BALTIMORE, Md. -- What can I say? It's tradition. One of my favorite race days of the year and I get to channel my inner-12 year old at the same time.
Friday's card is full of good racing from the Black-Eyed Susan to the return of the Pimlico Special it's going to be an awesome day to be a racing fan. Before I started going to every Triple Crown events I loved heading over mid-afternoon to the Wehrle OTB to play the BES card and get fired up for the Preakness.
I was a childhood Colts and Orioles fan growing up in Cayuga, NY (a place where you don't have any allegiances being in Central NY), where most of my childhood friends were bandwagon fans of the Dolphins, Cowboys or Steelers, as well as the Yankees. So being in Baltimore is always cool to me, especially when I see old Colts memorabilia. I still am an Orioles fan, but upon moving to Buffalo in 1985, and the arrival of Jim Kelly (around the same time the Mayflower showed up in Baltimore), I'm a true blue Bills fan. But, I digress, as there is racing to discuss....
Let's take a look at the $200K Guaranteed Late Pick Four (for 50 cent):
Race 9 - Jim McKay Turf Sprint Stakes (5-furlongs)
Gotta go deep right off the bat. This is a tough race and I suck at turf sprints. Local superstar 11-Ben's Cat (5-2) has to be on the ticket. 1-Birdie Beats Par looks like he could win the race and is three for five at the distance, with a show also. 10-Ju Jitsu Jax is a speedy 6-year old who I remember tearing it up on Charles Town Classic night one year, and I find it hard to bet against him. 12-Fiddler's Patriot is on the outside, but is class-tested and had Johnny V in the irons. If I go 5 deep, I'm between 2-Zeb and Rosie Napravnik (coming off a big one at Keeneland) and 9-Disco Dandy, who is four for five at Old Hilltop. Fun to be skittish right off the bat. [Update 5/18 12:18 p.m.: Birdie Beats Par scratched...so we'll include both the 2 and 9!]
Race 10 - Black-Eyed Susan (1 1/8-miles)
The big one for 3-year old fillies. I've capped it for The Buffalo News Sports, Ink blog so I won't go into too much depth here. We'll go two deep here with 4-Mamma Kimbo and 2-Disposablepleasure, my top two selections.
Race 11 - The Very One (5-furlong Turf Sprint)
Whaaaaaaaat.....another turf sprint? Maybe I should just smile and nod. Have a Black-Eyed Susan, maybe...Looks like a two horse race between 6-Inspired (2-1) and 9-Well Deserved. I'll take Johnny V and JuLep in a turf race any day of the week. Tempted to single Inspired here, but will most likely play it safe with both.
Race 12 - Pimlico Special (1 3/16 miles)
Interesting race where I'll go 3-deep and hope that Nehro takes a lot of dough, along with Hymn Book. 7-Yawanna Twist ran a huge Preakness here two years ago (when he was my pick) and I'll stick with him again after two sharp workouts. I'll also include the more logical 8-Alternation and 2-Endorsement to round out my $0.50 Pick 4 (5x2x2x3 = $30).
Love the betting menu at Pimlico over the weekend with 50 cent trifectas, rolling Pick-3's and Pick-4's available to wager on. Enjoy the weekend and check back for some pictures and whatnot that we'll get up during the weekend.
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