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Pick Pony takes pride in providing the most accurate expert picks available today. Pick Pony Expert Picks are carefully selected by our team of analysts based on analytics from our advanced Past Performance Sheets and Racing Forms. For potential longshot selections, check out Pick Pony's AI Picks.

Race 1 – Maiden Special Weight – 5F Turf – Purse 60000 – Post 12:30PM

Win: 3 Miss Donna – 80%🥉
Place: 9 Counterbalance – 60%🥈
Show: 7 Velvet Dream – 80%
Alternative: 4 Eva Lea – 20%🥇

Notes: Pick Pony analysts expect a tight cluster among Miss Donna, Counterbalance, and Velvet Dream, with strong late runs likely from the two McCarthy fillies. Pace from Eva Lea makes her a live underneath value if she breaks sharply.

Race 2 – Claiming – 1 1/16M Dirt – Purse 16000 – Post 1:02PM BOXED TRIFECTA

Win: 1 Contrary Chieftain – 83%🥈
Place: 6 Northern Quest – 67%🥉
Show: 3 Sea Dog – 67%🥇
Alternative: 4 Sydney Street – 50%

Notes: Pick Pony analysts see Contrary Chieftain as the key class dropper controlling the rail, with Northern Quest and Sea Dog both well backed as conditioners who can pounce if the pace gets hot. Sydney Street projects as a steady grinder that can complete vertical exotics.

Race 3 – Maiden Special Weight – 5F Turf – Purse 60000 – Post 1:32PM

Win: 9 Lady Chic – 100%
Place: 5 Heads in Beds – 80%🥇
Show: 3 Robin With a Why – 60%
Alternative: 7 Halstyn Rose – 40%

Notes: Every analyst using this race leans to Lady Chic on class and figures, making her one of the strongest win keys on the card. Heads in Beds offers tactical speed and consistency, while Robin With a Why and Halstyn Rose are viewed as live price horses in a race with several improving types.

Race 4 – Maiden Special Weight (CA-bred) – 5.5F Dirt – Purse 60000 – Post 2:02PM WIN + EXACTA

Win: 6 Sexy Blue – 80%🥇
Place: 4 Syntax – 80%🥈
Show: 1 Sally's Wish – 40%
Alternative: 5 All in the Game – 40%🥉

Notes: Pick Pony analysts split between proven grinder Sexy Blue and first-time starter Syntax, suggesting a good exacta core if both run to expectations. Sally's Wish and All in the Game repeatedly show up underneath in selections, making this a race where coverage beyond the top two can be important in exotics.

Race 5 – Allowance Optional Claiming – 5F Turf – Purse 63000 – Post 2:32PM WIN

Win: 3 Flyover – 100%🥇
Place: 4 Regal Patriot – 80%
Show: 8 Arrakis – 60%
Alternative: 2 Sunglow – 20%

Notes: Flyover is unanimously preferred as the top choice, giving Pick Pony analysts a clear single in many multi-race tickets. Regal Patriot and Arrakis both bring strong turf sprint form and pace presence, so many analysts will box this trio in exactas and trifectas, with Sunglow as a lightly used upside play.

Race 6 – Starter Optional Claiming – 5.5F Dirt – Purse 34000 – Post 3:02PM

Win: 4 A. P. Again – 100%
Place: 2 L Rankin – 80%🥈
Show: 5 Won for Lou – 40%
Alternative: 1 Sendit Mo – 40%🥇

Notes: Pick Pony analysts treat A. P. Again as a strong favorite but respect L Rankin off a powerful maiden win, making the 4–2 combination a core exacta lean. Won for Lou and Sendit Mo show up often underneath as pace and trip-dependent types who can spice up tris and supers if the top pair hook up early.

Race 7 – Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes (G2) – 1 1/2M Turf – Purse 200000 – Post 3:32PM WIN

Win: 7 Truly Quality – 100%🥇
Place: 8 Balnikhov – 62%
Show: 4 Nineeleventurbo – 50%🥉
Alternative: 9 Mondego – 38%

Notes: Pick Pony analysts are nearly unanimous that Truly Quality is the horse to beat, with deep support across public figures. Balnikhov and Nineeleventurbo are widely projected as the main late-running dangers, while Mondego appears as the key alternative for players pressing against the favorite in verticals and horizontals.

Race 8 – Maiden Claiming – 6F Dirt – Purse 20000 – Post 4:02PM WIN ($6.00)

Win: 6 Wave With Envy – 100%🥇
Place: 1 Matts Advisor – 67%
Show: 2 Chief Resident – 50%🥉
Alternative: 8 Lanzador – 33%🥈

Notes: Wave With Envy is a universal top pick in a weak field, and Pick Pony analysts see him as a likely short-priced winner. Matts Advisor and Chief Resident appear on many tickets as the main backups, with Lanzador and Senor Tequilas viewed as upside types that can make trifectas pay if the favorite underperforms.

