Mahoning Valley Race Course Betting Picks – Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Mahoning Valley Race Course in Youngstown, Ohio, continues its thoroughbred racing schedule for the last week of 2020, and you’ll find the usual maiden, allowance, and claiming races on the track’s nine-race card.

Spectators are welcome at Mahoning Valley Race Course, and attendees can expect an overcast Tuesday with highs in the upper 30s, winds around five mph, and a 20% chance of precipitation.

This might be a good time to mention that you can also find Mahoning Valley’s entire eight-race card for Tuesday, including entries, jockeys, and wagering options, at one of our top online racebooks.

Read on for my Mahoning Valley Race Course picks and betting tips for Tuesday, January 5, 2021.

This is a maiden special weight race for Ohio-bred fillies and mares three years old and upward running a distance of six furlongs for a purse of $27,500.

Don’t let the 6/5 morning line odds on the favorite fool you — this is the sort of maiden race where you just keep crossing never-gonna-happens off the list until only one, however unlikely, remains. Ad, so it is that I’m backing the morning line favorite, Cowgirl Chrome, with Luan Machado in the irons. This four-year-old filly moneyed two of her four career starts.

For comparison’s sake, the second-favorite entry in this race (at M/L 5/2) finished in the money twice in her 19 career starts. Like I was sayin’…

Oh, and that 20/1 longshot in this race? Forget about it. I’m not sure this would be a reasonable bet, even if the odds were 99/1. And they’re not.

This is an allowance race for three-year-olds and upward running a distance of six furlongs for a purse of $21,800.

I’m backing the second-favored (3/1) entry in this race — Statesboro, ridden by Erik Barbaran. This five-year-old gelding finished in the money 19 of his 27 career starts, winning six, which gives him a better record than that of the morning line favorite.

As far as value show tickets are concerned, you might want to put a couple of bucks down in the 10/1 Khalfani, with Sonny Leon aboard. This five-year-old gelding moneyed eight of his ten career starts, winning four.

This is an allowance race for Ohio-bred three-year-olds and upward running a distance of six furlongs for a purse of $35,500.

Despite the morning line favorite’s five-pound allowance courtesy of jockey Marielis Cosme, I don’t think King Creed has enough of an edge to win over second-favored (5/2) Nick Can Fix, ridden by Luis Raul Rivera.

Nick Can Fix, an eight-year-old gelding, finished in the money 17 of his 20 career starts, winning nine.

And as far as value show bets are concerned, I like the 10/1 Candy Exchange, with Erik Barbaran in the irons. This six-year-old gelding moneyed 22 of his 39 career starts, winning nine.

Mahoning gave up a couple of underdogs and even some fair-to-middlin’ show-ticket values, but I found more at the other two tracks I reviewed for Tuesday: