Friday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: Oaklawn’s $45,113 Pick 6 carryover

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Friday, Dec. 19 at Fair Grounds and Turfway Park, along with a horse to single in the $45,113 Pick 6 carryover at Oaklawn Park.

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:

• $200 Fair Grounds Feeder to 12/27 Oaklawn KDBC/NHC Qualifier
• $70 Oaklawn Challenge
• $200 Oaklawn Bonus Feeder Friday to 12/20 Gun Runner KDBC Qualifier
• $70 Turfway Park Challenge
• $150 Turfway Park Feeder to 12/21 Turfway Synthetic Championships NHC Qualifier

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Fair Grounds: Race 2: Maiden Special Weight (5 1/2 furlongs on turf, 2:15 p.m. ET)

#5 Thebabeslayer (2-1) has recorded top-three finishes in a quartet of turf maiden special weights at Churchill Downs, Kentucky Downs, and Fair Grounds. Along the way, he’s posted consistent Brisnet Speed ratings in the 75-80 range.

None of the other experienced horses entered in Race 2 have earned a Brisnet Speed rating higher than 67, so Thebabeslayer looks mighty tough to beat. Let’s bet him over #2 Antiphon (6-1) and #9 Vitruvius (4-1) in an exacta.

Selections

• #5 Thebabeslayer (2-1)
• #2 Antiphon (6-1)
• #9 Vitruvius (4-1)

Wagers

• $20 Exacta: 5 with 2,9 ($40)

Turfway Park: Race 2: Maiden Special Weight (six furlongs on Tapeta, 6:25 p.m. ET)

#6 Patriot Moon (8-5) has finished second and third in his first two starts on dirt at Keeneland and Churchill Downs, earning sharp Brisnet Speed ratings of 86 and 81. Adding blinkers and switching to Tapeta should open the door for Patriot Moon to graduate in his third attempt.

#9 Quarry (3-1), a top-four finisher in five straight maiden special weights racing one mile or farther, can round out the exacta while cutting back to a sprint for trainer Tom Dury Jr., who wins at a 20% rate with horses making the route-to-sprint transition.

Selections

• #6 Patriot Moon (8-5)
• #9 Quarry (3-1)
• #3 Jolted (8-1)

Wagers

• $18 to win on #6 Patriot Moon
• $12 Exacta: 6 with 9
  Total: $30

Turfway Park: Race 5: Maiden Special Weight (6 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta, 7:55 p.m. ET)

Since 2022, trainer Paulo Lobo has compiled an excellent 10-for-29 (34%) record saddling first-time starters in sprints at Turfway Park.

This stat identified #7 Rune (8-1) as a threat to win on debut. The two-year-old filly enters off a respectable work tab highlighted by a bullet five furlongs in 1:01.

At 8-1, a win bet is in order.

Selections

• #7 Rune (8-1)
• #6 Daphne Brewnette (12-1)
• #10 Mony Mony (5-2)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #7 Rune

Carryover Watch

Oaklawn Park: Race 5: $45,113 Pick 6 carryover (3:24 p.m. ET)

The $1 Classix Pick 6 at Oaklawn Park has tossed up a non-jackpot carryover worth $45,113 for Friday’s card.

Winning a share won’t be easy. Large fields abound throughout the sequence. Before scratches, the six races contain a staggering 71 horses (averaging over 11.8 per race), which works out to 2,522,520 possible Pick 6 outcomes.

Finding a trustworthy single will help keep ticket costs down and allow bettors to spread deep in the most competitive legs of the Pick 6. If you’re searching for a single, our best recommendation is #3 Uncashed (6-5) in Race 6.

Best single: Race 6: #3 Uncashed (6-5)

Race 6 is a $25,000 starter allowance for horses who have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2023-2025. The six-furlong dirt sprint looks ripe for conquest by Uncashed, a speedy five-year-old gelding who has already run 14 times this year.

Uncashed has handled his busy campaign with aplomb. He’s won half a dozen races, and the details are impressive:

• On Jan. 4, Uncashed wired a six-furlong $100,000 allowance optional claimer at Tampa Bay Downs by three lengths.
• On April 25, he led by daylight at every call of a six-furlong $20,000 claimer at Keeneland, ultimately winning by 4 1/4 lengths.
• On June 5 at Hawthorne, he wired a five-furlong $40,000 allowance optional claimer by 5 1/4 lengths.
• On June 19, he led all the way to trounce a six-furlong $20,000 starter allowance at Churchill Downs by five lengths.
• On Sept. 18, he returned to Churchill Downs to wire a 6 1/2-furlong $20,000 starter allowance by two lengths.
• On Oct. 26, he obliterated a six-furlong $30,000 starter optional claimer at Hawthorne by 10 1/4 lengths.

Along the way, Uncashed has posted strong Brisnet speed ratings. He’s cracked the 90 plateau on many occasions, peaking with a 101 on Oct. 26.

Uncashed arrives at Oaklawn off a close third-place finish in a $100,000 allowance optional claimer at Tampa Bay Downs. He looks like an awesome fit for this $25,000 starter allowance, and in all likelihood he’ll deliver another win for the red-hot jockey/trainer duo of Walter Rodriguez and Larry Rivelli.

Good luck!