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Trio Of Turf Races Feature In Friday’s Stronach 5

The Stronach 5 returns Friday with races from Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields along with an industry-low 12-percent takeout.

Friday's sequence includes three turf races – two maiden turf races from Gulfstream and Golden Gate and a competitive 10-horse $32,000 claiming event from Santa Anita.

The Stronach 5 begins at 4:50 p.m. with Gulfstream's eighth race, a claiming event for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs. Five of Hearts breaks from the rail as the 2-1 favorite for trainer Kathleen O'Connell and jockey Edwin Gonzalez. Victor Barboza Jr. saddles the 5-2 second choice I Kickn. The 4-year-old has two wins and four thirds from eight lifetime starts. Edgard Zayas has the mount.

Santa Anita's third race serves as the second leg of the sequence. The six-furlong claiming event for 4-year-olds and up appears to be wide-open with five of the seven starters 4-1 or less. Gulfstream's ninth race is up next. The mile turf event for $50,000 maiden claimers is another wide-open affair with a 3-1 favorite in Gary Barber's Blue Lou Boyle, coming off a second-place finish Feb. 10 for trainer Mark Casse off a 13-month layoff. Trainers Brendan Walsh and Barclay Tagg send out first-time starters while trainer Eoin Harty ships Astroturf in from Tampa off a third-place finish March 14.

A return to Santa Anita for its fourth race and the fourth leg of Friday's sequence. A claiming event for 4-year-olds and up at six furlongs on the turf has a 5-2 favorite in Where We At's Castle, who enters off a second-place finish Feb. 21 off a near year layoff. The 2019 winner of California Flag Handicap has Abel Cedillo named to ride. Psycho Dar (4-1) goes out for the Kristin Mulhall barn, which clicks at 25-percent in turf sprints. Gary Barber's Blackout (4-1), conditioned by Peter Miller, gets blinkers on.

The Stronach 5 wraps up at Golden Gate with Race 4, a maiden $20,000 for 3-year-olds at a mile on the turf. Stormin Galileo (5-2) breaks from the rail after a fifth-place finish against state-bred maiden special weight company. Space Odessey drops from an $80,000 claiming event Feb. 27 at Santa Anita for trainer Simon Callaghan. The gelded, Maryland-bred son of Malibu Moon fetched $225,000 as a yearling at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Friday's races and sequence

Leg One –Gulfstream Park 8th Race: (8 entries, 6 furlongs) 4:50 ET, 1:50 PT
Leg Two – Santa Anita Park 3rd Race: (7 entries, 6 furlongs) 5:13 ET, 2:13 PT
Leg Three –Gulfstream Park 9th Race: (8 entries, 1 mile turf) 5:22 ET, 2:22 PT
Leg Four –Santa Anita Park 4th Race: (10 entries, 6 furlongs (turf) 5:44 ET, 2:44 PT
Leg Five –Golden Gate Fields 4th Race: (9entries, 1-mile turf) 5:59 ET, 2:59 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

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All Graded Stakes Edition Of Cross Country Pick 5 Features Action From Aqueduct, Keeneland, Oaklawn

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host an all-graded stakes edition of the Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring racing action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Keeneland Race Course and Oaklawn Park.

Live coverage will be available with America's Day at the Races on FOX Sports. Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/cross-country-wagers.

The sequence kicks off at Keeneland with the Grade 2, $200,000 Shakertown [Race 8, 4:57 p.m. ET], a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-olds and upward led by 3-1 morning-line favorite Bound for Nowhere, who won the 2018 renewal for trainer Wesley Ward. A field of 13 turf sprinters includes Imprimis, who captured the 2019 Shakertown for trainer Joe Orseno; and the speedy Pennsylvania-bred The Critical Way, who will look to go gate-to-wire in search of a first graded stakes win.

Action switches to the Big A for the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle [Race 9, 5:20 p.m.], a nine-furlong test featuring eight sophomore fillies offering 100-40-20-10 Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-four finishers. Four-time Eclipse Award winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle stakes winners Search Results and The Grass Is Blue, while the Graham Motion-trained Mia Martina tries dirt for the first time after closing from deep to finish fourth last out in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks.

A field of nine sophomores assemble for the third leg of the wager in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino [Race 10, 5:58 p.m.], a nine-furlong test with 100-40-20-10 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points on the line. The Brown-trained Risk Taking and Crowded Trade offer a strong one-two punch for Klaravich Stables.

Risk Taking, the last-out Grade 3 Withers-winner, will have the services of champion rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. from post 4 as the 5-2 morning-line favorite. Crowded Trade, runner-up by a nose in the Grade 3 Gotham, will be piloted by Big A winter meet leading rider Eric Cancel. Steep opposition will be provided by Prevalence, the undefeated Godolphin homebred son of Medaglia d'Oro for trainer Brendan Walsh; New York-bred Brooklyn Strong, the Grade 2 Remsen-winner trained by Danny Velazquez; and Canadian-bred Weyburn, who earned a dramatic nose win in the Gotham for trainer Jimmy Jerkens.

