Bernier: How I'd play Del Mar on Sunday, Aug. 17

The pick sixes over the past few weeks at Del Mar have taken their toll on me, so I’m likely to focus on a much smaller sequence of races – I’ll play a pick three in the middle of the card beginning with race 4.

Race 4

The Rancho Bernardo is the key to my entire wager – I think Reneesgotzip is the best horse running in the race, and I expect her to fire off the long layoff for trainer Peter Miller. She’s shown the ability to do so in the past, and she’s proven over her career that she loves the Del Mar Polytrack (3 for 3 lifetime). While I have tremendous respect for Judy the Beauty, I’ll only use Reneesgotzip and hope to catch a price or two in the following two legs.

Race 5

The fifth is a race on the grass and features a pretty contentious field, and I’ll be using two horses. Full Dancer sat just off the leader in his return to the races July 17 at Del Mar and finished a solid second for trainer Eddie Truman, and I’m hoping he works out a similar trip in his second start off the bench. He has nice tactical speed, and I’m looking for jockey Edwin Maldonado to keep him in the running from the very beginning. The other runner I’ll use is Sawyer’s Hill. Here’s a horse who continues to improve with each and every start, and he already has demonstrated he loves the Del Mar turf course. I anticipate he’ll be within a few lengths of the lead throughout the running, and should a horse like Full Dancer falter late, Sawyer’s Hill and Martin Garcia will be coming with a run.

Race 6

As I wrote in Del Mar Babies for Aug. 17, this 2-year-old California-bred maiden special-weight affair doesn’t do much for me from an individual race standpoint, but I’ll gladly use the three runners I discussed in the payoff leg of this pick three sequence. Zinvor is the most likely winner of this race, but I’m not sure what he’ll offer as far as value is concerned. The blinkers come on and should have him much sharper and more focused today. Lucky Mark has been training nicely at Los Alamitos for his debut, and although trainer Martin Jones isn’t known for his work with 2-year-olds, I’ll include him in my play. Noble Hawk is the final horse I’ll use, and I’m hopeful with him that the experience edge he has on the majority of the field will pay off for him. If he takes a step forward under apprentice Drayden Van Dyke, he likely will have a say in the outcome.

The card in general doesn’t do much for me, but here’s the small pick three (races 4-6) I’ll play for Sunday: 3 / 3,6 / 3,4,8 = $6