Cross Country Pick 5 features Withers Stakes, American Beauty
The New York Racing Association will team with Oaklawn Park to host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday with horse racing across the country highlighted by the Withers Stakes (G3) from Aqueduct Racetrack and the American Beauty from Oaklawn.
The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.
New York's path to the Kentucky Derby continues when Remsen (G2) winner Shotski will attempt to topple a talented field of eight in the Withers, which will kick off the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence in Race 8 with an approximate post time of 4:25 p.m. ET.
The Cross Country Pick 5 continues in Aqueduct Race 9, at 4:56 p.m., with a a 6 1/2-furlong claiming sprint for older horses that features a salty field of nine led by last-out winner O Shea Can U See.
Action switches to Oaklawn Park to complete the sequence beginning in Race 7, at 5:09 p.m., for a wide-open allowance optional-claiming tilt with a field of 11 sprinters.
Race 8, at 5:38 p.m., is the American Beauty, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 4 years old and up led by the multiple Grade 1-placed Amy's Challenge. The field of eight also includes Grade 1-placed Special Relativity and the improving Mt. Brave.
Closing out the Cross Country Pick 5 in Race 9, at 6:09 p.m., is a field of 12 allowance sprinters, with two also-eligible entrants waiting in the wings.
Sigalert, a $420,000 purchase last March, will make his Oaklawn debut for trainer John Sadler. After finishing fourth in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) and fifth in the American Pharoah (G1) as a juvenile, Sigalert missed his sophomore season but returned to action in January when fourth in an optional claiming sprint at Santa Anita. Sigalert will look to rally his way to victory over a field likely to be led to the turn by the Steve Asmussen-trained American Mandate.