Mandatory Pick 6 payout buoys Gulfstream Saturday

What already promised to be an exciting Saturday at Gulfstream Park with a pair of stakes races as preps for the U.K.'s Royal Ascot meeting was kicked up a notch thanks to a mandatory payout in the Pick 6.

The carryover going into the 10-race card stood at more than $400,000, meaning horseplayers are likely vying for a share of at least $3-million when Gulfstream springs the latch on race 5 at 2:54 p.m. EDT. The sequence includes both stakes for 2-year-olds sprinting on turf, the Royal Palm Juvenile and Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, and as you would expect given those connections, Wesley Ward trains both morning line favorites.

Before you get there, though, you do have to get through the opening leg, a $6,250 claimer at a one-turn mile, and Horse Racing Nation Power Picks has a clear choice.

Being able to lean early will give us some looks to spread against Ward, as the Horse Racing Nation First-Time Power Ratings report only has one five-star-rated juvenile across both stakes, and Ward does not train him.

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