Delta Downs Picks for Thursday, December 17, 2020

Delta Downs sticks with the basics for Thursday thoroughbred horse racing, with nine maiden and claiming races on the schedule.

I review three of Delta Downs’ richest Thursday races here, but you can find their entire nine-race card — including entries, jockeys, M/L odds, and wagering options — at any online betting site.

Read on for my predictions at Delta Downs for Thursday, December 17, 2020.

This is a claiming race for Louisiana-bred three-year-olds and upward running a distance of five furlongs for a purse of $24,000.

I’m sticking with the 9/5 morning line favorite for this race — K D Street, with Ry Eikleberry in the irons. This three-year-old gelding moneyed two of his four career starts, both of them wins.

There are plenty of longer-odds entries in this race, but I don’t see any of them doing much but following the other horses across the finish line. Save your long money for later.

This is a claiming race for Louisiana-bred three-year-olds and upward running a distance of 7-1/2 furlongs for a purse of $24,000.

On paper, the second-favored entry in this race, Greeley’s Dealer, looks like a sure winner — until you notice that none of his 23 money finishes have occurred in 2020. Uh oh.

So I’m backing the 7/5 morning line favorite, Much Class, ridden Timothy Thornton. This five-year-old gelding finished in the money 15 of his 29 career starts, winning six, his most recent at Delta Downs in the last week of November.

The longest odds in this race are 15/1, and neither of those two entries are going to see the finish line in time for a paycheck.

This is a maiden special weight race for two-year-olds running a distance of one mile for a purse of $30,000.

My money is on the second-favored 4/1) entry in this race — One Time Gem, with Timothy Thornton aboard. This gelding moneyed one of his two career starts and has shown comparatively better performance during recent workouts than the other morning-line favorites in this field.

None of the longer-odds entries in this field warrant the risk of a show bet.

Delta Downs was a tad withholding with both underdogs and show-bet values, but I found both at the two other tracks I reviewed for Thursday: