Aqueduct: Thursday 1/1 Plays R8 - Pete's Picks

Little Pete
Jan 1
3 min read

Eight races on this first day of 2026 of racing at the Big A. I will be condensing my plays down to just the numbers and attacking the early double starting in R2 (Races 1 & 2) and a spot pick 3 (Races 3-5). Big Pete will attack his "Play of the Day" and the late pick 3 (Races 6-8). We appreciate you taking a look at this write-up and GOOD LUCK.

Little Pete's $ 5.00 Early Double:

R1: 5, 6

R2: 5, 6 Cost: $ 20.00

Little Pete's $ 1.00 Spot Pick 3:

R3: 1, 3, 5

R4: 1, 2, 3

R5: 1, 3, 4 Cost: $ 27.00

Big Pete's $ 1.00 Late Pick 3:

R6: 1, 2

R7: 1, 3, 7

R8: 4, 5, 6, 9 Cost: $ 24.00

Big Pete's "Play of the Day":

Race 3:

Five of these six raced against each other a month ago and all five could turn the table and win it. I sided with the Cox runner going out first time for his new barn. (5) WYNSTOCK finished a distant 7th against these guys but he may have lost it at the start. Only the winner made up ground that day as the track carried the front runners. They switch to Manny and they got two decent works in him for this. He has some of the highest speed figuers and Cox can get him back to those numbers.

I’ll use (1) Kings Leap and (3) Refuah underneath for the exacta.

$ 7.00 WPS 5 Cost $ 21.00

$ 7.00 Ex 5 w/ 1, 3 Cost $ 14.00

We’ll also use (5) Wynstock in R3 and try to cash in on a Daily Double.

(1) Flint Steel and (2) Tranquil Sea in the 4th.

$ 7.00 Daily Double 5 w/ 1, 2 Cost $ 14.00

Big Pete's Late Pick 3:

Race 6:

(2) CHARLIE HUSTLE adds L1 after an okay effort when they dropped him to the right level last time. Blinkers may have helped too, and the switch to the aggressive rider here tells us that they will go early and try to wire them. The only other one I'll use is the Big Brown gelding (1) BIG BROOKLYN. He too adds L1 after a nice closing effort to collect a check last time. Lezcano staying here instead of the Rice runner means this guy could be live for a decent effort. I'll try to get by with just these two.

$ 7.00 WPS 1 Cost $ 21.00

$ 3.00 Ex 1, 2 w/ 1, 2, 4 Cost $ 12.00

Race 7:

(7) BEST IMPRESSION toyed with 17k runners last time and now they drop her to the basement. That's a little scary, but we will still use her but look elsewhere. (1) FOXY CARA has also found herself dropping recently as the connections search for the right field. They found it, and she is a must-use for me. I want to beat them both with the best closer in this race. (3) FLOGE has several speeds signed on to push the pace along. They switch to Lezcano for this, and he can time it just right. He'll save ground and tip out through the stretch.

$ 7.00 WPS 3 Cost $ 21.00

$ 3.00 Ex 1, 3 w/ 1, 3, 4, 7 Cost $ 18.00

Race 8:

(4) REMI'S MOON was getting close last time and finished right behind (5) COFFEE TALK last time. Both look primed for another decent effort. (6) INTERCEPTOR ran a winning race last time and just got beat at the wire. He's fresh off the Maker claim and is expected to improve first time out. (9) HOUSE UNITED cuts back to a one and a half turn and should be able to work out a trip from that outside post right after the break.