The biggest day of the Oaklawn Park racing season is also its last, as the 12-race Arkansas Derby card drops the curtain on another wonderful meeting in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
It’s also the last last day that will be on Arkansas Derby day, as next year Oaklawn will shift its schedule to February-May and close on Kentucky Derby day, May 4, 2019.
But the task at hand is today’s getaway day with wagering opportunities abounding on the card that includes an all-stakes Pick 4 (races 8-11), a late Pick 5 (races 8-12) that closes the meeting with a 1 3/4-mile starter allowance race, and a special mid-card Pick 4 that begins in race 5.
My grid is below. Since we’re so narrow in the “A” column we’ll be playing those horses to do well while not minding the occasional misstep with some big prices in the “B” and “C” columns.
Our best bet of the day from a morning line perspective is #3 Pete’s Play Call in race 2 where we’re getting the right price on him to handle the class hike while sharp off a win for a barn firing 22% at the meet.
The all-stakes Pick 4 has some trickiness to it as well considering that the all-chalk sequence of Title Ready-Whitmore-Accelerate-Magnum Moon wouldn’t shock anybody and pay $50. Of those four, I like Title Ready best but will absolutely be playing tickets where none of them have to win.
Good luck today, everyone!