The penultimate leg, the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison [Race 10, 6:02 p.m.], will offer a field of seven older fillies and mares sprinting seven furlongs on the Keeneland main track led by the Ward-trained Kimari. Owned by Ten Broeck Farm, the 4-year-old Munnings filly has won 5-of-9 starts including a last-out score in the Spring Fever in the slop at Oaklawn Park. The Group 1-placed filly romped to a 15-length victory on debut in her lone start at Keeneland. Bell's the One is the 2-1 morning-line favorite, boasting a record of 15-7-2-2 and purse earnings of $880,040 for trainer Neil Pessin. The 5-year-old Majesticperfection mare finished third in this event last year ahead of a nose score in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs. Grade 1-winner Fair Maiden and Grade 2-winner Sconsin add class to a talented field.

Closing out the sequence is the Grade 3, $600,000 Fantasy [Race 11, 6:54 p.m.], a 1 1/16-mile test for sophomore fillies at Oaklawn Park offering 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. The two-turn test will see a rematch between the second and third-place finishers from the Grade 3 Honeybee in Pauline's Pearl and Sun Path.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen for Stonestreet Stables, Pauline's Pearl was dismissed at odds of 18-1 on the tote board in the 1 1/16-mile Honeybee on March 6, but closed between rivals to complete the exacta behind the victorious Will's Secret. Juddmonte Farms' Sun Path, trained by Brad Cox, earned a career-best 83 Beyer Speed Figure in an allowance win three starts back at Fair Grounds and has since finished fourth in the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds and a flat third last out in the Honeybee. Ava's Grace, third in the Grade 2 Adirondack last summer at Saratoga, could offer a lone speed threat stretching out for the first time for trainer Robertino Diodoro.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool. The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit www.NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday April 3:
Leg A: Keeneland-Race 8 (4:57 pm) Shakertown (G2)
Leg B: Aqueduct-Race 9 (5:09 pm) Gazelle (G3)
Leg C: Aqueduct- Race 10 (5:58 pm) Wood Memorial (G2)
Leg D: Keeneland-Race 10 (6:02 pm) Madison (G1)
Leg E: Oaklawn Park-Race 11 (6:54 pm) Fantasy (G3)

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Equibase Analysis: Weyburn Poised To Validate Gotham Upset In Wood Memorial

Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial Presented by Resorts World Casino is the first of three “Road to the Kentucky Derby” prep races within the span of one hour on Saturday, April 3. Except for the Arkansas Derby to be run one week from now, these three races, which include the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby and Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, offer the winner a guaranteed spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May by affording the winner 100 points. Even the 40 points the runner-up will earn in these races could be sufficient to help secure a spot among the 20 which will participate in the “Greatest Two Minutes in Sports” next month.

The Wood Memorial drew a field of nine, led by the one-two finishers in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes last month in Weyburn and Crowded Trade, respectively. Another stakes winner who may belong is Risk Taking, who won the Grade 3 Withers Stakes in February at Aqueduct but who skipped the Gotham. Brooklyn Strong won the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes over the track at the distance of the Wood Memorial, but it may be a tall order to pick up where he left off following four months on the bench and versus horses which all ran much more recently.

Candy Man Rocket won the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes in February before an 11th of 12 finish in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby and it may be a stretch to go from next-to-last in that recent race to a top competitor in the Wood Memorial. Market Maven and Bourbonic finished first and second, respectively, in an allowance race at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania but appear overmatched, as does recent maiden winner Dynamic One.

Then there's Prevalence, a strong winner of both starts in his career shipping in to New York from Florida for Godolphin, which already has a significant presence on the “Road to the Derby” with Rebel's Romance (winner of the U.A.E. Derby last weekend), Essential Quality (running in the Blue Grass Stakes), and Proxy.

Weyburn was disregarded by bettors at 46 to 1 odds one month ago in the Gotham Stakes but proved to be an exceptionally tough competitor when winning by a nose. After attending the pace only a half-length behind the leader for the first half-mile, Weyburn engaged for the lead for the rest of the race, first battling head and head with Freedom Fighter then battling nose and nose the entire last eighth of a mile with Crowded Trade. That effort occurring one month ago leads me to believe he will not regress and will move forward to run even better in the Wood Memorial. Considering Weyburn earned a career-best 105 Equibase Speed Figure, tied for best in the field with Crowded Trade, it would take significant improvement by any other runner except Crowded Trade to run faster than Weyburn demonstrating logical improvement in his second start following three months off. As such, Weyburn gets slight preference among two horses I feel stand out against the rest in terms of their probability to win this race.

