Berlioz ($20.40) led gate-to-wire in the 5th race, the first leg of the pick 6, to prevail as the fifth choice in a field of 9 and scuttle a whole lot of tickets right away. Churchill announced a pool of $3,138,615 was bet today, on top of the $947,641 carryover, meaning the total pool to be split among perfect tickets will be more than $2.8 million, after takeout (19 pct) and 5-of-6 tickets (25 pct) on Thurs wagers are accounted for.
Gold Bells Spin, one of the 3 co-faves in the race in the 3-1 and 7-2 range, threw F.Torres at the start of the 5th race. Torres got right up and did not appear seriously hurt.
The win on Berlioz was the first of the meet for jockey J.McKee, who was aboard for trainer Bill Connelly, who did a great job in getting the 5yo ready off an 8-week layoff. McKee joins R.Albarado (race 1) and apprentice F.Lenclud in getting off the duck today.
Therre are 17 MTP for race 6, and Speedy Solution (#11) is the 9-5 choice over Dabossman (#2) and Coastal Art (#5), both 9-2, in a field of 10 conditioned-claiming routers.
$947,641 xx