Race 9 – Allowance Optional Claiming – 5F Turf – Purse 61000 – Post 4:32PM

Win: 4 Glorious Life – 100%🥉
Place: 5 Jetovator – 67%🥇
Show: 8 Minister Shane – 50%
Alternative: 2 Gold Council – 17%

Notes: Glorious Life is a strong consensus top choice returning to a preferred course, with Jetovator and Minister Shane repeatedly identified as key rivals in a fast five furlong dash. Gold Council shows up from a minority of analysts as a value closer to include defensively in exotics and as a price alternative on win bets.

Exotic Bets and Value Plays

Pick Pony analysts offer the following strategic notes for exotics and value opportunities across the card:

Race 1:

Pick Pony analysts expect Miss Donna and Counterbalance to draw much attention, making Velvet Dream and Eva Lea useful value keys underneath in exactas and trifectas. Spreading among the three major McCarthy and Sadler fillies can protect against trip trouble in a bulky turf sprint.​

Race 2:

The consensus suggests a Contrary Chieftain and Northern Quest axis on most vertical tickets, with Sea Dog as the main pace factor who could hold on to a share if unpressured. Pick Pony analysts recommend focusing exactas and trifectas around 1, 6, and 3, using Sydney Street and Mother's Prayer sparingly to catch a price in fourth.​

Race 3:

Lady Chic profiles as a strong single in horizontals, with Heads in Beds and Robin With a Why forming the preferred exacta and trifecta structure. Halstyn Rose is treated as a value overlay that can sneak into the frame if the top pair get tangled in pace or traffic, so multi-leg players can afford to lean heavily on 9 with 5 and 3 while sprinkling 7 underneath.​

Race 4:

Because Sexy Blue and Syntax share similar support, Pick Pony analysts view this as a race to play exacta boxes and tris rather than a single. Structures focusing on 6 and 4 in the top two slots, with Sally's Wish and All in the Game for third and fourth, balance chalk and value while respecting the possibility that a first-time starter takes a big step forward.​

Race 5:

With unanimous support for Flyover, horizontals commonly use this runner as a single, especially where budget is tight. In verticals, Pick Pony analysts favor keying Flyover on top of Regal Patriot and Arrakis, then adding Incanto and Sunglow underneath for coverage. A typical pattern is 3 over 4 and 8 over 2 and 5 to capture the likely pace-pressing group around the favorite.​

Race 6:

A. P. Again and L Rankin dominate the projections, so many Pick Pony analysts suggest pressing exactas and doubles keyed through these two. Recommended structures include 4 over 2 and 5, and 4 over 2 and 1, with smaller saver tickets such as 2 over 4 and 5 for players who want protection against a pace meltdown. Sendit Mo appears as a reasonable longshot to anchor third and fourth in tris and supers.​

Race 7:

In the Hollywood Turf Cup, Truly Quality is a universal A horse, and most Pick Pony analysts build late Pick 3 tickets with this runner as a heavy key. A common approach is to use Truly Quality on top in trifectas with Balnikhov, Nineeleventurbo, and Mondego underneath, and to back up multi-race tickets with smaller tickets where Balnikhov or Mondego upset as the main alternatives.​​

JP-style horizontal constructions emphasize combinations such as:

• Legs using Truly Quality and Mondego as primary A horses, with Nineeleventurbo and Flashiest as backup B and C types in larger tickets across the Hollywood Turf Cup and the last two races.

Race 8:

Given the overwhelming consensus on Wave With Envy, Pick Pony analysts lean toward singling this horse in the late double and late Pick 3. In verticals, structures such as 6 over 1 and 2 over 1, 2, 8, and 7 target probable outcomes while leaving room for a price if Senor Tequilas or Lanzador steps forward on the drop and surface.​

Race 9:

In the closing turf sprint, most exotic strategies key Glorious Life in the top two positions while spreading underneath among Jetovator, Minister Shane, Special Club, and Gold Council. For example, a late Pick 3 structure from earlier analysts used combinations that emphasized Jetovator and Special Club together with Glorious Life, and added Grazed and Gold Council as deeper backups in case the pace collapses or an also-eligible draws in.​

Pick Pony analysts overall recommend that multi-race players build their strongest positions around Lady Chic (Race 3), Flyover (Race 5), A. P. Again (Race 6), Truly Quality (Race 7), Wave With Envy (Race 8), and Glorious Life (Race 9), while using the identified alternative and value runners to round out exacta, trifecta, and late horizontal strategies.