King: Pick four play for Del Mar for Wednesday, Aug. 20

Of all the multirace gimmick wagers at Del Mar on Wednesday, it is the late pick four that this horseplayer finds most appealing. Form is established in most of the races in the sequence, races 5 through 8, with the exception of the sixth race for maiden 2-year-olds.

Starting with race 5, the top prospects happen to be trained by the same man: Phil D’Amato. He starts both Passionville (#2, 7-2), a much-improved second in her first start for him, and the class-dropping Grazenette (#9, 3-1). Both get used in Ticketmaker as ‘A’ plays.

Shysheisnot (#4, 6-1), stretching out in distance after a maiden win, is a secondary ‘B’ play.

Race 6

This race has the least-established form of any in the sequence, being a race for 2-year-olds and one going a two-turn mile on Polytrack, no less.

The most likely winner is Battle of Evermore (#7, 5-2), who chased a fast pace in her debut and ran third. She is an ‘A’ play, but being out of a Good and Tough mare, this horseplayer couldn’t single her, fearing the potential for regression on the stretch-out.

Second-time starter Harmonic (#1, 3-1) and Texas Red (#9, 4-1), who has a second and a fourth in two starts, would seem the most likely candidates to upset if Battle of Evermore falters going a longer distance. They are backup ‘B’ runners.

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Race 7

Alexis Tangier (#3, 5-2), returning to her best surface on turf, can likely be forgiven for a speed-and-fade when racing on Polytrack last out. She has the pedigree to route and goes as an ‘A’ runner in Ticketmaker.

Kukuluka (#4, 4-1) is another who is likely better than what she showed most recently when fourth on Polytrack. She is a two-time winner on grass and is a closer who catches a field with plenty of pace. She is a ‘B.’

Race 8

Last up is a maiden $20,000 claimer in which Full of Spice (#1, 3-1) and Madame Forbes (#3, 5-2) act best and rate as ‘A’ runners following recent third-place finishes. But it is typically risky to go shallow in maiden claimers, some of the least formful races around.

Therefore the suggestion is to also use Veronica Bay (#5, 7-2), who makes her second start off a layoff and could improve, and Vord Queen (#10, 5-1), who joins the barn of trainer John Sadler off the claim.

The Tickets

Plugging the horses outlined as described above into Ticketmaker, using a minimum wager of $0.50 and a budget of $38, tickets comprised of all ‘A’s can be played for $1.50 apiece; those using one ‘B’ go for $1; and those with two ‘A’s and two ‘B’s are played in $0.50 increments. Combined cost totals $38.