Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 features graded stakes action from Aqueduct, Keeneland and Oaklawn Park

by Keith McCalmont

Free Equibase PPs available 

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host an all-graded stakes edition of the Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring racing action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Keeneland Race Course and Oaklawn Park.

Live coverage will be available with America’s Day at the Races on FOX Sports. Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/cross-country-wagers.

The sequence kicks off at Keeneland with the Grade 2, $200,000 Shakertown [Race 8, 4:57 p.m. ET], a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-olds and upward led by 3-1 morning-line favorite Bound for Nowhere, who won the 2018 renewal for trainer Wesley Ward. A field of 13 turf sprinters includes Imprimis, who captured the 2019 Shakertown for trainer Joe Orseno; and the speedy Pennsylvania-bred The Critical Way, who will look to go gate-to-wire in search of a first graded stakes win.

Action switches to the Big A for the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle [Race 9, 5:09 p.m.], a nine-furlong test featuring eight sophomore fillies offering 100-40-20-10 Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-four finishers. Four-time Eclipse Award winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle stakes winners Search Results and The Grass Is Blue, while the Graham Motion-trained Mia Martina tries dirt for the first time after closing from deep to finish fourth last out in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks.

A field of nine sophomores assemble for the third leg of the wager in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino [Race 10, 5:58 p.m.], a nine-furlong test with 100-40-20-10 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points on the line. The Brown-trained Risk Taking and Crowded Trade offer a strong one-two punch for Klaravich Stables.

Risk Taking, the last-out Grade 3 Withers-winner, will have the services of champion rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. from post 4 as the 5-2 morning-line favorite. Crowded Trade, runner-up by a nose in the Grade 3 Gotham, will be piloted by Big A winter meet leading rider Eric Cancel. Steep opposition will be provided by Prevalence, the undefeated Godolphin homebred son of Medaglia d’Oro for trainer Brendan Walsh; New York-bred Brooklyn Strong, the Grade 2 Remsen-winner trained by Danny Velazquez; and Canadian-bred Weyburn, who earned a dramatic nose win in the Gotham for trainer Jimmy Jerkens.

The penultimate leg, the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison [Race 10, 6:02 p.m.], will offer a field of seven older fillies and mares sprinting seven furlongs on the Keeneland main track led by the Ward-trained Kimari. Owned by Ten Broeck Farm, the 4-year-old Munnings filly has won 5-of-9 starts including a last-out score in the Spring Fever in the slop at Oaklawn Park. The Group 1-placed filly romped to a 15-length victory on debut in her lone start at Keeneland. Bell’s the One is the 2-1 morning-line favorite, boasting a record of 15-7-2-2 and purse earnings of $880,040 for trainer Neil Pessin. The 5-year-old Majesticperfection mare finished third in this event last year ahead of a nose score in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs. Grade 1-winner Fair Maiden and Grade 2-winner Sconsin add class to a talented field.

Closing out the sequence is the Grade 3, $600,000 Fantasy [Race 11, 6:54 p.m.], a 1 1/16-mile test for sophomore fillies at Oaklawn Park offering 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. The two-turn test will see a rematch between the second and third-place finishers from the Grade 3 Honeybee in Pauline’s Pearl and Sun Path.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen for Stonestreet Stables, Pauline’s Pearl was dismissed at odds of 18-1 on the tote board in the 1 1/16-mile Honeybee on March 6, but closed between rivals to complete the exacta behind the victorious Will’s Secret. Juddmonte Farms’ Sun Path, trained by Brad Cox, earned a career-best 83 Beyer Speed Figure in an allowance win three starts back at Fair Grounds and has since finished fourth in the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds and a flat third last out in the Honeybee. Ava’s Grace, third in the Grade 2 Adirondack last summer at Saratoga, could offer a lone speed threat stretching out for the first time for trainer Robertino Diodoro.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool. The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit www.NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday April 3:

Leg A: Keeneland-Race 8 (4:57 pm) Shakertown (G2)

Leg B: Aqueduct-Race 9 (5:09 pm) Gazelle (G3)

Leg C: Aqueduct- Race 10 (5:58 pm) Wood Memorial (G2)

Leg D: Keeneland-Race 10 (6:02 pm) Madison (G1)

Leg E: Oaklawn Park-Race 11 (6:54 pm) Fantasy (G3)