by Bob Pandolfo

Bob Pandolfo offers his picks for the $75,000 Pick-4 at Meadowlands Racetrack on Feb. 23, part of the U.S. Trotting Association Strategic Wagering Program.

Meadowlands Pick-4, Races 7-10, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013

$1 play: 14/35/467/131012 = $48

Analysis:

Race 7: Last night’s sequence looked tougher than this, but this is no cakewalk. We start out with a solid group of A-2 pacers. I think to get through this you would have to use 1-2-4 but I’m narrowing it down to (1) Musselsfrmbrussels and (4) Lettrucerocku A because I feel that these two stand out here. However, if you have deep pockets, (2) Perrito Caliente steps up sharp.

Race 8: (3) Bolero Andrew is 15-1 on the morning line but he didn’t make any moves at 26-1 last time but he picks up Gingras tonight and I think the bettors saw the sick scratch last week and laid off. Tonight he should show speed and he crushed weaker two back. (5) Line Officer is a horse with some back class shipping in from Yonkers and he won here in 1:53.2 as a 2-year-old. I’m using two but there are several that could win this.

Race 9: I used three horses here but it’s wide open. (4) Johnny Z and (7) Painted Black come off similar and solid efforts in the same race and they both showed speed and held well. The interesting horse is (6) Long Live Rock who is 15-1 on the morning line and should be at least 6-1. He ships in from Yonkers, makes his third start off the layoff, and he likes this track.

Race 10: They have been carding the 1-1/16th mile races in the last leg of the late Pick-4 and that makes it tough because these are wide open betting races. Some people say that you need quality horses to get good handle but these 12-horse field races at the longer distance have been carded with mostly cheaper stock like C class or claimers and the betting handle in these races has been very high. Anyway, used all four of my listed contenders here, 1-3-10-12. There are no stand outs in this wide open race.