Golden Gate Fields Picks – Thursday, October 22, 2020

Golden Gate Fields features seven thoroughbred races on both turf and the all-weather track today. If you’re attending in person (they permit spectators), you can expect partly cloudy skies, no chance of rain, temps in the upper 70s, and winds around ten mph.

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

This is a claiming race for three-year-olds running a distance of 5-1/2 furlongs on the all-weather track for a purse of $17,000.

I am agreeing with the morning line here and backing the 7/5 favorite, Trump Um, with Evin A. Roman in the irons. This gelding moneyed five of his 11 career starts, winning three of them.

I also see a distinct trifecta here in the top three morning line choices: Trump Um, Foreign Protocol, and Thunder Boat. Won’t pay much, as trifectas go, but a win is always better than whatever it is they call that thing that is not a win.

This is a claiming race for three-year-olds and upward running a distance of 5-1/2 furlongs on the all-weather track for a purse of $23,000.

While the second-favored entry here (Sequentially, with Frank Alvarado aboard) has a better overall record than the 9/5 morning line favorite (Honeymoonz Over, ridden by Brayan Pena), Sequentially hasn’t had a win since 2019, while Honeymoonz Over has a 2020 record of five money finishes in ten starts, with three of those wins.

So my money is on Honeymoonz Over for the win in this race. For comparison’s sake, in 2020 Sequentially moneyed six of his seven starts, with zero wins. Yes, Alvarado has a much better wins/WPS percentage than Pena, but I don’t think that’s enough to lift Sequentially out of his year-long no-win streak.

There’s a single 50/1 longshot in this race, which won’t happen, so pretend I didn’t even mention it.

This is a starter allowance race for three-year-olds and upward running a distance of one mile on turf for a purse of $19,000.

I’m sticking with the 6/5 morning line favorite for this starter race—Trojan Magic, ridden by William Antongeorgi III. He’ll see some serious competition from the second-favored (3/1) No Parking Here, piloted by Santos Rivera, but should manage the win easily. The four-year-old Trojan Magic moneyed three of his eight career starts, winning two, which puts him in the lead for this field.

At 15/1, I like Boyson, with Pedro Flores aboard, for a value show wager. This four-year-old gelding finished in the money five of his eight starts in 2020, winning one of them.

Sure, I found some interesting wagers at Golden Gate Fields today, but I found even more at the other two tracks I reviewed for today’s races: