Ring In the New Year a couple days early by playing Oaklawn Park’s Late Pick 4 this Friday. With 11 or more entries in each race and $411,000 in total purse money on the line, those who unlock the winning sequence for the 50-cent wager are sure to be rewarded. Here’s a look at the action:

OP 7th race (4:18 p.m. EST -- PRISONER, beat to the punch by a speedy repeat winner at Churchill Downs, faded in mid-stretch as the favorite off the claim. But he won 5 of his prior 7 starts, most in wire-to-wire fashion. MAC DADDY TOO can be excused for a troubled trip last out, but he disputed the pace and held for minor awards in his previous four starts at 6F this year. FLAGS UP exits a race that produced 6/0-0-0 follow-up efforts, but he remains on the ticket in his second start off the Diodoro claim. BRESLAU battled between the 5-2 pace setter and the race favorite and proved best in the stretch to win for the third time in five starts at 6F with Esquivel aboard. DON’T WAIT UP, a $200,000 earner at the distance, looks to rebound from a sub-par run upon arrival at Oaklawn. TOP GUNNER posted five 92-plus Beyer speed figures during a $300,000 season in 2022 as a 5-year-old. He breezed 4F in :48 for his return from a year layoff, but he was no factor in the Grade 2 Phoenix and back-pedaled to finish last in a 6F stakes last out.

OP 8th race (4:46 p.m. EST) -- Save for longshot DEFLATER (30-1), there are eight six-figure earners in this allowance who have finished first or second in 64 of 151 starts at 6F. Go deep in the second leg of the Pick 4.

OP 9th race (5:14 p.m. EST) -- TAHOE RUN stalked Promise Me A Ride, a prior race favorite in the 1-1/8-mile Super Derby, and gave way to the likes of multiple stakes-placed and next-out winner Dennington and Grade 2 winner Dubyuhnell. He’s worth using at 15-1 on the cutback to one mile. GREENER PASTURES’S lone win this year was in a turf-to-dirt allowance at Ellis Park, but he is a proven miler, projects an ideal stalking trip and has license to improve off the claim by Oaklawn’s leading trainer last year.

OP 10th race (5:40 p.m. EST) -- RED RIVER MAGIC took the lead through a half-mile split comparable to a same-day, $148,000 optional claiming race, then widened with ease to break her maiden at Churchill Downs. If she can shake the likes of WINDY BAY and X T ZENA to his outside, she can repeat in similar fashion.

Suggested 50-Cent Ticket
OP 7th Race: 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11
OP 8th Race: 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
OP 9th Race: 3, 7
OP 10th Race: 4
Cost for 50-cent ticket: $54