Friday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: Durante at 8-1

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Friday, April 17 at Keeneland, along with a horse to single in Oaklawn Park’s $1,807 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.
• $2,000 Win Ladder at Keeneland: Hit $10+ single-horse win wagers at Keeneland to climb the Win Ladder and compete for your share of a $2,000 prize pool each racing Thursday and Friday in April.

Today’s TwinSpires tournaments include:

• $50 Keeneland Bet and Set Cash Challenge (Early Races 1-5)
• $90 Keeneland Bet and Set Feeder to 5/1 Kentucky Oaks Betting Challenge
• $50 Keeneland Bet and Set Cash Challenge (Late Races 6-10)
• $400 Keeneland Bonus Feeder Friday to 4/18 Keeneland KDBC Qualifier
• $40 Keeneland Challenge
• $100 Keeneland Challenge
• $100 Keeneland Feeder to 4/18 Preakness Preview Day Handicapping Challenge
• $200 Oaklawn Feeder to 4/25 Churchill Downs KDBC Qualifier
• $75 Charles Town Feeder to 4/18 Preakness Preview Day Handicapping Challenge
• $40 Charles Town Challenge

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Keeneland: Race 5: Allowance (5 1/2 furlongs on turf, 3:08 p.m. ET)

#9 Longshoreman (6-1) has shown flashes of talent for red-hot trainer Wesley Ward, who has gone 5-for-15 (33%) at Keeneland this meet. Last fall, Longshoreman set a fast pace on his way to finishing second in the six-furlong Futurity (G3) on turf at Aqueduct.

Longshoreman is adding Lasix for his three-year-old debut and has two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Flavien Prat named to ride. At 6-1, he’s worthy of a win bet, and we’ll also single him to start a small double wager.

Selections

• #9 Longshoreman (6-1)
• #10 Innate (7-2)
• #7 Pivotal Moment (4-1)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #9 Longshoreman
• $5 Double: 9 with 1
  Total: $30

Keeneland: Race 6: $175,000 Allowance Optional Claiming (six furlongs on dirt, 3:40 p.m. ET)

#1 Durante (8-1) has won a couple of graded stakes through the years, and he remains a capable competitor. Last October at Keeneland, he finished second by a neck in the six-furlong Phoenix (G2) after leading in midstretch.

Durante opened 2026 with a fourth-place finish in an $80,000 allowance optional claimer at Oaklawn last month. If he moves forward while adding blinkers for his second run of the season, Durante can spring a surprise at Keeneland.

A win bet is in order.

Selections

• #1 Durante (8-1)
• #2 Bold Journey (8-5)
• #3 American Monarch (5-2)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #1 Durante

Keeneland: Race 10: Maiden Special Weight (5 1/2 furlongs on turf, 5:48 p.m. ET)

#2 Fool’s Adventure (3-1) is an unraced filly from the barn of Wesley Ward, who wins at a 29% rate with first-time starters. The beautifully bred daughter of Wootton Bassett has put together a lengthy work tab highlighted by a bullet half-mile over the Palm Beach Downs turf course in :47 4/5.

Wootton Bassett sires a sharp 16% winners from first-time turf starters, and jockey Joel Rosario (a 22% winner teaming up with Ward over the last two months) is named to ride, so let’s place a win bet on Fool’s Adventure.

Selections

• #2 Fool’s Adventure (3-1)
• #5 Amani’s Music (7-2)
• #3 She Wants War (5-2)

Wagers

• $30 to win on #2 Fool’s Adventure

Carryover Watch

Oaklawn Park: Race 5: $1,807 Pick 6 carryover (3:58 p.m. ET)

The Friday card at Oaklawn Park includes a $1,807 carryover in the $1 Classix Pick 6.

The Pick 6 spans Races 5-10, a sequence featuring 52 horses (averaging nearly 8.7 per race) and 399,168 possible outcomes before scratches.

If you’re looking for a trustworthy single to build tickets around, our best recommendation is #2 Filly Crystal (6-5) in Race 6, a $35,000 allowance optional claimer for fillies and mares dashing 5 1/2 furlongs on dirt.

Filly Crystal has been in hot form at Oaklawn this year. In four starts sprinting six furlongs, she’s finished first by 4 1/2 lengths in a $25,000 claimer, first by a neck in an allowance, second by 1 1/2 lengths in a 75-85 ratings handicap, and first by a head in a $35,000 allowance optional claimer.

Those sharp performances earned consistent Brisnet Speed ratings of 94, 90, 93, and 89, all higher than the par winning Brisnet Speed rating (88) for Friday’s conditions.

Only one other horse entered in Race 6 has posted Brisnet Speed ratings comparable to Filly Crystal: #6 Rojo Rita (4-1), runner-up in the Any Limit S. at Gulfstream Park last year. But Rojo Rita ran well below her best in her 2026 debut, and her frontrunning style could be problematic in Race 6 since there are a couple of other serious speed horses in the field. Rojo Rita risks getting caught up in a speed duel, which could favor the late-running tactics of Filly Crystal.

Filly Crystal also has positive jockey and trainer stats in her corner. Trainer Abel Ramirez-Rodriguez has won at a strong 30% rate at Oaklawn this meet, and red-hot jockey Cristian Torres has gone 11-for-28 (39%) at Oaklawn since April 9. Together over the last two months, Torres and Ramirez-Rodriguez have teamed up to go 4-for-16 (25%).

For all these reasons, we rank Rojo Rita as a compelling single in the Classix Pick 6.

Good luck!