MJC analyst Gabby Gaudet will share her longshot and exotic plays with The Racing Biz each Saturday. Photo courtesy of the Maryland Jockey Club.
The first Saturday of the Pimlico meet is upon us, and Gabby Gaudet’s got some thoughts on the late Pick 3, plus a live longshot in the feature.
GABBY’S PICK THREE TICKET
- RACE 7: 2, 4, 7
- RACE 8: 6, 7
- RACE 9: 5, 6, 8
- Ticket cost ($0.50 unit): $9.00
KEY RACE VIDEO
The key race to unlocking today’s feature is February’s John B. Campbell Handicap at Laurel Park. In this spotlight video, A. P. Cino (8-1 on today’s morning line for the eighth race) nearly matches strides with Page McKenney.
ANALYSIS
[su_list icon=”icon: check-circle-o”]- Top selection — #6 Going to Market (5-2). Six-year-old enters off a distant fourth-place finish in the Harrison E. Johnson over the Laurel Park mud… Claudio Gonzalez trainee has won eight of 28 starts and earned over $213,000. “Going into the Harrison Johnson, you knew he wasn’t going to give his best performance,” says Gabby. For one thing, Page McKenney just figured best in there. Also, Gabby adds, “He just hates any kind of moisture on the track – you can see it on his record. You can see visually, he doesn’t get over it well…” Cutting back slightly in distance and catching a fast track — “You have to look at his fast track performances, and boy, is he impressive,” she says — he figures to have a tactical advantage, able to wire the field if he outbreaks them or to stalk and pounce if that’s the way the race develops.
- Live longshot — #7 A. P. Cino (8-1). You can’t be much more inconsistent than this five-year-old who was third by a neck in the John B. Campbell back in February at odds of 79-1 — but then followed it up with two clunkers where he figured to be a contender. But Gabby thinks she may have the key and believes he’ll deliver a strong effort today. “If you look at his race in the Campbell, that was a really good race,” she says. “This horse is capable of really nice races.” What does he need to deliver them? “I’m a true believer that this horse needs two turns and a fast track,” she points out. He is winless in nine tries on wet surfaces but owns a solid ledger of 9-3-3-0 at today’s 1 1/16 mile distance and has won six of 22 starts on a fast track. She points out that, despite his long odds in the Campbell, “He matched clsoing strides with Page McKenney, and Page is an awesome closer.” A repeat of that effort would put him in the mix here.
- Favorite — #3 Golden Glint (2-1) has won three of eight career starts and is always heavily backed at the windows; he’s gone off as the favorite in five of his last six starts and won last out with Trevor McCarthy in the irons. Plus, he’s a consistent hard-hitter who figures to run another good race today. But, while Gabby thinks you probably need to include him in your exacta or triple bets, she’s not sold on him in the win slot. Why not? “It set up perfectly for him last time, and he was all out to win at the lower level,” she says. “It could be a little tough for him at this level.”
“Good luck!”
(Featured image, of Ben’s Cat, by Laurie Asseo.)
