Tips to playing Saturday's Cross Country Pick 4 on a budget
The New York Racing Association will again on Saturday host a Cross Country Pick 4 featuring races from Aqueduct, Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park. This sequence will start with the 34th running of the $150,000 Jimmy Winkfield, carded as Race 8 at Aqueduct, with a scheduled post time of 4:35 p.m. ET. It will be followed by Race 10 at Gulfstream (4:43 p.m.), the Grade 3 Suwannee River, and Race 11 at Gulfstream (5:16 p.m.), an allowance optional claiming race. The final leg of the Cross Country Pick 4 will be the Grade 2 San Vicente from Santa Anita (5:30 p.m.). Playing the Cross Country Pick 4 through NYRA Bets, customers will receive a 10 percent winners bonus, capped at $100. The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. I will use one of my favorite cost-effective Pick 4 wagering strategies, the spread ticket formula. It would cost $120 to lump all of my contenders on one ticket, but the spread ticket formula knocks the price down to a reasonable $40. Cross Country Pick 4 Contenders Primary - #7 GLOBAL CITIZEN, #3 Devine Entry Secondary - #2 Jumpmaster, #6 California Night, #4 A Different Style Analysis - Global Citizen finished up nicely in his debut and might like seven panels. Devine Entry was clearly second best at this specialty distance in a similar $100,000 event at Laurel Park last time. GP 10 (G3 Suwanee River) Primary - #5 DREAM DANCING, #9 Kitten’s Roar Secondary #6 Ultra Brat, #7 Dream Awhile Analysis - Dream Dancing reconnects with winning rider Julien Leparoux and hopes for a bit more pace help this time. Kitten’s Roar looked good winning the Grade Goldikova at Del Mar last fall. She might get first run. GP 11 (OC-75k/1x, 8.5T) Primary - #8 SAND DANCER, #3 Year of the Kitten Secondary - #10 Power of Attorney, #5 Mojovation Analysis - Sand Dancer finished well for the place in a similar course/distance affair Jan 13. He might get there third off the shelf. Year of the Kitten won his turf route debut (yielding ground) at Churchill Downs last fall. He gets pace to chase.
AQU 8 (Jimmy Winkfield, 7f)
SA 6 (San Vicente, 7f)
Primary - #6 KRIS’ ROCKET KAT, #1 Ax Man
Secondary - #4 All Out Blitz
Analysis - Kris’ Rocket Kat showed marked improvement second time out and gets pace to chase. Ax Man romped in his bow and show finisher Lombo won the G3 Robert Lewis last weekend.