Churchill Downs Pick for Friday

Churchill Downs, like most racetracks in the United States on Friday, will be treating July 3rd as a special day. That means that racing starts later in the day and that there will be a graded race scheduled to run on the card.

Not only that, but the late Pick 4 promises to be a nice sized pool that BetUS online racebook fans will want to get a piece of…if they can.

I’m here to help! So, let’s take a look at the late Pick 4 at Churchill Downs on Friday.

Churchill Downs - - Late Pick 4

Races 8, 9, 10, 11

Race 8 - - Claiming $50,000 5 furlongs turf

Horses - - #1 Free Brave, #6 Hands On

Analysis: Free Brave should lie right off of Hands On and then try to take over in the stretch or in the final jumps. There isn’t another horse in here that is as fast as either Hands On or Free Brave. Lord Robyn could surprise, but Hands On and Free Brave are quality animals.

Race 9 - - Allowance $50,200 n1x 1 mile on dirt

Horses - - #2 Lady Etienne, #3 Past Twilight, #6 Elizabeth Park, #7 Lacie Slew, #9 Quiet Hope, #10 Susie’s Gal

Analysis: We’re buying this race because Lady Etienne, Lacie Slew and Quiet Hope are all long shots that could upset while Past Twilight, Elizabeth Park and Susie’s Gal all figure to put in excellent runs. By buying the race, we could ensure that a long shot creeps into our Pick 4.

Race 10 - - Grade III Bashford Manor Stakes 6 furlongs on dirt

Horses - - #1 Grand Slam Andre, #4 Mission Impazible, #5 Backtalk

Analysis: At first glance, this race does appear to be very strong, but we have to take a stand, or somewhat of a stand, after putting five horses in our second leg. So, we’ll go with horses trained by Steve Asmussen (Grand Slam Andre), Todd Pletcher (Mission Impazible) and Tom Amoss (Backtalk).

Race 11 - - Maiden Claiming $50,000 6 furlongs on dirt

Horses - - #2 Custer County, #9 Monkeyinthemiddle

Analysis: We end out Pick 4 with the classic front runner on dirt. This time we’ve got the chalk in Custer County and long shot in Monkeyinthemiddle. Both figure to separate themselves from the rest of this group and battle it out to the wire.