All-Stakes Cross Country Pick 5 features G3 Sam F. Davis

by Najja Thompson

The New York Racing Association will host an all-stakes Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday with racing action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Oaklawn Park and Tampa Bay Downs. 

The multi-race wager, hosted by NYRA and featuring a 50-cent minimum, will begin with the $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield from Aqueduct for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs, carded as Race 8 at 4:25 Eastern. 

Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott will send out Secret Rules in search of a third straight score following an impressive 8 ¾ length victory on January 10 at Aqueduct. Newstome, for trainer Mike Trombetta, will look to regroup off a third-place finish in the Pennsylvania Nursey on December 7 at Parx. Other challengers in the seven-horse Jimmy Winfield include Quixotic for trainer Jonathan Thomas, who enters Saturdays' test from a 4 ¼ length maiden victory in which he recorded a field-high 80 Beyer Speed Figure and Montauk Traffic for Aqueduct meet-leading trainer Linda Rice. 

The action then switches to Tampa Bay Downs for the next three legs beginning with the $150,000 Suncoast, a Kentucky Oaks qualifying points race with a field of nine led by Gary Barber's multiple-stakes winner Two Sixty, who has banked $409,000 for trainer Mark Casse and the Grade 1-placed Comical, who captured the Grade 3 Schuylerville for trainer Steve Asmussen in a juvenile campaign that included a third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante and a second in the Grade 1 Chandelier at Santa Anita.

The third leg of the sequence is the Grade 3, $175,000 Tampa Bay for 4-year-olds and upward going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Multiple graded-stakes winner Caribou Club, trained by Tom Proctor, enters from a game second-place finish in the Artie Schiller at Aqueduct. Conditioner Mike Maker entered graded stakes winner Hembree for his seasonal debut in a talented field of nine that also includes March to the Arch for Casse and French-bred gelding Devamani for trainer Chad Brown. 

Closing out the action from Tampa is the 40th running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis where the undefeated Independence Hall, who captured the Grade 3 Nashua and $150,000 Jerome at the Big A for trainer Michael Trombetta, will continue his road to the Kentucky Derby. A talented eight-horse field includes Shadwell Stables recent Grade 2 Remsen runner-up Ajaaweed and the undefeated Premier Star for trainer Jorge Navarro.

The last leg of the sequence is the King Cotton from Oaklawn Park, a six-furlong sprint for 4-year-olds and upward carded as Race 8. Multiple graded-stakes winner Whitmore for conditioner Ron Moquett and owners Robert LaPenta, Southern Springs Stables and Head of Plains Partners will make his 2020 debut in the field of eight that includes multiple graded-stakes placed runners Nun the Less for trainer Cipriano Contreras and Wilbo for Chris Hartman. 

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. There will be a mandatory payout of the entire pool.

Cross Country Pick 5 - Saturday, February 8:

Leg 1 - Aqueduct, Race 8: $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield (4:25 p.m.)

Leg 2 - Tampa, Race 9: $150,000 Suncoast (4:29 p.m.)

Leg 3 - Tampa, Race 10: Grade 3, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes (4:59 p.m.)

Leg 4 - Tampa, Race 11: Grade 3, $200,000 Sam F. Davis (5:29 p.m.)

Leg 5 - Oaklawn Park, Race 8: $125,000 King Cotton (5:38 p.m.)