It will be Christmas-come-early for anyone who solves Laurel Park’s Pick 5 wager this Friday, Dec. 22. A $13,271 carryover sweetens the pot for the 50-cent wager. Here’s a closer look:

LRL 5th race (2:29 p.m. EST -- ACE NINE NINE stalked dueling 1-to-5 favorite PARADISE PRIDE until he swept to command on the final turn and stayed there despite lugging in sharply in the stretch. He backed up that victory with a 10-3/4-length starter allowance romp. FORMAL ORDER got first run off a contested pace duel and finished well clear of the deep closers to win in a much-improved second start off the claim. He posted the second-best speed figure of his career to win for the first time in 11 tries at this distance and is worth adding to the ticket.

LRL 6th race (3:00 p.m. EST) -- ASHLEE’S RING finished behind the 2-to-1, wire-to-wire winner and between three other next-out winners when claimed at this level at Woodbine in her last start. Considering she broke outward and ‘waited for run’ while tucked in on the rail, she earned Pick 5 solo play status for her first start outside of Canada. (If ASHLEE’S RING is scratched, use DANCINONTHEBEACH (#5) in her place.

LRL 7th race (3:31 p.m. EST) -- SEVEN’S ELEVEN won a pair of Maryland-bred stakes sprinting by open lengths recently and GOING TO THE LEAD bounced back from a sub-par effort against SEVEN’S ELEVEN with his third consecutive runner-up finish at this level. But with both runners are unproven in one-turn miles and facing a full field that includes nine six-figure earners, so go deep on the ticket.

LRL 8th race (4:02 p.m. EST) -- MISSION BEACH beat an eventual Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed rival in his debut for trainer Bob Baffert. He then dueled and gave way in a pair of 7F graded stakes, one against eventual Grade 1 winner Timberlake. Now the $400,000 sales buy makes the cross-country journey and into the top local barn of Brittany Russell. He’s talented enough to overcome a difficult post in a speed-laden field. UNCLE CAT dueled head-and-head in three non-stakes sprints, winning once by a neck and losing once by the same margin. He will need to find a passing gear but is in the right hands to do it. I KNOW MAP showed marked improvement in his second start, winning a long duel with the 1-to-5 favorite who romped next-out. He has the right running style to spring another upset.

LRL 9th race (4:33 p.m. EST) -- EL DE CHIMI drops and stretches out off a pair of sub-par efforts at one mile, but he remains dangerous off his prior running lines for a barn that excels with new acquisitions. BOLD HONOR’S past performance lines are dotted with next-out winners. He got up for third off a 4-wide trip at 7F last out -- before the race winner finished second for $12,500 and the runner-up won going away at 6F. PRACTICAL SENSE ran into early troubled in his last four starts, but if he breaks cleanly, he can be a forward factor throughout on the class drop.

Suggested 50-Cent Ticket
LRL 5th Race: 5, 7, 8
LRL 6th Race: 8
LRL 7th Race: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11
LRL 8th Race: 1, 2, 3
LRL 9th Race: 3, 5, 9
Cost for 50-cent ticket: $94.50