Horse Racing Best Bets for Aqueduct and Gulfstream

We have three major Kentucky Derby prep this weekend at Santa Anita, Aqueduct and Gulfstream. Santa Anita’s prep lack luster with five horses running and three trained by Bob Baffert, but it is a chance to see the best three-year-old in the country, Nysos. The other two preps are bangers with a wide-open race at Aqueduct and up to four Derby horses running at Gulfstream, so let’s dive into both for my horse racing best bets!

In what seems to be the most impactful prep yet, the Fountain of Youth sports the return of #5 Dornock, who dug in and beat current future pool favorite Sierra Leone last time out. In both of his wins, he has gone gate to wire. That will be a tough task today with an abundance of speed signed on.

Both #1 Speak Easy and #3 Victory Avenue debuted on the undercard of the Pegasus and find themselves in stakes company off the effort. Speak Easy won that race for top trainer Todd Pletcher, but both were on the engine from the opening bell. If either is able to rate, the talent is there to be a contender. Of the two, I like Victory Avenue more based on the pedigree. As the races get longer, he should get better.

Pletcher’s other entry #8 Locked could benefit from the three horses mentioned above who all want to be forwardly placed. He won the Grade 1 Breeder’s Futurity at Keeneland from off the pace and ran a good third in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile last time out.

#4 Real Macho is the other horse who could benefit from a hot pace early. This will be his first step up in class to stakes company, but a step forward from his allowance win would put him in the mix at a nice price, currently 8-1.

Picks: 8-4-3-5

Horse Racing Best Bets:$50 Win – #8