Jeremy's Final Saturday Keeneland Picks After Scratches
Good luck today and early Happy Easter wishes as we wrap up week 3 at Keeneland. Fast-firm conditions on a pleasant, but overcast afternoon is in the forecast. The $82,000+ pick 6 carryover will be races 6-11 and with Keeneland’s $1 minimum and presence of standout favorite in Race 8 (#5 Just a Touch), this figures to be more of a strong payout than life-changer. A loss by Just a Touch changes that discussion as he’s the only obvious single in the sequence and will be singled on a large number of tickets. Beat him and it gets far more interesting in terms of payoffs.
Only 1 major change after scratches as I lost by top choice in Race 4. I’ll elevate #5 El Joury to the top spot. Trainer Brendan Walsh is a sparkling 8-22 at the meet, won yesterday’s stakes at a $79 mutuel and could win 3 of his 4 entries today if I’m right. The key play today for me comes with Race 7 turf sprinter #3 Cloudwalker, drawn beautifully with a strong course record and for the Walsh-Jose Ortiz team. She’ll be a pick 6 single for me.
Look for Jose Ortiz to have a huge day with leading riders Irad Ortiz Jr., Flavien Prat and Luis Saez riding at Oaklawn for the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap.
Updated picks after scratches: