How to bet the carryover Pick 5 Friday at Turfway

To get this weekend started right, Turfway Park has an intriguing Pick 5 carryover of $29,835 on Friday with a first post at 6:15 p.m. EST. At the risk of being overly bold, this sequence is playable for all levels of budgets. carryovers are always enticing to horseplayers, so here are my thoughts on the five races.

Race 1 - A $5,000 claiming event for 4-year-olds and up at 6 1/2 furlongs, No. 10 Spend Benjamins gets all of my dollars to kick things off.

Whenever I play any multi-race sequence, I wait until I have the opportunity to see the horses in the paddock and out on the track before sending it on my tickets.

Depending on what I see from Spend Benjamins, I’m tempted to single here. This horse is 5-2 on the morning line, drops from a $10,000 tag last out, and has shown an improvement in Beyer Speed Figure when racing on an all-weather surface as opposed to dirt. That’s what he gets here today at Turfway Park, and to me his numbers stand out amongst the rest of this field when looking at their recent form.

If I don’t love what I see in the post parade, then No. 7 Crankshaft could be the alternative, coming in off a 3rd-place finish at Hawthorne and new to the barn of Brian Cook. A change of scenery is always something I take note of, and there is potential that this horse may respond positively for new connections. As a bonus, the Horse Racing Nation Shipper report tells us that Hawthorne shippers are 14 percent with a positive impact of +21 percent.

Race 2 - At 1 1/16 miles for 4-year-olds and up, this $16,000-$18,000 claiming event offers another opportunity to keep my ticket condensed. I feel confident about using two horses in here, No. 1 Happy Camper and No. 7 Curlington.

Happy Camper is the 2-1 ML favorite, shortening up from a 1 ¼ miles last out and dropping from allowance company. The last two races were at Turfway, so he’s familiar with the surface.

Curlington comes in off a win at Hawthorne going 1 1/8 miles, so he’s also cutting back in distance, and as noted above: Hawthorne shippers are outrunning their odds at Turfway.

Race 3 - For newly turned 3-year-old maidens going one mile, this race is where I’d be inclined to spread on my ticket.

First-time starter No. 8 Stirling’s Gold (15-1 ML) intrigues at that price. Stirling’s Gold worked a 4-furlong bullet at Keeneland for Trainer Ignacio Correas, who also trained half-sibling Hornswoggle to a win on Nov. 28 at Fair Grounds.

No. 10 My Brother Cam (4-1 ML) figures to take some play, but I can’t put a horse on my ticket that was eased in his last start and walked off without seeing a return effort first—at least at that price.

Although No. 1 Scattershack (3-1 ML) is building up a lot of experience without wins, this son of Shackleford is with trainer Dale Romans (fitting since he trained the sire) and ran well to be second while going wide in his last start. Another horse I’d consider would be No. 9 Lemonadeatthelatch (4-1 ML), who comes in off two second place finishes.

Race 4 - This $10,000-$15,000 claiming event for fillies and mares 4 and up at one mile is a race where nobody stood out to me. I’m taking a shot with No. 2 Beach Peach (5-1 ML) who comes in off a win before adding a bullet work out at Turfway Park going 4 furlongs on Dec. 30, and a trainer in Eric Reed who sports 20 percent winners from horses that won their last start.

Although her figures don’t stack up compared to others in this field, I’m willing to lean on her pretty heavily here. I think No. 5 Mayapretty (7-2 ML) will take money for Steve Asmussen, and this is my opportunity to beat a favorite.

Race 5 - If we’ve made it this far, will-pays should be looking pretty exciting. This maiden special weight for 3-year-olds at 1 mile has two first-time starters in No. 2 Sir Clouseau (12-1 ML) whose pedigree screams turf and No. 6 Teewinot Pass, whose dam and sibling were both more turf meant. I’m leaving both of them off my ticket and using No. 10 Gus Gus (4-1 ML) and No. 1 American Hero (3-1 ML).

Gus Gus improved his Beyer Speed figure by more than 20 points when stretching out for the first time, and has a race over the Turfway Park all-weather. American Hero gets to stretch out for the first time from six furlongs, which should be to his liking being by Constitution, and also has a race over the track.

Potential tickets

Option A:                                                                   Option B:

R1 - 10                                                                        R1 - 7, 10

R2 - 1, 7                                                                      R2 - 1, 7

R3 - 1, 8, 9                                                                  R3 - 1, 7, 8, 9, 11

R4 - 2                                                                          R4 - 2, 5

R5 - 1, 10                                                                    R5 - 1, 10

Cost: $6.00                                                                  Cost: $40.00