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​Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 to feature racing from Aqueduct Racetrack and Oaklawn Park

by Mary Eddy

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday with racing from Aqueduct Racetrack and stakes action from Oaklawn Park. 

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.

The sequence begins at 4 p.m. Eastern in Race 6 at Aqueduct, a six-furlong starter allowance for 3-year-olds and upward on the outer turf. Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse will send up My Sea Cottage from Gulfstream Park amid a solid run of form. The Irish-bred son of Shalaa has finished first or third in each of his last four outings, and cuts back in distance after finishing a pacesetting third in a March 17 one-mile starter allowance where he was caught late and defeated three-quarters of a length. 

The Ollie Figgins, III-trained Bustinupishardtodo, who has won his last two starts when sprinting on the dirt, makes his turf debut in his first start without a tag, while three-time winner Air Show tries turf for the first time since July on the heels of a pacesetting fourth-place finish in a March 26 claimer here for conditioner Rudy Rodriguez. 

The second leg will feature the return of Grade 1-winner Zandon in Race 8 [5:06 p.m.], a one-turn mile optional claimer for older horses. Trained by Chad Brown, Zandon won last year’s Blue Grass at Keeneland ahead of additional Grade 1 placings in the Kentucky Derby [third], Travers [third], and Pennsylvania Derby [second]. The son of Upstart has not raced since an even fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by NYRA Bets on December 3. 

Trainer Linda Rice will send out Lastchanceatglory as he vies for his 10th career win, returning to Rice’s barn for the first time since a second-place finish on January 15 from which he was claimed by Domenick Schettino. He won next out on February 25 and was claimed back by Rice for $40,000. Graded stakes-placed High Connection, who makes his East Coast debut for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, and the Michelle Nevin-trained Uncle Moonlight, a half-brother to multiple graded stakes-winner By the Moon, provide interest from posts 3 and 1, respectively. 

The action switches to Oaklawn for the final three legs, beginning with the middle leg in Race 8 [5:18 p.m.], a six-furlong allowance for older horses. Tape to Tape has been a model of consistency since transferring to the barn of Larry Rivelli in October, including a four-race win streak from November to February that was snapped when defeated two lengths in his last outing on March 30 at Hawthorne. He faces a formidable opponent in Favorite Outlaw, who has finished a game second in both his outings since moving to the barn of Chris Hartman this year. Other challengers include Under the Gun, a last-out winner for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, and the Karl Broberg-trained Coltons Dream, who steps up from a runner-up finish in a starter allowance on March 26 at Oaklawn. 

The penultimate leg will see a field of seven face off at one-mile in Race 9 [5:56 p.m.], the $150,000 Dig A Diamond for older fillies and mares. The Robertino Diodoro-trained Lovely Ride enters off two consecutive appearances in graded events, including a hard-fought second-place finish in the Grade 3 Bayakoa on February 4 behind next-out Grade 1 Beholder Mile-winner A Mo Reay. The Candy Ride mare has won four career stakes races, including Oaklawn’s Pippin in January. 

Lovely Ride will face a talented group that includes graded stakes-winner Butterbean, who makes her second start off an eight-month respite for trainer Ken McPeek, as well as Tap Dance Fever, who makes her first outing for conditioner Bret Calhoun after a dominant 4 1/2-length handicap victory last out in March at Tampa Bay Downs. 

The sequence concludes in Race 10 [6:36 p.m.] from the Hot Springs oval with the $150,000 Bachelor for sophomores sprinting six furlongs. Graded stakes-winner Mo Strike makes his first start off a seven-month respite for conditioner Brad Cox. The son of Uncle Mo was last seen finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Hopeful in September at Saratoga Race Course to close out a juvenile campaign that saw him capture the Spa's Grade 3 Sanford.

The stakes-placed Ryvit enters from two consecutive victories for Steve Asmussen, while the Bret Calhoun-trained Release McCraken will vie to notch his fourth victory in a row after posting a three-length score in the Texas Thoroughbred Association Derby last out on March 25 at Sam Houston. 

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 – Saturday, April 29

Leg A: Aqueduct Racetrack, Race 6 – starter allowance (4:00 p.m. Eastern)

Leg B: Aqueduct Racetrack, Race 8 – allowance optional claiming (5:06 p.m.)

Leg C: Oaklawn Park, Race 8 – allowance (5:18 p.m.)

Leg D: Oaklawn Park, Race 9 – $150K Dig A Diamond (5:56 p.m.)

Leg E: Oaklawn Park, Race 10 – $150K Bachelor (6:36 p.m.)