Del Mar Babies for Wednesday, Aug. 13

Race 5

Maiden special weight
2-year-old fillies
1 mile, turf
Purse: $75,000

Key contenders

10) Awesome Diamond

This filly trailed the rest of the field throughout her debut effort before rallying down the lane. She ran on very nicely once she changed leads, and it’s completely within reason to anticipate she’ll take a step forward here. Her parents are racing royalty (Sea The Stars, Santa Teresita), and if she ends up being half of what those two racehorses ended up being she’ll be doing just fine for herself. Look for this Patrick Biancone trainee to take the necessary step forward here and graduate.

FORMULATOR FACT: Trainer Patrick Biancone is 4 for 20 (8 in the money, $4.52 return on investment) over the past four years with second-time starters routing.

4) Redshirt

After completely blowing the start in her debut, this daughter of Distorted Humor finished nicely for a solid third in her debut. She finished behind a couple of decent fillies, and the way this gal galloped out would lead you to believe that she’s going to relish the added distance. Trainer Eoin Harty does better with horses who have experience, so it’s not unfathomable to think this miss takes a big step forward and gets the job done in this spot.

FORMULATOR FACT: Sire Distorted Humor’s 2-year-olds have combined to go 47 for 325 over the past five years.

7) Hone In

This daughter of Smart Strike didn’t do much running in her debut north of the border in Woodbine, but it’s well within reason to think that her connections have her cranked up and ready to roll here at Del Mar. It’s nice to see this girl get acquainted with the Polytrack here at Del Mar over the past two weeks, and she appears to be training very nicely leading up to her second start. She’s another who can have a major say in things with a minor step forward.

FORMULATOR FACT: Trainer Victoria Oliver is 5 for 27 (19 ITM, $5.29 ROI) over the past three years with 2-year-olds routing.

The strategy

The majority of my focus and wagering strategy is going to be occupied by the huge pick six carryover on Wednesday, but as far as this race is concerned it appears very straightforward for me – I’ll be boxing these three runners in exactas and trifectas. Here are the plays:

EXACTA BOX of 4, 7, 10
TRIFECTA BOX of 4, 7, 10