PTF’s Coast-to-Coast Pick Five Write-Up for February 1

The Coast-to-Coast Pick Five, one of my favorite bets for its player friendly terms ($1 minimum, 15% takeout) and for the fact that CAW players access is limited (the bet is retail only).

JK and I covered all the races involved in the bet and more in this video we did, which you can also listen to here.

But as a third option, I’ll share my notes in this piece.

R10: Kittens Joy Stakes

#6 TEST SCORE has a very live look in this race that kicks off the Coast-to-Coast at 4:43 ET.

Test Score has among the best numbers in the field and has had three months to grow up since we last saw him on the track. That last run was also better than it looked. He was trying to close into a slow pace (coded blue throughout on TFUS). Today, he faces a field where the pace is expected to be spicy, and that should play well to his late-running style.

JK

4-6-8

SA 5: Allowance

#4 WORD PLAY is one of those milers with speed that I always tend to think will enjoy the downhill course at Santa Anita. That race from Opening Day has produced good form and the blinkers could sharpen her up.

#10 MYSTICISM is a potential pace play at a price. She hasn’t been overly impressive on the track but she’s got an amazing pedigree, by War Front out of an Arch dam. Added ground could be to her benefit. Hoping Mike Smith goes to the front from this advantageous outside post.

JK

4-6-11

R11: Grade 2 Holy Bull

I have a full writeup of this one here.

For C2C purposes, I’ll go with two As and a lone B.

#4 FEROCIOUS is a confident top pick as we look for him to improve with time and the addition of blinkers.

#3 Tappan Street looks like a horse with a future based on that nice debut win stalking fast fractions. “Too sharp to ignore,” as the poet once wrote.

B

#7 Burnham Square might be a little underpriced for me at Brian Nadeau’s educated guess on the morning line at 5-1. But I do think he’s an interesting runner with upside who could get there with a little improvement.

JK

A

4-7

B

3 4

SA 6: Grade 3 Megahertz

People often talk about the drop from maiden special weight to maiden claiming company as the biggest in racing but another really important drop is from Grade 1 company to any other stake (I get suspicious when G1 horses drop lower than that).

#4 RASHMI has that angle going for her. Her preferred trip is to be forward, and she should be able to achieve that position against this level of competition. Dettori was aboard for her maiden well and should be able to coax enough out of the finish.

#3 SAREEHA got a good setup last time but she was running hard into the fastest part of the race and the fig she earned makes her a major threat. Looking at pace figures she won’t be too far back. Reformed claimer will be tested for class but she just might pass.

JK

A: 4-1

B: 5-6

R12: Grade 3 Forward Gal

Looks to me like you might be able to lock up this race with three runners.

#11 STUNNER is not a stone-cold single (see what I did there?) but I think she’s very live. I know the last race was bowling-shoe ugly (gotta keep the wrestling references coming) but she was just way too keyed up last time. There won’t be many times you’ll a four-length lead coughed up in a short-stretch finish at GP, but that’s where we ended up last time. Anyway, just a little rationing out of that speed and a modicum of maturity could bring about a ton of improvement. Florida-bred has already won an open stake.

#9 ROJO RITA showed all the promise in the world on debut, blasting off against an overmatched field that’s come back to run pretty well in aggregate (two winners, lots of fig improvement). But the most impressive thing to me was the paceline on TFUS: 121-98-101-105. To flash that kind of speed early, settle and go hard again at the end stamps her as a potential divisional player (at least as a sprinter). She’s not beating me.

#7 ECLATANT failed to oblige as the fav in the Golden Rod but she wasn’t disgraced. Despite her fig regressing there, she was still third in a G2 and she probably went a little too fast early. If you key off her other numbers and add in some improvement for age, she could easily run a winning race. Interesting to see Cox run two in here with her and the top choice. As a wise man once said, “Why enter two when one would do?”

JK

A

9-11

B:

3-5