Sunday’s Cross Country Pick 5 features action from Aqueduct, Oaklawn Park and Tampa Bay Downs

by Keith McCalmont

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Sunday, featuring action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Oaklawn Park and Tampa Bay Downs.

The Cross Country Pick 5 requires bettors to pick the winner of five select races from tracks across the country. The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country with each week featuring a mandatory payout of the net pool. The Cross Country Pick 5, boasting a low 15 percent takeout, offers sequences with races from Aqueduct Racetrack and partner tracks across the country.

Sunday’s sequence kicks off in Race 7 at 3:15 p.m. Eastern from Tampa Bay Downs with a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance featuring a contentious field of older fillies and mares. Trainer Rachel Halden will send out Chiefswood Stables homebred Maccool’s Girl with first-time Lasix for her seasonal debut. The 4-year-old Candy Ride dark bay made her first two starts against older company, graduating on debut over the Woodbine turf in June ahead of a prominent fourth three weeks later traveling nine furlongs over Tapeta. She completed her campaign with an off-the-board effort in the Woodbine Oaks in July.  Her dam – the Bernardini mare Finn’s Girl – finished third in the 2015 P. G. Johnson over the Saratoga Race Course lawn. Other contenders include the 1-for-16 Applecross, who boasts a field-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure for trainer Matthew Kintz; and the graded-stakes placed Ambitieuse for conditioner Graham Motion.

Action switches to Oaklawn Park for the second leg [Race 5, 3:50 p.m.] where a field of nine sophomores line up for a one-mile maiden special weight led by Nyquick, who will look to graduate at second asking for trainer Brad Cox. The Nyquist colt was sawed off into the first turn of his March 11 debut over the same distance and course, but closed late to finish fourth. Trainer Kenny McPeek saddles a pair of contenders topped by Southern Sunset, who has finished second and been demoted to third in both lifetime starts. He crossed the wire a close second last out in a one-mile maiden tilt on March 11 behind next-out allowance winner Major Blue. McPeek also sends out first-time starter Mad Hustle, a Tapwrit colt purchased for $100,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale.

The middle leg will see a field of 10 maidens 3-years-old and up sprint five furlongs over the Tampa Bay turf [Race 9, 4:14 p.m.] headed by Team Valor International’s Tuddenham Mill, who turns back in distance from a trio of one-mile turf tests at the Florida oval. Last out, the Irish-bred Holy Roman Emperor colt, trained by Arnaud Delacour, pressed the pace before finishing a close fifth after being forced to take up late. Partner Tours, a half-sibling to stakes winner Eclair, will make his debut for trainer Kathleen O’Connell; while Melanie Giddings will seek her first career win as a trainer with the recently gelded Fight, who steps up in class off a pair of close placings in synthetic sprints at Gulfstream Park.

The penultimate leg features the return of multiple graded-stakes winner Kathleen O. to Aqueduct [Race 7, 4:34 p.m.] for the $100,000 Top Flight, a nine-furlong route for older fillies and mares. Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, the 4-year-old Upstart dark bay boasts a record of 7-4-2-0, including two Grade 2 wins at Gulfstream Park ahead of a closing fifth in last year’s Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. A debut winner at the Big A in November 2021, she enters from a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Royal Delta at Gulfstream Park that offered little pace for the popular filly’s trademark kick. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher provides a pair of top contenders in graded-stakes placed Falconet and New York-bred stakes winner Let Her Inspire U.

The sequence concludes at Oaklawn [Race 7, 4:54 p.m.] with a field of nine 3-year-olds and upward traveling 1 1/16-miles in a starter allowance that will see Trafalgar look to double up on wins off the claim for trainer Chris Hartman. The Lord Nelson gelding made four consecutive starts in graded company last year before dropping in and winning a 1 1/16-mile route on February 11 at Oaklawn. Hartman also saddles graded-stakes winner Major General, a 4-year-old Constitution gelding that captured the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs as a juvenile. A wide-open affair features four-time Oaklawn winner Saqeel for trainer Robertino Diodoro; and the consistent Winterwood, who garnered a 96 Beyer three starts back here for conditioner Terry Brennan.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence will be available for download at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/cross-country-wagers.

America's Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct spring meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Aqueduct Racetrack spring meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Sunday, April 2

Leg A: Tampa Bay Downs – Race 7, ALW (3:15 p.m. Eastern)

Leg B: Oaklawn Park – Race 5, MSW (3:50 p.m.)

Leg C: Tampa Bay Downs – Race 9, MSW (4:14 p.m.)

Leg D: Aqueduct Racetrack – Race 7, $100K Top Flight (4:34 p.m.)

Leg E: Oaklawn Park – Race 7, STR ALW (4:54 p.m.)