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Kentucky Derby Picks - December 26, 2008Wunderdog Racing hopes everyone had a safe and Happy Holiday. After a bit of a "dull" period in the sport, Aqueduct re-opens today after it's annual winter break and Santa Anita opens it's long winter meet. Gulfstream will not be far behind as will the first stakes for newly turned three-year-olds soon after January 1. Due to a very positive response, we will continue the policy of having five races daily with most coming after 3:00pm EST to accomodate many of our subscribers in the mountain and pacific time zones. Today we have a pair from Aqueduct and the Fair Grounds and a single contest from Santa Anita. Today's Best Bet is #1 Cool Tales in Race #9 at Aqueduct.  Today's Horse Racing Picks: Top pick: #4 (BIRTHDAY BALLOONZ) - Trainer (Bruce Levine) has a past history of doing quite well with Canadian shippers during the winter months. Son of "Yes It's True" raced in New York earlier this year, without any success and he showed some speed in his Woodbine races. Drops into a claimer for the first time and his recent work activity suggests big improvement is coming. 2nd pick: #6 (Moment Sensor) - Expensive ($100,000) gelded son of "Kafwain" will run for Bruce Brown today after showing a fine debut effort at this tag after "stumbling" at the start. New trainer is strong in all the relevant catagories for success her, including 22% first time with him. 3rd pick: #2 (Chauvinist) - Drops and shortens-up for this. Wide in the slop on this course last out, he was also "bumped" at the start that day. Big threat. 4th pick: #8 (Knock Around Guy) - Has some speed, is working well and wil drop slightly, though both the second and third choices easily handled him last time out. Could hit the exotic's bottoms. AQUEDUCT Race #9 at 4:10 PM Eastern Top pick: #1 (COOL TALES) - Draws the rail and has good positional speed. Latest, a win on the main track here was his best since coming back from a two-month break. The horse to beat. 2nd pick: #7 (All In No Outs) - Lightly raced, he comes back today from another short layoff. Working well for his return and he's won off of breaks before and also has a win on this inner surface. 3rd pick: #2 (Express to Thewest) - Interesting runner, goes turf-to-dirt and drops to the lowest price he's ever raced. Figures put him in this and he draws a fine post. Price should be right. 4th pick: #9 (Fly the North Wind) - Drops, and has run well on this course before (7-1-3-1). Has enough speed to stay close and offer a strong late rally. 5th pick: #11 (Sumphin) - Needs a scratch to get in the race. Solid recent form on view and runner has good speed to utilize in a race without much on paper. Contender if he goes. FAIR GROUNDS Race #7 at 4:20 PM Eastern Top pick: #4 (WILD SUNDAY) - Hard-hitter is in great present shape and comes into this with three strong efforts in a row, and all were against tougher foes. Draws well and it's good to see him have a solid race on this sometimes "tricky" surface last out. The pick. 2nd pick: #2 (Grapelli) - Drops back into a claimer after a good try in an allowance last out. Late runner is well-spotted by his connections and should run big. 3rd pick: #6 (Whata Ya Mean) - Makes his first start for the Greg Foley barn after being with Todd Pletcher earlier in his career. He ran a fine race at Churchill last out against a tough band of $50K claimers. Contender. 4th pick: #9 (Big Wig) - Working well and drops down for the always dangerous Cody Autry barn. Must avoid a wide trip from this post to have any chance. Special Race Notes: If this race is switched off the turf to the main track, the picks are: #13-Ghetto Superstar #1-Zigawatt #2-Grapelli #3-Ferentz FAIR GROUNDS Race #8 at 4:50 PM Eastern Top pick: #9 (IDE BETTER RUN) - Speed/stalker will be making her third start of the meet today. Tired after setting/pressing a fast pace in her first here, then stalked last out, bid and held sway late. Moves up to a 1X allowance but probably defeated tougher foes last out in the claimer. Filly should sneak away at a square price. 2nd pick: #6 (Little Springer) - Makes her third start off a 13-week break and she showed good improvement in her latest. Up near the top, she rallied late to finish in a dead-heat for the place. A slight move forward today would make her a win candidate. 3rd pick: #4 (Nakika) - She was very sharp breaking her maiden last out in her first race in almost 10 months. Could turn out to be a good one and this 1X level will help determine that. 4th pick: #7 (Ide's Child) - Poor effort last out, but race was pretty quick for the condition. Capable of staying mid-pack and hitting the board at "juicy" odds. SANTA ANITA Race #5 at 5:10 PM Eastern Top pick: #1 (SCOTTISH DIAMOND) - Claimed by Doug O'Neill several starts back, veteran appears to be nearing his best for the top barn. Has a flexible style, the level and distance are right and both his career wins have come on this surface. 2nd pick: #10 (Mi Rey) - Returns from a very long break (14 months), but is in a barn (Jeff Mullins) who can have them ready to compete off of any type of layoff. Contender if ready. 3rd pick: #5 (Stand Tall) - Freshened-up since a win at this distance on Nov. 15. Strong finisher has worked well since and should receive a "lively" pace to close into. 4th pick: #2 (Spot the Diplomat) - Goes from running "long" on the turf to racing "short" on the dirt. Move is a very good one for his trainer (Eddie Truman 25%). Gelding finished third two races back at this level on the Hollywood surface. Horse Racing Picks Resources:
Check out the last five Horse Racing Picks Newsletters: Horse-Racing-Picks-December-23-2008 Horse-Racing-Picks-December-22-2008 Horse-Racing-Picks-December-21-2008 Horse-Racing-Picks-December-20-2008 Horse-Racing-Picks-December-19-2008 |
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