by Bob Pandolfo

Bob Pandolfo offers his picks for the $50,000 Pick-4 at Meadowlands Racetrack on March 8, part of the U.S. Trotting Association Strategic Wagering Program.

Meadowlands Pick-4, Races 7-10, Friday, March 8, 2013

Since it’s so hard to hit these Pick-4s at the Meadowlands, starting this week I’m going to experiment so we can try to see what the best approach is. I’m going to create two tickets, one with a maximum bet of $64 and another “whale” ticket with a maximum of $320. I realize that most people reading this will not bet $320 into the Pick-4, but I think it will be interesting to see what my hit percentage will be with the bigger bet. Let’s be real here, the people who actually win consistently and show a profit betting Pick-4s at the Meadowlands are making these bigger bets. I’ll update the results every Thursday.

$1 small play: 379/679/37/245 = $54
$1 large play: 23789/246789/37/24579 = $300

Analysis:

Race 7: I think you could make a case for singling (9) Star Keeper here but I used three in the small ticket. It’s a pretty wide open race.

Race 8: Wide open competitive trot. I picked (6) Spice It Up Lindy, who upset one of these three starts back, but I’m using two others, (7) Opening Night on the drop and (9) Ice Machine, who missed by a nose in last.

Race 9: This is potentially the easiest race of the sequence. (3) Ideal In Vegas and (7) Day Blue Chip are 4-year-old mares that seem faster than the others.

Race 10: Another wide open trot. My top pick, (5) Lexis Amigo, was my top pick at $11.40 last week and steps up sharp. (4) Bambino Hall is a dangerous shipper from Yonkers. He has one win in five starts at the Meadowlands. (2) Il Mago drops and has been racing gamely against tougher.