There’s a long way to go to solve Keeneland’s $3 Late Pick 3 this Friday, April 24. A 1-1/2-mile Grade 3 stakes race and 1-1/8-mile six-figure allowance on the turf are part of the sequence, with a crowded Maiden Special Weight sprint in between. Here’s a closer look and a suggested $54 ticket.

KEE 8th Race (4:44 p.m. EST) -- More than half the field in the featured $350,000 Bewitch Stakes (G-3) has never run in a 1-1/2-mile turf race. On the other hand, more than half have won a Grade 3 event and two others are Grade 2-placed on the lawn. I’ll try to beat the two morning-line favorites, who don’t offer enough value for Pick 3 purposes. SPEED SHOPPER ran 1-2-3 in graded grass routes, but she sat a perfect stalking trip from the rail, lacked some room on the turn and was out-kicked until late stretch in the Grade 3 Orchid at Gulfstream Park last out. LITERATE rallied to win back-to-back minor stakes on Turfway Park’s synthetic track to begin her 6-year-old season. But the $459,542 earner is winless in five starts on turf and unproven at this distance. MRS. ASTOR, the queen of turf marathons in California since 2024, won 7 of her last 10 starts, five in photo finishes and five at 1-1/4 miles and beyond. She rallied into a slow pace from post 10 to finish third in the G-3 Santa Ana as the favorite last month. She makes the ticket and so does longshot VIRGIN COLADA, whose only win since a debut maiden victory in 2024 was in an entry-level allowance at Turfway Park three months ago. However, she is reunited with jockey Flavien Prat, who was aboard for a Grade 2 turf placing as a 2-year-old, and she is trained by Mike Maker, who is 22-for-132 the last three years with an average $19.80 win mutuel on the surface switch angle. JUST BASKING earned a 93 Beyer when she sprung a 13-1 upset in the Grade 3 The Very One at Gulfstream Park in February at 1-3/8 miles. She unwound too late and got beat a half-length by SPEED SHOPPER last out.

KEE 9th Race (5:16 p.m. EST) -- MUMDOGGIE gained late on a 2-to-1 debut winner and finished ahead of a next-out MSW winner in his third start overall and first this year. IMPRACTICAL, a $375,000 sales buy, awakened in his season debut, running with Lasix for the first time. He set the pace to the stretch and held third in a split division race with nearly identical fractions. NATIONAL CHARTER shows some flashy recent workouts over the track to warrant a long look in his debut. His dam, Totally Tucker, has four winners from seven foals, including Grade 3-winning turf sprint specialist Totally Boss (7-24, $802k) and G-3 dirt route winner Super Steed. Trainer George Arnold II is better than his recent 1-for-29 run with first-time starters indicates, but watch the odds here, as only 10 of those 29 starters were single-digit odds.

KEE 10th race (5:48 p.m. EST) -- PRETTY PICTURE will take some beating in her 4-year-old debut for trainer Chad Brown. She rallied from far back to win her debut on turf, then placed in a pair of graded events behind the likes of three-time graded winner and millionairess Lush Lips and next-out Grade 3 victor Fast Market. STRONG DESTINY turned in a pair of freakish performances for her new barn on Turfway Park’s synthetic track. She ran away from the 3-to-5 and 7-to-5 runners up to win by a combined 24 lengths with an average 91 Beyer. She might be this good.

Suggested $3 Pick 3 Ticket
KEE 8th Race: 2, 6, 7
KEE 9th Race: 5, 6, 7
KEE 10th Race: 1, 6
Cost: $54