Golden Gate Fields Picks – Saturday, October 10, 2020

I found a few underdogs and one rather anemic bargain show bet at Golden Gate Fields today, where claiming and allowance races rule the schedule.

The few turf races should be safe from rain today, with only a slight (10%) chance of precipitation, but expect cloudy skies, temps in the upper 60s , and winds around 12 mph.

Read on for my Golden Gate Fields picks and betting tips for Saturday’s three richest races.

This is a claiming race for filles and mares three years old and upward running a distance of 5-1/2 furlongs on the all-weather track for a purse of $17,000.

Even though this may be the most hotly contested match of the day, I’m betting on the 9/5 favorite to win—Brilliant Bird, with Brayan Pena in the irons. This five-year-old mare finished in the money 16 of her 28 career starts, winning nine of them. There are better jockeys aboard mares with solid records in this race, but I believe Pena and Brilliant Bird will prevail.

As far as my usual value show bet is concerned, the longest odds in this race are 12/1, but I don’t think even the expert jockeying of Irving Orozco can get Coastal Starlight out of the also-ran column. TL;DR version: Save your money.

This is an allowance optional claiming race for three-year-old fillies running a distance of one mile on turf for a purse of $31,000.

I’m going with the second-favored (2/1) entry here—Scherzo, with Kyle Frey aboard. This filly—a recent import from Great Britain–broke her maiden in the US at Golden Gate in September, and she moneyed her other two career starts in GB earlier this year. That’s three for three, with one win.

There are two entries here with 10/1 odds, but neither is likely to finish in the money, despite both having dependable jockeys in the irons. As they say: Sometimes bad horses happen to good jockeys.

This is a claiming race for three-year-olds and upward running a distance of one mile on turf for a purse of $18,000.

I like the second-favored (5/2) entry in this claiming race—Pioneerofthestorm, with Catalino Martinez aboard. This five-year-old gelding has an okay (for this field) record of 12 money finishes in 22 starts, five of them wins, but he’s improved bigly in 2020, with four money finishes in seven starts—three of those wins.

The longest odds in this race are 8/1, so if you don’t mind a modest return on a show bet, try a couple of bucks on Sayin Grace, ridden by Brayan Pena. This four-year-old gelding finished in the money 16 of his 29 career starts—and his record for 2020 alone is money finishes for nine out of 12 starts.

While I found both underdogs and long-odds bargains to bet on at Golden Gate Fields, I found more at the other two tracks I surveyed for Saturday: