Fair Grounds All-Stakes Pick-4 Selection

By Matt Pappis
Tracksideview Staff Writer —-

Fair Grounds

Race 9) Grade III Mineshaft

Silver Dust (4): In very good form of late and just out finished in the local prep for this Graded Stakes, he has only finished out of the exacta once at Fair Grounds and will be a square price.

Harlan Punch(2): The winner of the local prep for this event and has re-found his old form from last winter; he is the one to beat for me.

Lone Sailor (5): Exiting the Classic he will get way over bet and I would not feel comfortable taking a short price on him as he’s yet to show any improvement from last winter to now.

Race 10) Grade III Fairgrounds Handicap

Tiz a Slam (1): The cutback in distance from 1&½ to 1& 1/8 should help this one significantly with the lack of pace presence in the field he should be able to do it all alone on the front end. His 3 consecutive bullets at Payson tell me he’s ready to fire a big one here.

Synchrony (9): By far the class of the field who also loves Fair Grounds, however the lack of pace off the long layoff might compromise this one’s chances.

Great Wide Open(10): Lost to many in this field at a short price, however we can give him another shot and say he was due for a clunker after rattling off his four best career races. He is the only one in the field that looks like he will go with Tiz a Slam.

Race 11) Grade II Rachel Alexandra

*Please note Chasing Yesterday (10) will scratch*

Serengeti Empress (3): The ride in the Breeders Cup was ridiculous when she was grabbed on the first turn to let Jaywalk wire the field on a loose lead. The switch to Graham who is the go to rider for this barn shows me they mean business, and this will be her first step to prove she is an Oaks horse.

Positive Spirit (4): In her only two losses she was beaten a 1&¼ and a neck so we do not need to worry about consistency. I’m not sure where the big number came from in the Demoiselle but if she can replicate that race she will be very dangerous here.

Needs Supervision (9): Since a narrow defeat in her first race she has really put it all together rattling off three straight wins; this is a major class test but she deserves a shot in this field.

Race 12) Grade II Risen Star

Plus Que Parfait (1): He was bet in the LeComte and was another who had an awful trip. He has shown speed in the past and he should be able to be more forwardly placed here with a good rail post he’s very dangerous.

Hog Creek Hustle (6): Ran a big one in the LeComte when encountering a lot of trouble and should be dangerous in this spot with a cleaner trip and pace to run after.

Manny Wah (7): Another coming out of the LeComte has really improved since the brief freshening and one of my favorite angles in racing is 3rd off the layoff.

War of Will (14): Has turned into a machine since switching to dirt winning both his career dirt races by a combined 9 lengths including the LeComte by 4, however this post did him no favors and I’m willing to take a small stand against him.

Pick 4 Race 9-12
2,4,5,6,8,9/ 1,9,10/ 3,4,6,8,9/ 1,6,7,14 = $180