The less said about Thursday the better as we laid a Goose Egg in our four selections for the US Extra Place Races. Can’t win ‘em all, as they say.

We go again for Friday with, as always, all our picks coming from outside the top three according to the Morning Line as we go value hunting deep in the fields…

In this very column last Friday I confessed that my record at Gulfstream was poor to say the least. However, both my picks from the Florida track came in for good-priced places as we went three-for-three in profitable tips seven days back. Therefore, I’m not ignoring the venue and like Thenorthremembers in the 18:48.

You look at the headline numbers for the sixth choice of seven in the betting and you wonder why. Ten races this year, no wins and three places. Yet if you look deeper, you notice all the places have come at sprinters distances with the rest of his outings coming at a mile plus. This is a five-furlong race and he’s carrying the least weight. Interesting enough to play e/w.

If my picks at Gulfstream have been traditionally poor but last week saw a turnaround, then Del Mar is the polar opposite. Back in the day when I played the US horses every day, I used to do really well over in all of the California tracks not named Santa Anita. Since starting this column, however, the west coast has not been my friend.

With that being said, Corporal Klinger is one win from one start with an identical top speed figure compared to the top choice in the overnight odds. Considering you should be able to back this three-year-old out of Ryan Hanson’s yard as the sixth choice, it feels like a good place bet.

It’s the biggest card of the year at Charles Town and we have one race selected for our Extra Place promotion and that is the four-and-a half-furlong sprint that is the Last Enchantment Stakes (00:02). My pick here is the five-year-old Youthinkthatsfunny who is based at the track and has been very consistent throughout his career but is coming off a layoff of over a year.

Before that break, he had Stakes wins to his name and had placed in 13 of his previous 16 starts. That long time away from competing is clearly a concern and there is plenty of rust to knock off but at his best, this is a win contender who is expected to go off as the fifth choice of seven.

For those up late then I have a selection from the very early hours over at Remington Park where I have a Candy Ride colt coming off a win and is the fifth choice of seven according to the Morning Line odds in the 03:55.

Late Nite Radio won back in April over at Will Rogers Downs in his first race for two years. This extremely lightly raced five-year-old had since been based at Remington Park and put up two very impressive breezes in recent weeks to indicate that he’s a late bloomer who can win a few races. If he goes off at anything like the 6/1 expected then it’s a thumbs up from me.