A close second in the Grade 2 Clark as a late 3-year-old last year and a good second behind Fierceness in the Grade 2 Alysheba this spring stamped Most Wanted as a horse of Grade 1 potential, but a surfeit of older dirt-route horses in the barn forced his trainer, Brad Cox, to get creative. Most Wanted didn’t finish either top effort like a horse who really wanted a true route of ground, so Cox cut him back to a one-turn Churchill mile in a June allowance romp, a springboard to the Grade 1 Forego on Aug. 23. No dice. Most Wanted pulled a tough trip in a tough race, and checked in fifth. From that seven-furlong Grade 1 at Saratoga to Saturday’s one-mile, Grade 3 Ack Ack at Churchill, Most Wanted goes from a race his connections entered with more hope than certainty into a race his connections should expect to win. Listed at 6-5 on the morning line, Most Wanted looks like an odds-on choice in the $400,000 Ack Ack. He faces seven foes and will beat them with a return to his best under new jockey Irad Ortiz. “He’s training well, and he’ll run good,” said Cox. “I like him a little more going a mile than seven-eighths.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. For the second straight race, Most Wanted drew the rail – and that cost him in the Forego. Most Wanted broke a half-beat slow and had to be used hard to skim the fence and make the lead. After running the other pace players into submission, Most Wanted ran out of steam the last half-furlong. “Maybe he did a little bit too much early up the backside. Hopefully he can settle a little more. He doesn’t have to be on the lead,” Cox said. He might wind up there anyway, owing to a lack of pace players. A tepid tempo works against last year’s Ack Ack winner, the 30-1 shot Three Technique, and a horse with more recent encouraging form, Will Take It. Will Take It has gone 2 for 2 since trainer Dallas Stewart cut him back from two-turn races to Churchill one-turn miles. He beat solid milers Dragoon Guard and Tumbarumba in a May allowance race, then took down Banishing, a $1.5 million earner this year, in the June 29 Hanshin. Stewart worked Will Take It back on July 11, then gave the 4-year-old a brief respite deciding to aim for the Ack Ack and, if Will Take It earns the chance, the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. “You can’t knock what’s working. He likes that one-turn mile,” Stewart said. “He’s done very, very well, and – knock on wood– he’s a very healthy, very talented horse with everything in front of him.” While plucky Tumbarumba rates a half-notch below Most Wanted and Will Take It, California shipper Indispensable could challenge them. Indispensable failed to stay 1 1/4 miles in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic and was more superior than his neck margin of victory in a July 19 one-mile Del Mar allowance win. Moved early into contention and hung four paths wide on the far turn, Indispensable was headed in mid-stretch by a horse who pulled a much better trip. He not only came back to beat him but galloped out far in front. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.