Gulfstream Park Horse Racing Picks for Thursday 5/21/20
With most of the sports world on pause, it's a great time to dive into horse racing, and FanDuel Racing gives you the chance to do just that.
Starting at 1:00 p.m. EST, we have 11 races at Gulfstream Park. Using our projections as a guide, here are some of the best bets.
As always, keep an eye out for scratches and changes.
Setting The Mood and Ocean Air, Race 1
FD Racing Odds: 5/2 and 3/1
Setting The Mood (5/2) and Ocean Air (3/1) look like the class of the field in today's opener.
These two top the race in both the class and speed ratings at DailyHorsePicks.com, tying in class rating while Setting The Mood gets a slight edge in speed rating. Our projections have it playing out that way as we forecast Setting The Mood, the favorite, to win and Ocean Air to finish second.
Setting The Mood, who is starting from the rail, has just one career race under her belt, and it was a second-place finish -- by half a length -- at Gulfstream Park, according to Timeform. Ocean Air took fourth in that same race, her only race, losing by 0.85 of a length.
Ocean Air and Setting The Mood both have a 12% chance to win Race 1 as well as a 35% chance to finish in the top three, per DHP. Act Like Artie (4/1) also has a 12% chance to win going by DHP's numbers.
It's worth noting we project long shot Two Cent Tootsie (20/1) to get third.
Big Spender, Race 5
FD Racing Odds: 7/2
Big Spender (7/2) has been in pretty good form, and we project the gelding to take Race 5 despite having just the third-best odds (as of Thursday morning).
Over his past five races, Big Spender has four second-place finishes sandwiched around a ninth-place effort. In three of those runner-up outings, he lost by 1.25 lengths or fewer, and all five of the races came at Gulfstream Park. He's gotten second in two of his three 2020 races, including each of his last two.
DHP has him third in speed rating in the field while ranking him second in pace, and they give him a 12% chance to win, which ties for the best mark in the race.
Bodie Cody, Race 10
FD Racing Odds: 6/1
In the final race of the day, Bodie Cody (6/1) checks a lot of boxes.
The gelding has run four times since February 28th -- all at Gulfstream Park -- and he's posted three thirds and a fifth. In two of those thirds, he was 1.25 lengths or fewer behind the winner. In 17 career races over the past two years, per Equibase, Bodie Cody has racked up 10 top-three finishes.
This race is a mile, and he's run at least a mile in each of his last four outings. His past two races have come on dirt, while this one will be run on the grass.
Listed with the sixth-best odds, we project Bodie Cody to get second, so there's value here. Preacher Marsee (5/2), the favorite, is our projected winner.
