qualifier
• $70 Turfway Park Challenge
• $160 Turfway Park Feeder to 3/1 Rebel KDBC Qualifier

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Fair Grounds: Race 5: Maiden Special Weight (1 1/16 miles on turf, 3:45 p.m. ET)

#4 Awesomesauce (8-5) has finished second and third by narrow margins in her first two starts over this course and class level. In her latest race, she gained ground into strong closing fractions to finish third, beaten only a neck.

For her third start, Awesomesauce is picking up hot jockey Jose Ortiz, a 29% winner at Fair Grounds this meet. With a little better pace setup, Awesomesauce can graduate over #1 Buckeye Bombshell (9-2) and #5 Sunshine Daydream (4-1).

Let’s bet exacta and trifecta tickets accordingly.

Selections

• #4 Awesomesauce (8-5)
• #1 Buckeye Bombshell (9-2)
• #5 Sunshine Daydream (4-1)

Wagers

• $10 Exacta: 4 with 1,5 ($20)
• $5 Trifecta: 4 with 1,5 with 1,5 ($10)
  Total: $30

Turfway Park: Race 5: Maiden Special Weight (six furlongs on Tapeta, 7:55 p.m. ET)

#4 Country Luck (12-1) has only run once, finishing third in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight on dirt at Horseshoe Indianapolis in October 2024.

Country Luck has since been gelded, and he’s adding Lasix for his second start. A long series of fast workouts at Turfway Park should have him fit for a competitive return for hot trainer Eoin Harty, so let’s try a win bet on Country Luck.

Selections

• #4 Country Luck (12-1)
• #7 Cinister Cix (5-2)
• #3 Rose Ruler (3-1)

Wagers

• $20 to win on #4 Country Luck

Turfway Park: Race 9: Forego S. (6 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta, 9:55 p.m. ET)

#4 Built (8-1) is an interesting newcomer to the Turfway Tapeta. A 2024-25 Road to the Kentucky Derby alumnus, he showed decent form around two turns, wiring the Gun Runner S. before finishing second in the Lecomte (G3) and third in the Risen Star (G2).

Built bounced back to the winner’s circle when cutting back to six furlongs for a $50,000 allowance optional claimer at Fair Grounds last month. In his first start off a long layoff, he tracked the pace in third place before taking over to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

It’s possible sprinting is Built’s true strong suit. If he takes to Tapeta, he can surprise at a price in the Forego. Let’s bet him to win.

Selections

• #4 Built (8-1)
• #9 Script (8-1)
• #3 Its Bourbon Thirty (7-2)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #4 Built

Carryover Watch

Sunset Pick 6: $33,199 Pick 6 carryover (3:50 p.m. ET)

The Sunset Pick 6 is a special $1 Pick 6 comprised of the final three races apiece at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita. Friday’s sequence features an enticing $33,199 carryover.

If you’re playing on a budget and want a trustworthy singe to build tickets around, our best recommendation is #4 Five G (9-5) in Leg B, which is Race 9 at Gulfstream Park, a $62,500 allowance optional claimer for fillies and mares racing one mile on dirt.

Seven horses have entered, and there are some capable names in the entries. #7 Sugar Fish (2-1) won the 2024 Zenyatta (G2) and Summertime Oaks (G2). #6 Anna’s Promise (20-1) ran second in the 2025 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) and competed in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). And #1 Contrary (5-2) enters off a victory in a $25,000 allowance optional claimer racing one mile at Gulfstream.

But these three have questions to answer. Contrary is stepping up in class. Anna’s Promise struggled in her 2026 debut. And Sugar Fish failed to factor in two starts last year and is uncertain to recapture her best form while competing outside of California for the first time.

Technically, Five G has a big question to answer too. In her last race, the Dec. 28 La Brea (G1) at Santa Anita, she finished a distant ninth. But there are reasons to forgive this poor showing:

• The La Brea was a seven-furlong sprint, and Five G has performed best racing from one mile to 1 1/16 miles.
• Five G was returning from a ninth-month layoff.
• She’d posted only one timed workout in the four weeks leading up to the La Brea and may have been short of peak fitness.
• She was shipping across the country and competing in California for the first time.

Friday’s ninth race at Gulfstream looks like a much better spot for Five G. She’s 2-for-2 at Gulfstream, dominating the one-mile Cash Run S. by nine lengths over a next-out winner and later defeating Anna’s Promise by 2 1/4 lengths in the Gulfstream Park Oaks. Three workouts since the La Brea (including a quick five furlongs in 1:00 3/5) should have Five G primed for a rebound while dropping in class.

If Five G returns to the form she showed in the Cash Run and Gulfstream Park Oaks, she should win Leg B of the Sunset Pick 6.

Good luck!