Saturday's Best Bet: Merveilleux well spotted in Maple Leaf
Saturday's 7th race from Woodbine is the Grade 3 Maple Leaf Stakes for fillies and mares traveling a mile and a quarter on the all-weather surface (Post Time 3:56 p.m. EST).
No. 1 MERVEILLEUX (3-1) is a filly I have always liked but she has disappointed this year in tougher local graded races. She was stuck wide in the E. P. Taylor (G1) on yielding ground Oct 17 so I will just draw a line through that one. She won a restricted stakes at this course/distance last fall and finished nicely for the show in the Dance Smartly (G2) at this trip Aug. 22. This looks like a good spot to bounce back with a win.
No. 10 Lake Lucerne (6-1) won a race at this distance on all-weather ground last year in Great Britain. She has struck twice this year in turf routes in this country for Brendan Walsh, and she exits an okay show finish in the Athenia (G3).
No. 3 Skygaze (7-2) has excellent form in all-weather races shorter than this. The versatile filly definitely fits with these if she can handle the added ground, and she might move forward in her third start after a layoff.
No. 2 Art of Almost (8-1) likes this oval and looked good upsetting her stablemate Skygaze in a slow early/fast late renewal of the Ontario Matron (G3) Oct. 10.
Get my Expert Del Mar picks for today’s races
Wagers:
No. 1 to win
Exacta 1/2-3-10
Exacta 2-3-10/1
Recent Best Bet Winners
Oct. 31 - SUBCONSCIOUS ($7.80)
Nov. 1 - KEEPIN' IT CLASSY ($4.00)
Nov. 2 - LADY MCKENZIE ($7.00)
Nov. 3 - NEXT REVOLT ($4.40), Quinella ($7.80)
Nov. 5 - ECHO ZULU ($3.60)
Nov. 6 - CE CE ($14.40)
Nov. 9 - WELLINGTON WONDER ($6.40), Exacta ($26.60)
Nov. 10 - LASTCHANCEATGLORY ($6.80), Exacta ($15.60)
Nov. 11 - SPA CITY ($3.40)
Nov. 12 - Rowdy Rascal/Cuatro Madres Exacta ($12.80)