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Horse Racing

At the Gate – Saturday

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
5 minute read
A field of 11 Kentucky Derby hopefuls line up in Saturday’s $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

The race is one of 14 races on the big card with eight supporting stakes. It took me all day and all night to handicap the blockbuster card, so no Aqueduct report for Saturday.

The race offers up 50-20-10-5 points toward entry into this spring’s Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs.

All eyes will be on Hidden Scroll in the Fountain of Youth. The Bill Mott trainee rolled to a 14-length victory in his maiden score in the slop n Jan. 26.

A race to watch earlier on the card is the 10th race, a maiden special weight affair. The runner up and third place finishers that finished behind Hidden Score return. Ranger Up, who ran third in that race is my top choice and High Amplitude, the runner up is my second choice.

I am going against Hidden Scroll, but it will be interesting to see how those two run. If they both fail to fire it will give us more ammunition to go against the favorite in the Fountain of Youth.

The earlier stakes offer plenty of good betting opportunities. One that may not is the $200,000 Davona Dale (G2) which marks the return of Jaywalk, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) in her last outing.

She is 2-5 on the morning line and I could not find a plausible filly among her six foes to beat her.

The turf stakes look as if they will offer some good value. I like the Chad Brown trained Precieuse in the $150,000 Honey Fox (G3) and Brown has a trio of runners in the $150,000 Herecomesthebride (G3) to choose from.

The turf stakes action starts early with the fourth race being the $150,000 Palm Beach (G3) followed by the $150,000 Canadian Turf (G3). Believe it or not Brown does not have a runner in either of those races.

To purchase my Gulfstream Park Report for Saturday click here.

Here is the opening race from Gulfstream Park to get the day off to a good start:

GP Race 1 Clm $6,250 (11:30 ET)
#1 Fergielicious 4-1
#5 Miss Surprise 3-1
#2 Stellamattutina 6-1
#8 Go Go Jak 7-5

Analysis: Fergielicious tracked the early pace and weakened to finish fourth last out against state bred Alw-1 optional claimers at GP West last October. He returns here for the Belsoeur barn that is 22% winners (with a +ROI) with runners coming back off a 61-180-day layoff. He is a three-time winner over the main track here, last beating state bred $12,500 claimers three back going seven panels. He looks like a good fit in this spot and has decent works on the morning tab for his return off the sidelines.

Miss Surprise took the field gate to wire to beat $6,250 non-winners of three last out off a three-month break. He steps into open company here but looks capable of winning right back. He earned solid early and mid pace numbers but there is some other early zip in here. He won as if he still has a little something left for this spot.

Wagering
WIN: #1 to win at 3-1 or better.
EX: 1,5 / 1,2,5,8
TRI: 1,5 / 1,2,5,8 / 1,2,5,7,8

Today’s Featured Race of the Day from Gulfstream Park:

GP Race 13 The Fountain of Youth G2 (5:32 ET)
#5 Vekoma 7-2
#6 Signalman 9-2
#7 Hidden Scroll 9-5
#1 Code of Honor 6-1

Analysis: Vekoma makes his three-year-old debut here and first start since winning the Nashua (G3) at Aqueduct going a one turn mile on Nov. 4. In that outing the colt bobbled at the break, tracked the early pace while wide, taking over the lead and failing to switch leads until late, holding on to win by 1 ¾ lengths. The runner up Network Effect came back to run second in the Remsen (G2) in his next outing while the third-place finisher Call Paul won the Pennsylvania Nursery and the Swale (G3) in his next two starts. Our top pick has been working sharply at Palm Meadows for the Weaver barn that is 23% winners with runners coming back off a 61-180-day layoff He returns with Lasix and has enough pedigree to handle two turns. He is by Candy Ride out of the stakes winner Mona De Momma ($384,389).

Signalman had a solid juvenile campaign capped off by winning the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) in the slop at Churchill Downs in his last outing on Nov. 24. He was third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and runner up in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) in his first two starts in stakes company. The colt has been working steadily over the main track here for the Ken McPeek barn that is 10% winners (with a +ROI) with runners coming back off a 61-180-day layoff. It looks as if he is going to get enough pace in front of him to set things up nicely for him.

Hidden Scroll ran huge in his debut here, taking the field gate to wire and drawing away to win by 14 lengths and earning a 104 Beyer Speed Figure. That was for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott who is not known to have them fully cranked first time out. That outing did come in the slop. Three runners have come out of that race to run back with a pair running second, one of those fourth-place finisher Bodexpress, who earned a 91 Beyer on Feb. 16 in a neck loss. The colt is in deeper here and there is plenty of early zip in the race that could make things tough for him. The colt is by Hard Spun out of an Empire Maker mare that has dropped two other winners. He could just be a freak but at 9-5 or less I am willing to take a stab against him for the top spot.

Wagering
WIN: #5 to win at 7-2 or better.
EX: 5,6 / 1,5,6,7
TRI: 5,6 / 1,5,6,7 / 1,4,5,6,7

Live Longshots:
These are price plays for exotic players looking to find a couple of extra contenders to use in their trifecta and superfecta wagers. Or for those with smaller bankrolls, you might want to get in a small win-place wager.

Gulfstream Park
R5: #1 Siem Riep 10-1
R5: #3 Holiday Stone 8-1
R9: #10 Lady Rosalie 12-1
R12: #6 Bold Script 12-1
R14: #4 Hunter O’Riley 10-1

Good luck today!

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