Friday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: $95,705 Coast to Coast Pick 5 carryover

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Friday, Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park, Tampa Bay Downs, and Fair Grounds, along with analysis of the $95,705 Coast to Coast Pick 5 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.

Today’s TwinSpires tournaments include:

• $120 Aqueduct Feeder to 1/31 Southwest KDBC Qualifier
• $350 Tampa Bay Downs Feeder to 2/1 Oaklawn Horseplayers Championship
• $70 Fair Grounds Challenge
• $400 Fair Grounds Bonus Feeder Friday to 1/25 Fair Grounds/Tampa Bay Downs KDBC/NHC Qualifier

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Tampa Bay Downs: Race 1: $10,000 Maiden Claiming (one mile and 40 yards on dirt, 12:32 p.m. ET)

#2 Katie King (6-5) was a bit unlucky not to prevail over this track, distance, and class level on Jan. 4. She finished second by 1 1/2 lengths, but pulled 16 lengths clear of the third-place finisher while earning a sharp 74 Brisnet Speed rating.

The par winning Brisnet Speed rating for Friday’s conditions is only 67. If Katie King repeats her last performance, she can cruise to victory over #8 I’m Hungover (9-2). We’ll bet an exacta accordingly.

Selections

• #2 Katie King (6-5)
• #8 I’m Hungover (9-2)
• #5 Lady Lyla (6-1)

Wagers

• $25 Exacta: 2 with 8

Gulfstream Park: Race 8: Maiden Special Weight (one mile on dirt, 3:50 p.m. ET)

#8 Prom Queen (3-1) is a first-time starter from the hot barn of Brad Cox. Cox wins at a 29% rate with horses debuting over a mile or farther, which includes a 1-for-3 (33%) tally in dirt routes at Gulfstream since 2024.

Prom Queen is bred to excel racing one mile and enters off a series of encouraging workouts over the slow track at Payson Park. Under two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Flavien Prat, Prom Queen is worthy of a win bet.

We’ll also key Prom Queen over fellow first-time starters #9 Elgheed (2-1) and #2 She Be Smooth (4-1) in an exacta.

Selections

• #8 Prom Queen (3-1)
• #9 Elgheed (2-1)
• #2 She Be Smooth (4-1)

Wagers

• $18 to win on #8 Prom Queen
• $6 Exacta: 8 with 2,9 ($12)
  Total: $30

Fair Grounds: Race 8: Maiden Special Weight (one mile on dirt, 5:15 p.m. ET)

There isn’t much pace in this field of Louisiana-bred maidens, which could play to the strengths of #9 Remi (5-2). The son of two-time Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Goldencents carved out the pace in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Fair Grounds last month before staying on to finish second.

Stretching out over one mile should allow Remi to secure an uncontested lead, setting the stage for a career-best performance. Let’s bet him to win and play him over #7 Vineaux (3-1) in a cold exacta.

Selections

• #9 Remi (5-2)
• #7 Vineaux (3-1)
• #2 Ayden’s Edge (8-1)

Wagers

• $20 to win on #9 Remi
• $10 Exacta: 9 with 7
  Total: $30

Carryover Watch

Coast to Coast Pick 5: $95,705 carryover (4:20 p.m. ET)

The Coast to Coast Pick 5, a special Pick 5 wager involving races at both Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita, boasts a massive $95,705 carryover for Friday.

One of the trickiest legs of the sequence to handicap is the fourth: Race 5 at Santa Anita, an $80,000 allowance optional claimer for older horses sprinting about 6 1/2 furlongs over the downhill turf course. Even though only six horses have entered, it’s difficult to decipher because morning-line favorite #5 Speed Boat Beach (5-2) looks vulnerable.

Speed Boat Beach has won twice on turf, but his best efforts have come on dirt, highlighted by a win in the 2023 Malibu (G1) sprinting seven furlongs. At the time, Speed Boat Beach looked like a developing sprint star. But he missed all of 2024, and in 2025 he failed to recapture his best form, finishing 10th, fifth, and eighth in a trio of stakes.

Perhaps dropping in class, switching to turf, and adding Lasix will help Speed Boat Beach rebound. But he’s tough to trust at a short price. In fact, we recommend Coast to Coast Pick 5 bettors take a stand and leave Speed Boat Beach off their tickets.

Which horses should you use instead? We’re fond of #4 Son of a Birch (3-1). Formerly based in New York, the six-year-old gelding spent much of 2025 competing in route races. But he’s arguably better as a sprinter. Back in 2024 he produced some good efforts in grass dashes. He won allowance races at Fair Grounds and Monmouth Park, and he finished fourth (beaten only 1 3/4 lengths) in the Belmont Turf Sprint (G3).

Since Son of a Birch has run reasonably well in both sprints and routes, the 6 1/2-furlong downhill course at Santa Anita should suit him well. He has a strong shot to rally late and snatch first prize under hot jockey Umberto Rispoli, a 22% winner on turf.

The other horse we recommend using is #1 Vlahos (6-1), the third-place finisher from the 2024 Pat Day Mile (G2). Vlahos has spent most of his career competing on dirt, but his lone grass start wasn’t bad—he ran third in a six-furlong $80,000 allowance optional claimer at Santa Anita. Don’t underestimate the chances of Vlahos in his return to turf.

Good luck!