Best Horse Racing Bets for Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Since the rest of the week will be pretty much all derby, all the time, I decided to feature three of my other favorite tracks for Wednesday.

I’ve provided my top horse racing betting picks for Charles Town Races, Mountaineer Racetrack, and Thistledown Racino.

There are no stakes races among them, but I found some very tight runs at all three.

I agree with the morning line for race three—the 9/5 entry, Another Victory, will finish first. In this seven-furlong sprint for three-year-olds and upward, this five-year-old ridgling will be ridden by top jockey Arnaldo Bocachica.

Another Victory’s nearest competitor, at 2/1 morning line odds, hasn’t raced in two years—and when he was racing, only managed to finish in the money half the time (16 for 32).

Jeff C. Runco, a name well-known at tracks throughout the mid-Atlantic states, is Another Victory’s trainer.

We’ve got a good-sized field to choose from in race six, and my pick is not the morning line’s even-money favorite. Rather, it’s the fourth-favored 8/1 sleeper, Basket Girl.

Guiding Basket Girl to each victory is veteran trainer Ronney W. Brown, who has ranked in the top 100 trainers for wins every year since 2012. He has Luis A. Batista in the irons for this four-and-a-half furlong run for fillies and mares three years old and up.

Batista has ridden the four-year-old filly for her last three races (two wins, one second). Overall, Basket Girl’s record stands at seven money finishes in eleven starts, with four wins.

I can’t argue with the morning line on race seven, so my money’s on the 6/5 favorite, Be Be Bop, with Arnaldo Bocachica aboard. In the seven-horse field entered in this four-and-a-half furlong run for three-year-olds and upward, Be Be Bop is the standout.

Having won his first race under apprentice jockey Sunday Diaz, Jr., the four-year-old gelding went on to several disappointing runs at Charles Town. Trainer Anthony Farrior switched to a much more experienced jockey—Bocachica—and the rest is history. For the record, Be Be Bop finished in the money five of his eight starts—all five (including the four most recent) were wins.

Race four is a five-and-a-half furlong run for West Virginia-bred three-year-olds and up, and my choice is the morning line’s third-favored (at 4/1) entry, Maddy Machen. This five-year-old mare moneyed three of her five career starts, winning one (her second maiden race).

Yuri Yaranga will be in the irons for this run.

I’m going with the morning line’s second-favored (at 5/2) Hunter’s Hellcat in race seven. Guillermo Rodriguez is in the irons for this five-and-a-half furlong run for fillies and mares three years old and up.

Not only is this four-year-old filly’s record the best in this seven-horse field, but Rodriguez had his best year in 2020 and looks to improve on that in 2021.

Here’s Hunter’s Hellcat’s record: Eight money finishes in 14 career starts, three of those wins. Incidentally, his trainer, Eddie Clouston, has been ranked in the top 100 trainers for winnings every year since 2015.

For race eight—a one-mile main track run for fillies and mares three years old and up—I’m sticking with the 2/1 morning line favorite: Turn to Me Sucree. This four-year-old’s record is the best of this seven-horse field, by far: Eleven finishes in the money out of 14 starts, with six of those wins.

While Turn to Me Sucree has shared victory with several other top jockeys (most of her earlier races have been at Mahoning Valley Race Course), her pilot here at Mountaineer will be Yuri Yaranga.

Danny R. Bird is Turn to Me Sucree’s trainer.

For race five, I have to go with the second-favored (at 3/1) entry, My Sweet Kat. In the irons for this five-and-one-half furlong run for fillies and mares three years old and up will be veteran jockey Edgar Paucar.

The four-year-old My Sweet Kat has a record that rivals the morning line favorites: Seven money finishes in nine career starts, with one win. Her trainer is Danny Werre, who has established himself as a reliable producer of winning performances at Thistledown, Mahoning Valley, and Turfway Park.

Race six features Ohio-bred three-year-olds and up running a distance of five-and-a-half furlongs on the main track. I’m buying a win ticket for the third-favored (at 7/2) entry, Stone Cold Cat.

Yarmarie Correa will be aboard for this run. Despite her relative inexperience, Correa has already achieved wins/WPS stats that put her among the industry’s top jockeys.

Edwin Vizcarrondo has established himself as a trainer of top thoroughbreds in Puerto Rico, including Tiz Lately, winner of the 2016 Clasico Wiso G. Stakes (Grade II) at Hipódromo Camarero.

For race seven—a six-furlong run for Ohio-bred fillies and mares—I’m backing the morning line’s 5/2 favorite, Esplanade. While her jockey, Santiago Gonzalez, is not having his best year (he appears to have peaked in 2015-2016), his record is picking back up at all due speed. I fully expect him to ride Esplanade to victory in this race.

This three-year-old filly finished in the money for all six of her career starts, winning three of them. Much of that success is the result of veteran trainer Timothy E. Hamm’s guidance. Hamm has taken numerous thoroughbreds to the winner’s circle at graded stakes—most recently with Dayoutoftheoffice in the 2020 Frizette Stakes (Grade I) and the 2020 Schuylerville Stakes (Grade III), at Belmont Park and Saratoga, respectively.