Saratoga's late pick four on Friday looks like a very playable sequence.

I’m going with a simple approach and focus my Del Mar play for Friday on two races where I think I will have the opportunity to build my bankroll as I continue to attack the meet.

Race 1
(2) Pefiolo (ML 2-1): Chased front-runners around track in last and when the winner got away in the stretch he was the only other horse with any late run. Will benefit from the stretch out to 1 1/16 miles and should be able to sit a good trip just behind the speed horses.

Grass racing is in the spotlight this Saturday, with five graded stakes on grass at Arlington, a Grade 1 in the Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies out West, and the Grade 2 Fourstardave for some of the nation’s best turf milers at Saratoga.

Typical of turf racing, fields are deeper than in dirt stakes, creating the potential for more rewarding payoffs. And the Warrior is shooting to win some greenbacks. So, let’s get to it, starting with Saratoga.

Fourstardave

Trainer Leonard Powell saddles Canadian Exchange (#3, ML 3-1) in Thursday's first race at Del Mar, a six-furlong maiden claimer. Since Jan., 1, 2014, Powell is winning at a 30 percent clip when saddling a horse switching from turf to dirt, for a return on investment of $3.78.

Here are my issues with the Thursday card at Saratoga (leaving aside that it doesn’t have a lot of obvious quality): A) After a wet Wednesday, and with a chance of rain still in the area, no idea what sort of condition we’ll get for grass, which makes strong opinions hard to form. And that leads to B) There is no string of consecutive races that appeal, and without a hard nut of a single somewhere in the mix, I wouldn’t be more than stabbing at a pick-anything.

Race 3

Del Mar’s early pick five has some competitive races, so I thought I’d try to get creative with it.

Race 1

A look at the last pick three of the day at Saratoga on Wednesday:

J LA TACHE
Trainer: Graham Motion
Last race: Aug. 9, 6th
Finish: 2nd by 4 1/2
Beyer: 62
Juvenile filly by Harlan’s Holiday dueled with $800,000 purchase Constellation for a half-mile, and gamely held second behind that favored rival in a promising debut.

KRISTI’S COPILOT

Trainer: Marty Jones
Last race: Aug. 6, 3rd
Finish: 5th by 4 3/4
Beyer: 68
First start in a year, this Cal-bred N1X colt broke in the air and was away last, and then finished steadily in the lane. This was on turf; he handles either surface. Good comeback.

SADIE CLARE