Mandatory-payout pick six offers challenge, potential score

The 20-cent Golden Pick 6 at Golden Gate Fields has a mandatory payout Sunday in a sequence that has five sprints, including two tricky maiden races, and a $32,000 claimer that features a leading contender who has not started in nearly two years.

The bet begins with a carryover of $81,216. The pool of new money could surpass $600,000.

Sunday’s pick six, covering the third through eighth races, has few situations in which bettors, with large or small tickets, can confidently identify a single selection.

The third race, a conditional $5,000 claimer at six furlongs, includes Duplication and Jersey Babe, who were second and third at the same level Jan. 27. They must beat Johnny Paycheck and Big Don’s Smiling, who are rising in class following good races in recent $3,200 claimers. Big Don’s Smiling could be a danger from a forward position.

The fourth race, a $12,500 claimer for 3-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs, is not easier. Pondergating will be near the front and must hold off Crown of Hope, who scored a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 63 with a win in an $8,000 claimer for maidens in her second start Feb. 4.

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Rebelation, an 8-year-old mare with 16 starts, returns to action for the first time since April 2022 in a $32,000 claimer at six furlongs in the sixth race. She won following a 16-month rest in July 2021 and has a solid pattern of recent works. The speedy Baby Kristen and closer Blue Wildcat, second in their last starts, have form that translates well in a field of six.

Of the eight runners in the sixth race, for maiden 3-year-olds at six furlongs, arguments can be made for roughly half the field.

Danzing Rebel will be a key selection on some tickets. Winless in three starts, Danzing Rebel was a game second despite racing in traffic in early stretch of a similar race at a mile on Jan. 28. He looks promising from off the pace as does Winning Lover, who returned from a six-month layoff to finish third in a maiden race Dec. 10. Of Winning Lover’s eight rivals in that race, four have returned to win.

Thanks Maggio, a well-beaten sixth in a $12,500 claimer for nonwinners of two on Feb. 2 in his first start since May, starts for his lowest claiming price in the seventh race, a $6,250 claimer at a mile. Thanks Maggio will not be far from the front, but must shake away from Senor Del Campo, who returns to a two-turn race for the first time since the summer of 2022 after two good third-place finishes since late December.

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The final race, for maiden 3-year-olds at 5 1/2 furlongs, is the second start for Everydayissaturday, who closed well on the turn to finish a game second in his debut Jan. 7. He is part of a field of eight that includes Effort, who has worked well in recent weeks, and the intriguing first-time starter Valiant Son, who drew the inside post.

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