Monday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: Finger Lakes $10,914 Pick 5 carryover

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Monday, Nov. 17 at Zia Park and Turf Paradise, along with horses to play in the $10,914 Pick 5 carryover at Finger Lakes.

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 Points at Woodbine Mohawk: Receive 5x points on all wagers (excluding show bets) at Woodbine Mohawk each Monday in November.

Today’s TwinSpires tournaments include:

• $40 Parx Challenge
• $100 Parx Feeder to 11/22 Churchill Downs CBC Qualifier
• $100 Mountaineer Feeder to 12/6 Remsen KDBC Qualifier

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Turf Paradise: Race 3: Trial (six furlongs on dirt, 4:15 p.m. ET)

A couple of first-time starters bring compelling credentials to this trial for Arizona-bred juveniles who remain eligible for the Arizona Breeders’ Futurity.

#2 Cactus League (5-2) hails from the barn of Kevin Eikleberry, a 31% winner with first-time starters. A bullet half-mile workout in :46 3/5 at Turf Paradise last Tuesday suggests Cactus League has talent.

#5 Hey Pardner (3-1) likewise enters off fast workouts at Turf Paradise, including a bullet half-mile from the starting gate in :46 4/5 and a bullet five furlongs in :59 4/5. He’s trained by Ryan Kenney, a 23% winner with first-time starters.

Let’s box Cactus League and Hey Pardner in the exacta.

Selections

• #2 Cactus League (5-2)
• #5 Hey Pardner (3-1)
• #1 Rock’n Awesome (2-1)

Wagers

• $15 Exacta: box 2,5 ($30)

Zia Park: Race 7: $15,000 Maiden Claiming (5 1/2 furlongs on dirt, 4:47 p.m. ET)

Trainer Joel Marr wins at a lofty 27% rate with horses debuting in maiden claimers, so let’s place a win bet on #6 Desert Hope (9-2), an unraced filly from Marr’s barn.

Desert Hope enters off a series of sharp half-mile workouts at Zia Park and is slated to be ridden by Miguel Fuentes Jr., a 57% winner teaming up with Marr over the last two months.

Fellow first-time starter #9 Trump Dance (5-2) can complete the exacta.

Selections

• #6 Desert Hope (9-2)
• #9 Trump Dance (5-2)
• #8 Tres Amore (12-1)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #6 Desert Hope
• $5 Exacta: 6 with 9
  Total: $30

Turf Paradise: Race 6: Trial (six furlongs on dirt, 5:42 p.m. ET)

Only one horse in this field of juveniles is a proven winner: #4 Go Sparky (2-1), who closed from midfield to win a five-furlong maiden special weight over the Canterbury Park turf course by a head. That’s his only start to date.

Go Sparky’s pedigree suggests he’ll enjoy switching to dirt. He’s a son of San Pasqual (G2) winner Uh Oh Bango out of Let the Girl Go, who previously foaled Cocktail Slippers, winner of the Debutante S. at Arapahoe Park.

Let’s place a large win bet on Go Sparky.

Selections

• #4 Go Sparky (2-1)
• #2 Secret Insanity (4-1)
• #7 Three P’s (5-2)

Wagers

• $40 to win on #4 Go Sparky

Carryover Watch

Finger Lakes: Race 5: $10,914 Pick 5 carryover (2:02 p.m. ET)

Finger Lakes is kicking off the new racing week on a high note with a $10,914 non-jackpot carryover up for grabs in the 50-cent Late Pick 5.

In Race 7, the middle leg of the sequence, we recommend backing #1 Teresa (4-1) as a slightly creative single. She’s the third choice on the morning line, but we rank her as clearly the mare to beat.

Race 7 is a $5,000 claimer for fillies and mares who have never won two races. The conditions of the 5 1/2-furlong dirt dash should perfectly suit Teresa.

After spending much of her career competing on the New York Racing Association circuit, Teresa has made her last two starts at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. First, she dominated a six-furlong $10,000 maiden claimer by 4 1/2 lengths, earning a career-best 79 Brisnet Speed rating. Then she tackled a six-furlong $7,500 claimer and finished fifth, beaten only 4 1/2 lengths.

Teresa should find the competition much easier while dropping into a $5,000 claimer at Finger Lakes. The par winning Brisnet Speed rating for Race 7’s conditions is only 67, and the two morning-line favorites haven’t been running as fast as Teresa. #9 Miss C Banker (5-2) hasn’t posted a Brisnet Speed rating higher than 70 in her last five starts, while #8 Sugar Ride (3-1) hasn’t exceeded a 66 in her four career starts.

As a result, Teresa is a compelling non-favored Pick 5 single.

Another fairly straightforward Pick 5 leg to handicap is Race 8, a $5,000 claimer for horses who have never won three races. #2 Charlie’s Express (5-2) is a must-use favorite while plunging in class out of a $30,000 claimer at Aqueduct. Three starts back, he visited Finger Lakes and finished second by one length in a 5 1/2-furlong allowance, so he looks like a great fit for Monday’s six-furlong dirt sprint.

However, we also recommend including #8 Henry’s Hope (3-1). In his first start since transferring to the care of trainer Luis Gutierrez, Henry’s Hope obliterated a $5,000 claimer for non-winners of two races, winning the 5 1/2-furlong Finger Lakes sprint by eight lengths after leading by daylight at every call. This three-year-old gelding may have upside for further improvement.

Good luck!