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Thumb_hersh Marcus Hersh , Fonner Park , 04/07/2020 - DRF Live Posted : Apr 7, 2020, 1:57 PM

Thoughts on the mandatory pick 5 April 7 @fonnerracing

Not gonna lie - I haven't played Fonner Park before last week. But I've been handicapping for the last several race days, looking hard into the form, seeing how races are run, etc, and with a forced payout on the 50-cent late pick five today, spanning races 4-8, I'm taking a swing. The first ticket I put together using an A-B-C format in Daily Racing Form Ticketmaker came to about $640 -- too rich for my blood. I wound up at $113, more than I wanted to spend, but I'm swinging, not bunting. 

Race 4 - Ended up with a lone A here, Ohtani (#9). He finished behind Where's Rufus (#7) in a common recent race but I much prefer Ohtani on the longer-term form. If he breaks he should get a favorable pressing trip & I expect improvement second time over the track.
Sneaky at a price - #1
My throwouts - #4, #5

Race 5 - Very tough race - to me, the toughest in the sequence. Went with three As, #s 2,4,6. The longer I looked, the more it seemed like El Diablo Grande (#2) could shake loose on the lead, something that hasn't happened for him yet at Fonner. If you go all the way back through his 18-start career you see he's one of those horses that runs his best when in front and in the clear. Pretty sure he prefers 5 1/2 to 6 furlongs, but the short Fonner homestretch helps. Getaway Driver (#4) was terrible in his long layoff comeback and is on a suspect drop - or is he? $5,000 claiming might've been destiny all along. Barn had a second-after-layoff winner Monday. Spotitude (#6) faded at one mile last time but only needs his two-back form to win.
Sneaky at a price: #1
My throwouts: 5,7,10

Race 6 - Ship Stalker (#5) full of run winning his fonner debut March 31 for a $10K tag and runs back for the co-leading trainer under starter-allowance conditions here. Think he's very live right back but in the end couldn't ignore the super sharp form of Shooter's Alley (#7), who goes for the other co-leading trainer.
Sneaky at a price: #1
My throwouts: 8

Race 7: Taking my stand with May Flowers (#5), Chub's Charmer (#8) as the lone backup. May Flowers has raced a lot but is relatively unexposed on dirt and can get right back to that sharp last-out win.
Sneaky at a price: #1
My throwouts: #2, #4, #7

Race 8: As much as it pains me, it's the two favorites, Gone Preachin (#4) and Born Force (#8) as the As. Couple backups in a bottom-level claiming dash.
Sneaky at a price: #3
My throwouts: #2, #5, #7, #8 

Here's a link to the ticket I played at DRF Bets ($1 for the "All A" segment): https://t.co/GBUpYSsGRk?amp=1

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