Finger Lakes Picks & Predictions — June 22, 2026
Finger Lakes is open for business on Monday, June 22, and the weather is doing its best to make your handicapping day interesting. Rain is falling and temperatures are sitting at a cool 62°F, which means the dirt surface is going to be a factor in nearly every decision you make today. Wet-track form, bias tendencies, and pace dynamics all shift when the strip gets wet — so keep that in mind as you build your tickets.
Eight races are spread across the card, running the gamut from Maiden Special Weight sprints to an Allowance route at a mile and 70 yards. There's genuine variety here — maiden graduates mixing with seasoned claimers, short sprints alongside route tests — and that gives us plenty of angles to dig into. Three of today's races are free for all TrackWiz readers, and the full eight-race breakdown is available for subscribers.
Best Bets
Race 1
Allowance Optional Claiming · 6 fur · Dirt
Chris Englehart sends out a powerful one-two punch in this allowance optional claiming sprint, and the rest of the field will need career-best efforts to keep up.
Shehanah is the clear TrackWiz top-rated horse in the field with an 86.35 rating — a full 20 points clear of the second choice — and that gap is hard to ignore in a six-furlong dirt sprint. Running for trainer Chris Englehart, who also saddles the stablemate Mambagigi, Shehanah carries a 33% career win rate that speaks to consistent competitiveness at this level. Andre Shivnarine Worrie gets the call in the irons, and the Englehart-Worrie combination is one to respect at Finger Lakes. At 7/2 on the morning line, there's still fair value here for what looks like the class of this field.
Zhen Lou comes in at 5/2 on the morning line, making her the public's second choice, and our analysis supports that positioning. The Ralph D'Alessandro trainee carries an average speed figure of 54 — tied for best in the field — and while a 16% career win rate isn't flashy, it suggests a horse that competes hard and hits the board regularly. If Shehanah gets the gun, Zhen Lou looks like the most likely beneficiary at a price that still offers some interest in exacta combinations.
Mambagigi opens at 3/1 and brings a 35% career win rate — the highest in the field — along with a TrackWiz rating of 60.19 that keeps her firmly in the mix for exotics. Trainer Englehart runs both Mambagigi and Shehanah, which suggests confidence in both, and Reylu Gutierrez is a capable pilot who knows the Finger Lakes strip well. As a show bet or third leg of the exacta box, Mambagigi makes plenty of sense.
Race 2
Maiden Claiming · 5 1/2 fur · Dirt
A maiden claimer with a field of winless horses makes this a wide-open puzzle, but one runner separates herself significantly on our ratings and figures to be overbet at a fair price.
Anmolo stands out like a beacon in this maiden claiming field with a TrackWiz rating of 87.81 — nearly 27 points ahead of the next-best runner. Trainer Nirka Huertas has her ready to fire with an average speed figure of 53, competitive for this level, and Emanuel De Diego takes the mount. The 5/2 morning line makes her the public choice, and honestly the number is fair — this looks like a horse who should be favored. In a field where no one has won before, the edge goes to the horse projecting the clearest forward path.
Honor for Mandin carries a 60.42 TrackWiz rating — second-best in the field — and despite the 5/1 morning line, represents genuine place value. Trainer Jose Armando Rohena puts up his own son J.M. Rohena in the irons, a tight family operation that often signals strong local knowledge and motivation. The average speed figure of 51 keeps her competitive, and if Anmolo is your banker, Honor for Mandin makes a logical second wheel in exactas.
Not My Type opens at 7/2 and carries a TrackWiz rating of 58.85, putting her third overall in this field. Trainer Michael T. Sabine has her showing a 50 average speed figure, which is the lower end, but the public line respects her enough to make her the second wagering choice. For show bettors and trifecta players, she's a solid underneath option who won't be ignored in the pools.
Race 3
Maiden Special Weight · 1 mi · Dirt
Three horses are separated by less than a single rating point at the top of this maiden special weight mile, setting up one of the more competitive top-end battles on the card.
Sliceaway gets the nod as our win pick despite carrying the 2/1 morning line chalk, because the TrackWiz rating of 86.04 is the top number in the field and Hall of Fame trainer Nicholas P. Zito conditions him. Zito has a long track record of producing ready-to-run maiden winners, and with Andre Shivnarine Worrie aboard, the horsepower is there from corner office to saddle. The one-mile distance on dirt tests a horse's stamina and rate-ability more than a sprint, and Sliceaway's profile fits the trip. At 2/1 there's not a ton of value, but the credentials justify the price.
Thetribehasspoken is only a whisker behind Sliceaway with an 86.04 vs. 85.62 rating split — this is essentially a photo at the top. Trainer Troy Smith puts Reylu Gutierrez up, an experienced hand who will use the mile distance to his advantage with a patient trip. At 4/1 on the morning line, Thetribehasspoken offers better value than the favorite for place wagers and is a strong candidate to be involved at the wire.
Saratoga Sunset rounds out a remarkably tight top three with an 85.10 rating — only 0.94 behind our win pick. Trainer Paul W. Barrow sends her out at 7/2, and Jeremias Flores takes the mount in what looks like a legitimate contention spot. In a race this close at the top, using all three of these horses in trifecta combinations is smart handicapping — the margins here are razor thin.
Our three free best bet races today — Races 1, 2, and 3 — span the first half of the card and give you a strong foundation to work with before the rain potentially gets heavier. TrackWiz analysis landed on Shehanah (Race 1, 7/2 morning line) as the top-rated play of the free tier, posting an 86.35 TrackWiz Rating in an Allowance Optional Claiming sprint at six furlongs. In a race where wet dirt can compress the field, her rating stands out against the morning line price.
Race 2 brings us Anmolo, who actually carries the highest TrackWiz Rating among the free picks at 87.81 in a 5½-furlong Maiden Claimer — the kind of short sprint where pace shape on a wet track can be decisive. Round out the free card with Sliceaway in Race 3, the lone-mile test of the trio, where patience and a clean trip matter even more when the footing is less than ideal. All three races share a common thread today: pace scenario. On a rain-affected surface, horses that can sit just off a contested pace and pounce late are at a premium.
Full Card Analysis
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Today's Finger Lakes card is a genuinely engaging one under tricky conditions. Shehanah, Anmolo, and Sliceaway anchor the free plays — three solid TrackWiz-rated picks across the opening three races. If you want pace projections, exotic ticket structures, and the full breakdown on Races 4–8 including Beach Invasion and Runaway Roscoe, that's all waiting for subscribers. Check out TrackWiz premium plans and get the complete edge before the gates open. Good luck today — and watch that wet track bias.