Crowded Trade has no knocks, having won in his career debut at the end of January before stepping into stakes company in the Gotham Stakes last month and giving it his all. Third place Gotham finisher Highly Motivated is looking for different scenery this weekend and will run in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. With no other horse having run as fast as either Crowded Trade (or Weyburn) who earned a 105 figure in the Gotham, this lightly raced colt making his third career start has significant improving he can do and must be considered a strong contender to win. As to his breeding to run this nine furlong trip, there's no doubt as a son of More Than Ready that is not an issue as the sire's Catholic Boy won graded stakes at a mile and one-quarter. Trained by Chad Brown and ridden by red hot Eric Cancel, Crowded Trade has every right to turn the tables on Weyburn in their second meeting and move on to the Kentucky Derby in fine form.

Prevalence, like Crowded Trade, has only run twice, and likewise his second race was a one-turn mile in which he ran impressively. After winning his debut by eight lengths in handy fashion with a 99 figure, Prevalence won his second start just as easily by three lengths with a 98 figure but likely could have gone faster. Perhaps more importantly, after he crossed the finish line it was noted by the astute chart caller for Equibase that Prevalence was “urged past the wire for an eighth of a mile or so past the finish.” This is significant, as it shows a plan beforehand between jockey Tyler Gaffalione (who rides in the Wood) and trainer Brendan Walsh (who trained top 3-year-old Maxfield last year) to give the colt experience at running the distance of his next race. Being a son of Medaglia d'Oro, who sired tremendous stakes winners like Songbird and Wonder Gadot, if Prevalence got the foundation for this race as intended, improving enough to win the Wood Memorial is not out of the question.

In case readers are wondering, the reason I'm not considering Risk Taking a win contender has to do with the fact he comes back from two months off after winning the Withers Stakes in February. Although the 102 figure earned in that race may be competitive with the top horses in the Wood if he improves on it, the fact that he skipped the Gotham and most of his opponents ran more recently gives me pause.

The rest of the field, with their best representative Equibase Speed Figures, is Bourbonic (88), Brooklyn Strong (99), Candy Man Rocket (90), Dynamic One (87) and Market Maven (94).

Win Contenders:
Weyburn
Crowded Trade
Prevalence

Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino – Grade 2
Race 10 at Aqueduct
Saturday, April 3 – Post Time 5:58 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Eighth
Three Year Olds
Purse: $750,000
TV: NBC Sports Network 5:30 – 7:30 PM ET

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Every Race, Every Day: TVG Featuring Live Coverage From Keeneland

TVG, America's horse racing network, will be broadcasting every race, every day with expanded coverage of Keeneland's Spring Meet which begins on Friday, April 2, and runs through Friday, April 23. Opening weekend will feature the Eclipse Award champion and TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Essential Quality as he puts his four-race undefeated streak on the line in the $800,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2).

Todd Schrupp, Joaquin Jaime, Caleb Keller, Caton Bredar, Gabby Gaudet and Scott Hazelton will be broadcasting live from Keeneland with exclusive interviews, expert analysis and insights throughout opening weekend. Friday's ten-race card will feature a pair of graded stakes races – the $150,000 Beaumont Stakes (G3) and the Transylvania Stakes (G3). The Keeneland Spring meet will feature fifteen graded stakes races.

On Saturday, there will be Kentucky Derby points on the line in the $800,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) which offers 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the top four finishers. Essential Quality, trained by Brad Cox and ridden by recent Dubai World Cup (G1) winning jockey Luis Saez, will face a field of eight rivals including Highly Motivated, a stakes winner trained by Chad Brown.

Saturday at Keeneland will also feature the $500,000 Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1), a Kentucky Oaks (G1) prep for sophomore fillies. The race will feature the three-year-old debut of Malathaat for trainer Todd Pletcher and Shadwell Stable. The bay daughter of Curlin is out of Grade 1 winning mare Dreaming of Julia and was undefeated from three starts as a juvenile. Joel Rosario will be in the irons.

The Road to the Kentucky Derby (G1) will run through California on Saturday with the $750,000 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1), a top-tier Kentucky Derby (G1) prep race with 100-40-20-10 points up for grabs for the top four finishers. Trainer Bob Baffert will try to add a tenth Santa Anita Derby victory to his resume and will saddle two contenders in the field of ten – graded stakes winner Medina Spirit with John Velazquez aboard and recent maiden winner Defunded with Mike Smith up.

TVG's Mike Joyce, Simon Bray, Christina Blacker and Dave Weaver will be reporting live from Santa Anita with full coverage of the twelve-race card which will feature a total of six stakes races.

TVG will also be broadcasting the eleven-race card from Aqueduct which will feature five graded stakes races including the $750,000 Wood Memorial Stakes (G2), a major prep race on the road to the Kentucky Derby with 100-40-20-10 qualifying points available to the top four finishers. The race has drawn a field of nine including Risk Taking, one of two horses for trainer Chad Brown. The son of Medaglia d'Oro was last seen winning the Withers Stakes (G3) in February and will team up with Irad Ortiz, Jr.

In addition to racing from Keeneland, Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, TVG will feature racing from Oaklawn Park, Aqueduct and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

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