Gulfstream Park Picks – Friday, August 28, 2020

There’s plenty of guessing going on at Gulfstream Park for today’s matches, particularly in race 7, where a switch to the main track or a couple of late scratches could alter the race significantly.

Despite the hurricane affecting much of the Gulf Coast, the forecast for Hallandale Beach, Florida on Friday calls for a relatively calm, partly cloudy day, with highs in the 90s and winds around 11 mph.

This might be a good time for me to quit talking about the weather and move on to today’s horse racing predictions and picks for Gulfstream Park.

This is a maiden claiming race for two-year-olds running a distance of 5-1/2 furlongs for a purse of $41,500.

This maiden race appears to be a contest for world-class jockeys, but I’m going to stick with the one riding the 5/2 morning line favorite: Emisael Jaramillo aboard Bastien Le Brown. This colt moneyed one of his two career starts and has performed well in recent workouts.

And at 15/1, I like a show ticket on Kicks On Sixty Six, ridden by Angel S. Arroyo. No career starts on record, but this colt has performed well in recent workouts.

This is a maiden special weight race for two-year-old fillies running a distance of 5-1/2 furlongs for a purse of $65,000.

My money is on the morning line 8/5 favorite Restofthestory, ridden by Angel S. Arroyo. This filly moneyed in her single career start and has performed very well in her workouts at Gulfstream Park.

Lots of longshots in this race, but after wading through the workouts, I see that only the 30/1 Trees Thunder, ridden by Victor Lebron, has shown in workouts at the Oakridge and Nelson Family training centers that he might have the ability to finish in the money against a field full of untried two-year-olds piloted by some of the best jockeys in the business.

This is an allowance optional claiming race for three-year-olds and upward running on turf the distance of five furlongs for a purse of $47,000.

If this race is taken off the turf it will be an entirely different race, so I’m going to pick my winners for both the current entries and the MTOs.

I have no doubt that should late scratches or a switch to the main track put Emisael aboard Trev (7/5 morning line), he will win this race. The ten-year-colt moneyed 25 of his 41 career starts and won 15 of them.

On the other hand, if the race is run as published, (without the MTOs or switch to off-turf,) I see the 5/2 favorite Sarasota County, with Jesus M. Rios in the irons, as the winner. This five-year-old gelding finished in the money seven of his 11 career starts and won two of them.

I won’t even attempt to guess which longer-odds entries will run in this race, or against whom.

I’ve found profitable races elsewhere for Friday, August 28, 2020, and they are as follows.