US Horse Racing Tips: Three for Friday’s Races Stateside

Tuesday and Wednesday were big profit days for us in this column. Thursday was a bit more mundane with just one place from our three selections. We round off our week with two from Churchill Downs in addition to an early race at Delaware Park.

As always, all of our picks come from the Extra Place Races available on Betfred today and we only tip up horses from outside the top-three according to the odds on the Morning Line as we search for each-way value in the field…

We start our Friday with the first race on Betfred’s Extra Race Place menu for the evening with the 18:00 at Delaware Park where a five-year-old who has hit the board in five straight has a very enticing 8/1 price on the Morning Line.

Part of the reason Claw is so long is we have a very short-priced favourite for the win, which helps inflate the prices of the other entries. I’m not so sure why King of Dreams is so heavily fancied by the line maker at the track but we don’t write this column looking primarily for outright winners, we are here for each-way value.

This is where my selection comes in. Any time a horse has placed five times in a row, you sit up and take notice. It should be noted that in four of those races, it has been at shorter distances but he did run a mile back in the spring over at Mountaineer Park and finished third. Traditionally, that track gets slightly better fields than here at Delaware Park, so take that into consideration.

This horse is clearly more comfortable going six furlongs or so but given the big price and the fact he does have a recent solid enough result at this distance, he’s an each-way play for me.

Next up we take in Churchill Downs for the third race on the card (18:43) and one of my favourite selections of the week.

My Good Fortune is a nice looking four-year-old filly by three-time Grade I winner Tonalist, who has enjoyed a quiet start to her career but one that has been successful enough if you are searching for place value.

Since breaking her maiden at Belterra Park back in the spring of 2022, this Philip Sims-trained horse has hit the board every time she’s stepped foot on the dirt. Her only blip was on the all-weather over at Turfway Park but her record on this surface is what you’d call consistent. You’d take 1-1-2-2-3-3-3-2 for the fifth-choice on the Morning Line more often than not.

It isn’t as though she’s only been racing in smaller fields at lesser quality venues, this horse has placed at both Keeneland and Churchill Downs in her career. I really like the chances of a place here.

Later on the card in Kentucky, we have Miss New York who has been cross-entered in the Twixt Stakes at Laurel Park tomorrow, so whether she ultimately runs in the 20:18 here tonight, is a very big question mark.

If the three-time winner does go then she has every chance to finish in the top three. Last time out, we saw her finish eighth in a really strong Monmouth Oaks field, which may well have been too much of an ask for her. 

Outside of that though, we’ve seen really good results on the dirt, winning and placing at Monmouth Park along with winning down at Tampa Bay Downs.

So her only non-place finish on the surface was in a very deep and strong field. This allowance optional claiming race would be a good landing spot in a small field of seven. We’ll see whether she scratches but if not, anything like the 8/1 on the Morning Line is value.