LAUREL, MD – The Stronach 5 will have competitive fields from Laurel Park, Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields as well as an industry-low 12-percent takeout come Friday afternoon.
The Stronach 5, which continues to offer a strong return on investment, begins at 3:59 ET.
The sequence kicks off with Laurel’s eighth race, a $42,000 allowance event for 4-year-olds and up with an 8-5 favorite in Gentleman Joe. The 5-year-old will be equipped with blinkers for trainer Hamilton Smith. Trainer Miguel Vera sends out two. Prince James, a 4-year-old son of Tiznow who sold for $150,000 as a 2-year-old, enters off a second-place finish Jan. 3 at Laurel after spending the fall at Gulfstream Park and Gulfstream Park West. Vera will also saddle The Revenger.
Gulfstream’s seventh race will serve as the second leg in the Stronach 5. The allowance optional claimer at a mile on the turf appears to be wide open with Whatmakessammyrun a tepid 3-1 choice breaking from the far outside 12 post for trainer George Weaver and jockey Luis Saez. Repole Stable’s Hyperfocus makes his turf debut after a fifth-place finish in June in the Bashford Manor (G3). Easy Time will also make his turf debut for trainer Mark Casse after an eighth-place finish Jan. 2 in the Mucho Macho Man.
The Stronach 5 returns to Laurel for the ninth race, a wide open seven furlong claiming event with Company Clown the 3-1 favorite for leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez. Fine N Dandy ships in from Penn National for trainer Tim Ritchey.
The fourth leg of the sequence will be Santa Anita’s third race, a starter optional claimer for 3-year-old fillies at 6 ½ furlongs on the turf. Disko Fever, trained by Richard Baltas, broke his maiden last time out by 3 ½ lengths at Santa Anita.
The Stronach 5 concludes with Golden Gate’s second race, an $8,000 maiden claimer for 3-year-old fillies. Wildly Dramatic is the 9-5 favorite off a second-place finish Jan. 29 against similar company. You’re All Talk, trained by Peter Eurton, drops in from $35,000 maiden company while trainer Jonathan Wong will send out first-time starter Street Dancing.
Friday’s races and sequence
Leg One – Laurel Park 8th Race: (10 entries, 1 mile) 3:59 ET, 12:59 PT
Leg Two – Gulfstream Park 7th Race: (12 entries, 1-mile turf) 4:12 ET, 1:12 PT
Leg Three – Laurel Park 9th Race: (13 entries, 7 furlongs) 4:29 ET, 1:29 PT
Leg Four – Santa Anita Park 3rd Race: (10 entries, 6 ½ furlongs turf) 4:35 ET, 1:35 PT
Leg Five – Golden Gate Fields 2nd Race: (8 entries, 5 furlongs) 4:53 ET, 1:53 PT
Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.
The Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors.
The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.
If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.
The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.
Press Release
