Frank Cotolo offers his picks for the $20,000 Pick-4 at Balmoral Park on Saturday, Jan. 19, part of the USTA Strategic Wagering program.

Balmoral Park Pick-4, Races 10-13, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013

Let me clear up what may be a misnomer about our Pick-4 choices and how we play them to win. Many of our choices within a ticket go off at prices we can only surmise at press time. As the races involved ensue, we opt to play win tickets on any that go off at 4-1 and up. That doesn’t mean we try to choose 4-1 or up horses when we put together the usually small ticket. We have won and lost with many Pick-4 candidates that went off lower than 4-1, we just did not play them to win. Anyone following this blog can use our choices to build a bigger ticket, as well as play to win any of them at any odds they choose. In a future blog I will reiterate why we use this method of play, which is certainly an alternate philosophy, though a winning won for us in the long term.

$2 play: 6/6/36/6 = $4

Analysis:

Race 10: How is (6) Allamerican Solo not the morning line choice? We will take him either way, since he almost resolved a battle for the top in his recent effort.

Race 11: (6) Elkhorn Damien is kept in this class because connections like what they see since he stepped up. So do we, especially since no one else in this affair strikes our fancy enough to make this ticket more expensive.

Race 12: (6) Muy Caliente loves this class and comes from Maywood to scorn a field around two less turns, something possible, indeed, with sharp handling early. (3) GP Giant Fool always tries hard and is in a softer group than before once stepping into this level.

Race 13: (6) Elusive Rainbow should be one of the top three contenders, as he was respected the last time he went at Crete and only failed due to a smashing start that was contested to three-quarters. We don’t mind the hoist in class; it is a positive move for this win-minded Cambest gelding.