Hammersly: How I'd play Del Mar on Sunday, Nov. 9

A traditional daily double to start the day, and then four horses scattered around later on the card who may prove valuable for your various single-race and multiple-race wagers.

SNOWDAY came from France with group stakes credentials last year. Things have been a bit dodgy for him, and after pressing the pace and fading to eighth in the Grade 3 Eddie D down the hill at Santa Anita on Sept. 26, he’s dropped in for a tag by trainer Gary Mandella. That looks like the crucial move. The horse hasn’t run badly; he just hasn’t thrived on this side of the pond, at least against tougher. The class move may get him squared away in Race 1.

Race 2 gives you a chance to implement the horse-for-course angle as GOLD MEDALLION showed in August that this is his favorite place. He won for this price ($8,000) and then for $10,000 before fading for $16,000 at Santa Anita on Oct. 9. The drop and return to this track (and he worked well here Nov. 3 to indicate that he’s doing well) can do the trick. Rider Kent Desormeaux and trainer Bob Hess Jr. were dynamite here during the summer meet. Of Hess’s 15 wins at that meet, Desormeaux did the steering on 14 of them.

The rest of my day will hinge on how the other runners fare, as I’ll be keying them in wagers in their individual races but will also use them as linchpins for the various pick threes and the end-of-day pick four.

COMPARI (Race 4) is 8 years old now and isn’t the Grade 1-placed horse he once was, but two strong seconds in recent months after eight months off show he still has ample oomph. He was a good second for $50,000 at Santa Anita on Oct. 11, and the horse he chased (Polytechnicien) came right back to win a strong optional claimer on turf at Golden Gate on Nov. 1. That surely flatters this veteran, and the drop helps, too.

CHARLIE’S ANGEL (Race 7) blew the start in her U.S. debut on the Santa Anita sod Sept. 28 but kept to her task well to be fifth. That heat has been flattered (runner-up Margot Machance came back to be a sharp second again in a hillside sprint there Oct. 31). Certainly, that outing and a better start here will help. Note she was good enough in France to beat males in May.

WARREN’S VENEDA (Race 8) hasn’t been as good this year as she was in 2013, when she won five of 11 and was Grade 2-placed. But it’s not as if she’s run poorly. Again, she may have lost a step but has continued to face tough foes. She drops today and gets back to a main track that she handled wonderfully in August 2013. Also, the race shape may play in her favor. There are a few speed types signed up here, which may give her the hot, contested pace that can bolster her late run.

ITSGETTINGHOTINHERE (Race 9) looks ready to turn the corner. After four not-so-hot races this spring and summer to start his career, he was freshened and came back to be a strong, rallying second in a race just like this (one mile on turf) at Santa Anita on Oct. 5. She rallied strongly after being far back early. She also was very wide after having a brutal post (No. 10), finishing well clear of third (3 1/4 lengths).