How to play the Pick 5

Leg A: Laurel, 8th

Friday’s Stronach 5 begins with a $5,000 nonwinners-of-two claimer, a race in which GREAT ADVENTURER (13) looms a prohibitive favorite. Coming off a troubled trip - in which he was impeded at the start, took off when rank in traffic, and then weakened to second after making the lead – he is an obvious horse to use, though this horseplayer doesn’t entirely trust him. With GREAT ADVENTURER having a history of blowing leads, recent Kieron Magee claim GORBACHOV (11) is the top selection, a horse coming off a clear-cut maiden win despite having been hounded on the lead.

Leg B: Gulfstream Park, 8th

Wanting to spread in other legs, time to make a stand by singling GRANDMAS FAVORITE (11). He is the class of this maiden claimer going five-eighths on the lawn, and his trainer, Wesley Ward, is currently hitting at a 23-percent clip with all of his grass sprinters.

Leg C: Laurel, 9th

Back to Laurel we go for the nightcap, where conditioned claimers compete for a $5,000 tag racing 5 ½ furlongs. Well suited to the conditions, MIDNIGHT CRY (13) is the top choice, having just led throughout in a similar race, one of four victories he has from 11 starts. Not far behind him are ROAD GUARD POST (5), a last-out third behind the top choice, and BEST SURPRISE (4), a New York invader that should appreciate facing easier competition.

Leg D: Gulfstream Park, 9th

A competitive group of $6,250 claimers follows at Gulfstream in the ninth race, a race in which the strategy is to use three horses: OVER PROMISED (5), PARK RIDGE BENNY (9) and PASS THE BUTTER (2). OVER PROMISED adds blinkers and goes first off the claim for a winning barn. PARK RIDGE BENNY gets treated with Lasix for the first time, and is cut in half in claiming price following a speed and fade in a longer race. And PASS THE BUTTER takes the largest drop of all, moving down from $30,000 company after running sixth of eight at Gulfstream Park West.

Leg E: Gulfstream Park, 10th

Last up is a maiden $25,000 claimer, a puzzling grass sprint in which little talent seems to separate the leading contenders. So will go four-deep, trying, in order of preference, THAT SCOUNDREL (1), COME ON VENEZUELA (4), BARBIE’S KING (10) and JAMMIN JIMTOWN (11). THAT SCOUNDREL and COME ON VENEZUELA have run the best to date under comparable circumstances, while BARBIE’S KING and JAMMIN JIMTOWN are lightly raced class droppers with grass pedigrees that seem eligible to improve.

THE TICKETS

A $1 Stronach 5-play using the horses noted above – 11,13 with 11 with 4,5,13 with 2,5,9 with 1,4,10,11 – costs $72.