by Jerry Shottenkirk
October 28, 2017
The best is saved for last in the late Pick 4 at Gulfstream Park West on Saturday.
I’m putting it on the line with a single in the last race, and it’s no normal single. Lucky Kitten is a 7-year-old gelding with 10 wins in 35 career starts and nearly $200,000 in earnings. For the claiming price of $8,000, he’s sitting pretty in this spot, especially with a drop in class from the $16,000 claiming price he’s seen in his last four races.
Lucky Kitten is 0-for-2 over the Gulfstream Park West turf, but those came last year when he ran at higher levels. The Kitten’s Joy runner has been idle since finishing 2nd behind Metaphorically in a Gulfstream mile race than went down in 1:34 after ultra-fast fractions. Despite the layoff, he’ll likely be very tough as he’ll tackle softer company than he’s seen. A similar output as he had last time would undoubtedly make him very difficult to beat for this price.
While Lucky Kitten is a single, the other races in the sequence require more numbers. The 8th race, which is the 2nd in the Pick 4, is the most wide-open of any, and it’s used here as a spread race with five horses on the ticket. The 7th and 9th races are each represented by three and four horses, respectively.
The late Pick 4 has averaged about $1,300 (for 50 cents) this week and hopefully those rich payoffs will continue.
Here’s the suggested Pick 4 ticket:
Race 7: #2 Unbroken Spirit, #4 Morning Destiny, #8 Miss Sophia’s Star. (2-4-8)
Race 8: #3 Dublin Tinker, #5 Nation U S A, #6 El de Dani, #7 Ramcat, #9 Twice On Sunday. (3-5-6-7-9).
Race 9: #3 Papa Pig, #4 Noble Venezuela, #7 Sir Hannoun, #8 Collective Wisdom (3-4-7-8).
Race 10: #7 Lucky Kitten. (7)
50-cent Pick 4: 2-4-8 with 3-5-6-7-9 with 3-4-7-8 with 7 ($30).