Del Mar internet plays for Wednesday

The 2006 Del Mar racing season has been sour. The wagering totals at the bottom of this column indicate as much.

But when most of your wagers are high-odds overlays, things can change in a hurry. Maybe it will happen Wednesday. The other possibility is things will not change at all, and the 2006 summer meet will go down as one big pari-mutuel disaster.

Sure hope not.

The rails are at seven feet on the grass course. The narrow course frequently rewards inside posts in five-furlong sprints such as the first race Wednesday.

Race 1

Doug O'Neill holds the aces with front-runners Cascade Rain (5-1) and I'maladytak (8-1). Both fillies drew comfortably in posts 4 and 3, respectively. Cascade Rain drops out of a stakes in which she battled on a tough pace and weakened; I'maladytak will be forwardly placed in her first start since December. She runs well fresh.

Two longshots are in posts 1 and 2. They are comebackers Key Rose (12-1) and Jackieosofabulous (15-1). They will be used in the exacta and trifecta.

The bets: $1 trifecta key Cascade Rain and I'maladytak to win; over Cascade Rain, I'maladytak, Key Rose and Jackieosofabulous in the two- and three holes. That is a $12 wager.

The exacta pool also is worth exploiting.

The bets: $2 exacta keys Cascade Rain and I'maladytak to win; over Cascade Rain, I'maladytak, Key Rose and Jackieosofabulous in the two-hole. That is a $12 bet. In addition, a $1 exacta box combining those four runners will be played. That is a $12 bet.

Total investment on the race is $36. Don't sweat the minimum odds; the prices will be right.

Race 4

The scratch of also-eligible Entourage makes Warning Zone (2-1) and King at Play (8-5) the favorites. But turf routes for 2-year-old maidens invite chaos, and outsider Easy Connection (20-1) showed just enough run in his debut, and has just enough turf potential in his pedigree, to possibly spring an upset on the stretch-out.

The bet: $20 win Easy Connection (minimum odds 9-1); $2 exactas Warning Zone and King at Play over Easy Connection to save (same minimum odds on the longshot). Total investment on the race is $24.

That's it. The bets total $60. That is $10 over budget. Back Thursday.

Total wagers previous day: $50.
Total return previous day: $0.
Total win/loss previous day: minus $50.

Total wagers for meet: $1,200.
Total return for meet: $246.
Total win/loss for meet: minus $954.