God's Tipster's Thursday 2.17 Fair Grounds Pick – 8th is a turf sprint but rain leaves hope for Bliss on dirt

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Wednesday’s Race Recap from Tampa:

(All odds US)

Replays for yesterday’s races from Tampa can be found below:

Tampa Bay Downs:

Race 5: 2nd@ 1.80/1 by a dirty nose! 😩

Race 6: 4th@ 20.40/1

Race 7: checked & pulled up @7.50/1

Tough way to start the week for us win bettors as Sweet Dutchess got the sweet trip off the heavy favorite as she battled with rank outsider Mirth and Merriment, swung wide into the stretch and came up a fast-diminishing nose short of the win. In Race 6, our longshot- Starship Oreo battled for the early lead and kept on before giving way in mid-stretch before fading to fourth. In Race 7, Hallanvaara was in the midst of a sweet move up the rail into contention when Daniel Centeno, the rider on the favorite, Dancing Sophia steered his horse into Hallanvaara, almost sending her over the inside rail. Jockey Rocco Bowen was lucky to stay aboard and he pulled Hallanvaara up just as she was making her move. A nose loss and a 7/1 horse almost getting checked over the rail have me feeling extra salty today. Onward!

With no Thursday racing at Aqueduct or Tampa, and Gulfstream Park becoming a polytrack haven, we’ll take on the rain in the forecast at Fair Grounds.

Thursday pick for Fair Grounds:

Race 8: Marital Bliss - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 7/2)

Turf runners sprint 5 1/2 furlongs but hold your horses buddy, there’s rain in the forecast so with that in mind I’m siding with the “main track only” runner – Marital Bliss – who’s making the second start of his career. Bet He’s Ready will likely attract most of the betting attention off his last two starts but he hasn’t shown a lot of fight in the lane. Marital Bliss ran into Zozos first time out and that one FREAKED next time out winning by more than 10 and inflating his maiden speed figure by 18 points. That certainly flatters that field a bit and this one should get the right stalking trip just off the speed.

Best of luck to everyone playing Thursday’s races from Fair Grounds