Picks: $17,051 Los Alamitos Pick 6, $600 Saratoga tournament

Excellent horse racing action on Independence Day includes a $17,051 Pick 6 carryover at Los Alamitos and a $600 Saratoga SSBC Qualifier tournament.

$17,051 Pick 6 carryover at Los Alamitos Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred card at Los Alamitos features a $17,051 carryover in the traditional $2 Pick 6. The Pick 6 gets underway in Race 4 at approximately 5:32 p.m. ET.

The feature event in the sequence is Race 8, the Great Lady M (G2) for fillies and mares dashing 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt. #1 Sweet Azteca (3-5) has won the last two editions of this race and is the overwhelming favorite to score a third straight win, but she’s hasn’t raced since August, and she’s posted only five workouts in preparation for her return.

Sweet Azteca is a pacesetter, and since this year’s Great Lady M field is packed with speed, there’s a chance she’ll get caught up in a speed duel and tire late in her return from the long layoff. If that’s the case, #2 Magnificat (8-1) can surprise at a price.

Magnificat has speed too—she recently wired the six-furlong Desert Stormer S. at Santa Anita with a sharp 96 Brisnet Speed rating—but she isn’t a need-the-lead type. Two starts back, she rallied from 3 1/2 lengths off the pace to win an $80,000 allowance optional claimer.

Magnificat is progressing in the right direction and has every chance to work out a favorable trip in the Great Lady M. Don’t leave her off your Pick 6 tickets.

$600 Saratoga SSBC Qualifier tournament

The stakes-packed Independence Day card at Saratoga is the focus of the $600 Saratoga SSBC Qualifier tournament available to play on TwinSpires. First post time is 12:35 p.m. ET.

Bettors must wager their entire $300 bankroll across at least five races at Saratoga, with at least $30 in a given race required for that race to count toward the five-race minimum. Depending on the number of participants, multiple entries into the $3,500 Super Summer Betting Challenge may be awarded.

One of two Grade 1 events on the card is Race 9, the Belmont Derby (G1) for three-year-olds racing 1 1/8 miles on turf. #6 Pacific Avenue (6-1), shipping in from Europe for acclaimed trainer Charlie Appleby, has a shot to score at a bit of a price. The improving colt exits a third-place finish against Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) winner Gstaad in the one-mile Irish 2,000 Guineas (G1), and his pedigree suggests he’ll handle 1 1/8 miles.

We suggest tournament players place a win bet on Pacific Avenue and key him over American Turf (G1) runner-up #3 Remember Mamba (7-2) in an exacta.

Race 9 wagers:

• $24 to win on #6 Pacific Avenue
• $6 Exacta: 6 with 3
  Total: $30

Good luck!