I’ll try two multirace wagers on the Laurel card, which features the $400,000 Commonwealth Derby (race 9) and the $200,000 Commonwealth Cup (race 4). The Derby is the third leg in an all-turf pick four (races 7-10) at which I’ll take a swing. I’ll also play the pick three ending on race 4, the Commonwealth Cup.

It’s the biggest day of the year at Parx, and the lone pick four on the card features an interesting sequence.

RACE 7: STREET BABE merits respect off that score in his first start off the short rest, a good sign given that his prior three starts against better were not all that good. FREESTYLER is exceptionally game, he loves to win, and he's proven over this course. ENCRYPTION has good tactical speed and back figures that are good enough to win this.
A's: 1, 2
B's: 7
C's: NONE

A horse in peak form and a maiden facing winners may prove key to hitting the late pick four here Sunday.

:: See Michael Hammersly’s pick four play in DRF TicketMaker and bet it with DRF Bets

A Grade 1 winner who drops and some scary foreigners may be the keys to nailing the pick four at Belmont Park. It’s an all-turf pick four as well, and the following applies only if the races stay on the sod.

Race 7

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Feeling confident that I’ve got the right numbers in the two stakes that end this sequence, the most difficult part might be getting alive in race 9, which is one of those typically wide-open, full-field races Kentucky Downs is quickly becoming known for.

I’ll use a smattering of long prices in race 9 before relying on the most likely winners in those stakes.

Let us not dwell upon big mistakes. Our Pick last week was salvageable because one of our gimmick recommendations, Metal Magic, completed a nice $37 exacta.  But the other, let us not name him, ran the single worst race of any of our debut Pick in this crop, and that is that.  On the other hand, eight BreezeFigs maiden 2-year-olds won last week, including three at Gulfstream, and solos at Belmont, Churchill, Los Alamitos, Presque Isle and Zia. Today’s card is bulging at the seams, but we have an interesting play, see below.

Despite competition from an intriguing array of stakes elsewhere, Parx Racing clearly rates top billing Saturday. Parx’s Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion Stakes and Grade 2, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby head a card that includes three other stakes, most notably the Grade 3, $300,000 Gallant Bob.

Laurel offers a pair of Grade 2 events Saturday, the $400,000 Commonwealth Derby and the $250,000 Commonwealth Cup. And that’s not all for the Mid-Atlantic region. The Grade 3, $350,000 Charles Town Oaks tops a program at that track that also includes a handful of other stakes.

Trainer Kim Hammond saddles Gone Ballistic (#5, ML 4-1) in Thursday's fifth race at Indiana Grand, a five-furlong maiden special weight race. Since Jan. 1, 2014, Hammond is winning at a 29 percent clip when saddling a horse switching from route to sprint, for a return on investment of $9.63.

Wake Up Joe (#2, ML 3-1) returns in Thursday's eighth race at Presque Isle Downs, a 5 1/2-furlong allowance on the all-weather track. It will be his first start since finishing first by a neck in an allowance Aug. 22 at Arlington Park. The second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts.