Oaklawn Park Picks: Jets a Ginnin our front-running pick in Race 8

Heading into a big weekend, Oaklawn Park has expanded its program a bit with a 10-race card on Friday with a pair of intriguing races for Arkansas-breds. Our in-house handicapper has all the action covered with picks, and has additionally provided select analysis of some of the races.

If you're looking for picks elsewhere around the country on Friday, be sure to check out our Free Horse Racing Picks via the gold button below.

Most Likely Winner:  Miss Antioch (Race 6) - This filly has been super consistent since transferring to the barn of trainer Allen Milligan, and if she runs back to any of her past four races she’s probably going to win. She may have actually taken a sneaky step forward last out in the Downthedustyroad. Although it’s not reflected in the Beyer Speed Figure, she pressed a very fast pace and held well to be third against stakes company. This is a significant drop in class, and one that she should certainly appreciate.

Best Value:  Jets a Ginnin (Race 8) - This pick assumes that she’s going to be higher than the 5-2 odds she was tabbed on the morning line, and I think that’s perfectly realistic given the presence of Keep Your Distance for trainer Robertino Diodoro. Keep Your Distance is a worthy adversary, however Jets a Ginnin has a distinct pace advantage and her trainer Scott Becker has been having a terrific start to the meet despite not yet saddling a winner. I’m expecting a career-best effort from this one, which is going to make her a major player at what should be a square price.

Other Races of Interest:  Race 2 - Elitch (#2) improved dramatically off the claim back by trainer Steve Asmussen and I’m anticipating he’s going to keep the momentum going in this spot. He actually had a good deal of trouble in that race, an open 10k claimer over this track, and was finishing well late behind runaway winner Aqwaam. He’s ostensibly moving up in class, but there are no killers in this bunch and I believe he ran the best last-out race of anyone.

Race 9 - This one’s not necessarily a value play, but I think K J’s Nobility (#4) is in a really good spot having last faced a borderline stakes-caliber field here on January 22. Despite getting little pace to run at in that race, K J’s Nobility closed well to make up some ground on the frontrunners and earned an 89 Beyer that is going to make him quite formidable against this group. This horse is a six-time winner at Oaklawn, and I believe he’s poised to rack up his seventh local victory as he meets Arkansas-breds once again.

*If you're interested in seeing payouts for these races, you can find them on our Results page linked to below*