Nadeau: Play of the Day 5.16.26 / LRL
| “PLAY of the DAY” by Brian Nadeau | |
| Date | 5/16/26 |
| Featured track | Laurel Park |
| Race number | 9 |
| Race overview | A modest renewal of the 100k James W. Murphy for 3yos at 1-mile on the turf. |
| Pace | It looks honest enough, as there’s a longshot sprinter (#7) stretching out who figures to go, and more than a few others who want to be close early on. |
| Trends | N/A |
| Best Play | #3 ZIHNAL (6-1) (turf or dirt) SA invader ran a ridiculously fast figure in his debut going a two-turn mile on the main track (against older horses too), is out of a serious G2 turf winning mare, and is a homebred for George Strawbridge, who lives close by and loves aiming for stakes on this big weekend, which says this was the plan all along—and Irad is named to boot. |
| Bet Types | This 6-1 ML is comical, but even 5-2 seems fair on a horse with a pedigree like this, in a field like this, so make an aggressive WP bet, while getting built-in value by singling in all the horizontal exotics. |
| Play of the Day Winners | |
