Who to use, who to lose in your Withers Stakes bets

Half the field of six for Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes is trained by Todd Pletcher, but handicapper David Levitch — a former University of Louisville basketball player now authoring his own sheets at TheHorseCapper.com — is looking elsewhere for a must-bet contender. With 2018 Kentucky Derby points on the line at Aqueduct, here’s a look at who Levitch suggests to use, and who to lose on your tickets.

Use: #4 Avery Island

This colt is progressing with every start and comes into the race training well.  His second in the Grade 2 Remsen back in November was a solid effort considering he never really established good position during the race. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has two main horses for this year’s Derby trail and opted to ship this one to New York. Joe Bravo needs to be aggressive out of the gate, as this colt’s best efforts came when he was a dominant winner of the Grade 2 Nashua back in November over this Aqueduct strip. The ability is there for a breakout performance on the Derby trail.

Toss: #1 Firenze Fire

He is coming back on short rest after getting up in the Jerome on a grinding track that day. This one was able to overcome slow fractions, but is facing much better animals Saturday. The connections’ original plan was to skip this race and run him in the Grade 3 Gotham in March. However, his last works convinced them to enter him here. He is the lone Grade 1 winner in the field, as he defeated the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Good Magic in the Champagne.  This young colt has been nothing but consistent in his career, but I believe there are better options.

Best of luck!