A new week here for our US Extra Place Races column and we ended up with a small profit from our five pieces last time around. We got two outright wins plus four places from the 16 horses who ran. 

As always, this column features tips exclusively from the Betfred Extra Place Races where we pay out on three places rather than two (for races with seven horses) and every pick is from outside the top three according to the odds on the Morning Line…

We start our week with the first race on the card at Finger Lakes where the nine-year-old Treatherlikestar should definitely be considered a place contender. Priced up as the fifth choice of seven on the Morning Line, this colt out of the wonderful turf horse Kitten’s Joy has been incredibly consistent at sprint distances over the past year or so.

In races six-furlongs or less since the start of the 2022 FL season, she has won twice and been placed eight times in a total of just 12 starts. Last time out this Mare was asked to go over a mile and that didn’t go well at all. Back to five-and-a-half furlongs today and I like her chances of hitting the board at a decent price.

Later on the card in Race 4 (19:42) we have a three-year-old colt with a very indifferent record but who has shown really quite decent speed in his breezes. Cashel Kitten actually broke his maiden last month in a six-furlong race at this track but was then promptly asked to go over a mile and finished fourth next time out.

In his two most recent breezes however, he was the fastest horse in training at Finger Lakes on both July 31 and September 6 going four-furlongs in 47:10 and 47:40 respectively. So clearly there is some good pace and going back to six-furlongs should suit. Fifth choice of seven at 6/1 on the Morning Line looks enticing.

Our third 6/1 shot of the day according to the Morning Line odds comes from the 20:27 at Presque Isle Downs where Dianna’s Jet piques plenty of interest. This five-year-old had a shocking run last time out over at Evangeline Downs but here is her record in the previous eight races she’s run, 1-1-2-2-2-1-3-2. More than happy to toss one poor effort with a recent history like that.

She has primarily run between six-and-a-half furlong to a mile, so this race is a tad short for her, going just five-and-a-half but there is obvious speed and at such a price, feels a strong each-way play to finish in the top three.