By Papo Morales, AmWager

An outstanding day of racing at Woodbine on Saturday with a stakes filled card and several multi-race guarantees including $150k early Pick 4, $250k late Pick 4 and a $100k late Pick 5. With rolling pick 3’s and .20 cent incremental base bets on all the “pick” wagers, there are several opportunities to get involved with the exotic wagers and with potentially minimum investments. It’s worth noting that AmWager will be offering an additional win bonus on the pick 3’s and pick 4’s at Woodbine on Saturday to spice up your potential payoffs.

Race 8 Canadian Stakes 1 1/8th Miles Turf

A solid field of seven fillies and mares entered in the first graded stakes race on the Woodbine card, the Grade 2 Canadian. Morning line favoritism falls on Dacita (2-1) for trainer Chad Brown. The Scat Daddy mare has won two straight races including the Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga in her last start. Since making her stateside debut in August of 2015, the Chilean bred has won three races and finished second once in six starts. There is a chance of showers at Woodbine on Saturday. If the skies open up and the track get moisture in it, then she is a play against as Dacita prefers firm turf. While she is a win contender, others offer more value in this race so I will relegate her to a “b” on my multi-race wagers.

Chad’s other entry in this race is Rainha Da Bateria and at 3-1 offers a bit more value than more her more accomplished stablemate. The Broken Vow filly has made three starts while under Brown’s tutelage and her speed figures have improved with each successive start. She was just beaten by just a nose in her last start by Dacita. With another step forward, she may be able to turn the tables on the favorite. This will be Leparoux’s second time riding Rainha Da Bateria and she will be carrying nine pounds less than Dacita. For those reasons she is an “A” for me in this race.

My other “A” horse, and the one I will likely key on for my vertical wagers, is Strut the Course (6-1) for Barbara Minshall. I have followed this mare throughout her entire career and she has rewarded me, finishing in the exacta in 15 of 26 career starts. She has made three starts in 2016 and her only win this year was in an $80k allowance race on the tapeta surface. However, she finished a closing third in the Grade 2 Nassau and was second in the Grace 2 Dance Smartly, a race where the winner Lexie Lou had a freakish performance. Woodbine is Strut the Course’s home track and she has finished in the exacta in six of nine starts. Her workout pattern coming in shows multiple bullets and the 1 1/8th distance of today’s race suits her.

Midnight Miley looks like lone speed in this race and you may want to include her underneath in your vertical wagers. Strut the Course’s tactical speed should enable her to sit right behind Midnight Miley and get first run on the closers. If that’s the case she may just strut right into the winner’s circle.

NOTE: Follow Papo’s Twitter feed for more insights and picks on Woodbine Mile Day. Visit https://twitter.com/papocore1.