Wednesday’s Best Bets and Quick Picks: Colonial’s $16,272 Pick 6 carryover

Handicapper J. Keeler Johnson shares best bets and quick picks for Wednesday, Aug. 27 at Colonial Downs, Delaware Park, and Horseshoe Indianapolis, including a horse to single in Colonial’s $16,272 Pick 6 carryover.

Today’s special offers from TwinSpires include:

• New Players $200 Sign-Up Bonus: Open your TwinSpires.com account using the offer code BET200 to start earning a $200 bonus.
• Colonial Downs $3,000 Turf Trial: Play the Colonial Downs Turf Trial (involving $10+ win bets in turf races at Colonial Downs) for a chance to split a $3,000 prize pool on Wednesdays and Thursdays in August.

Today’s TwinSpires tournaments include:

• $50 Saratoga Challenge
• $200 Saratoga Feeder to 8/30 Saratoga/Kentucky Downs MMBC
• $150 Mountaineer Feeder to 9/4 Kentucky Downs MMBC Qualifier

Best Bets and Quick Picks

Colonial Downs: Race 3: $30,000 Maiden Claiming (five furlongs on turf, 1:28 p.m. ET)

#8 Spotlight Girl (12-1) showed promise in her lone turf start to date. In a five-furlong $35,000 maiden claimer on June 13 at Gulfstream Park, she set a quick pace before weakening in the final furlong to finish second.

Returning to turf for a $30,000 maiden claimer at Colonial Downs should put Spotlight Girl in win contention at a nice price. Let’s bet her to win and play her over promising first-time starter #3 It’s Fine (3-1) in an exacta.

Selections

• #8 Spotlight Girl (12-1)
• #3 It’s Fine (3-1)
• #10 Anita Glassofwine (8-1)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #8 Spotlight Girl
• $5 Exacta: 8 with 3
  Total: $30

Delaware Park: Race 4: $25,000 Maiden Claiming (six furlongs on dirt, 2:21 p.m. ET)

First-time starter #9 Gunn’s Roar (10-1) hails from the hot barn of Andrew Simoff, a 21% winner at Delaware Park this meet and a 24% winner with horses debuting in maiden claimers. Gunn’s Roar is slated to be ridden by hot jockey Julio Hernandez, a 22% winner at Delaware this meet and a 29% winner teaming up with Simoff over the last two months.

These stats suggest Gunn’s Roar can challenge for victory at enticing odds. Let’s bet him to win and play him in the exacta with New York shipper #6 Smartkenzie (7-2).

Selections

• #9 Gunn’s Roar (10-1)
• #6 Smartkenzie (7-2)
• #8 Magic Mikey (4-1)

Wagers

• $20 to win on #9 Gunn’s Roar
• $3 Exacta: 9 with 6
• $7 Exacta: 6 with 9
  Total: $30

Horseshoe Indianapolis: Race 5: Maiden Special Weight (one mile on turf, 4:14 p.m. ET)

#8 This Beau Knows (6-1) showed some promise when debuting in a 5 1/2-furlong turf maiden special weight at Hawthorne. After tracking and pressing the pace in third place, he stayed on to finish third by 6 1/4 lengths.

This Beau Knows may be able to set or press a slow pace while stretching out over one mile for trainer Chris Block, a 20% winner with second-time starters and a 28% winner with horses running long for the first time. This possibility makes This Beau Knows an enticing win play at his 6-1 morning-line odds.

Selections

• #8 This Beau Knows (6-1)
• #10 Gordon Pass (4-1)
• #12 Quality Mischief (9-2)

Wagers

• $25 to win on #8 This Beau Knows

Carryover Watch

Colonial Downs: Race 4: $16,272 Pick 6 carryover (1:57 p.m. ET)

No one managed to solve the 50-cent “Old Dominion 6” Pick 6 at Colonial Downs last week. Four straight racing days went by without anyone assembling a winning ticket, so there’s a quadruple Pick 6 carryover worth $16,272 up for grabs when racing resumes at Colonial Downs on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s Pick 6 gets underway in Race 4, a maiden special weight for two-year-olds sprinting six furlongs on dirt. At first glance, it might seem like a difficult race to handicap, but we’ll keep our strategy simple and single morning-line favorite #5 S S Quality (2-1), one of two entrants trained by Kenny McPeek.

Since 2021, McPeek has gone 2-for-3 (67%) saddling experienced juveniles on dirt at Colonial Downs. This bodes well for both S S Quality and his stablemate #7 Sgt. Garcia (5-1), since both are second-time starters. But S S Quality has run considerably faster on the Brisnet Speed rating scale, and he’s done so against tougher competition.

Whereas Sgt. Garcia debuted with a sixth-place finish (beaten 14 3/4 lengths) in a Colonial Downs maiden special weight, S S Quality fared better in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Saratoga. Disregarded at 16-1 odds, S S Quality raced in midfield on his way to finishing fifth by 5 1/2 lengths.

That effort yielded an 80 Brisnet Speed rating two points higher than the par winning number (78) for Wednesday’s conditions at Colonial Downs. S S Quality has posted three workouts at Colonial Downs in preparation for his second start, including a quick half-mile in :48. All signs suggest this son of two-time champion Essential Quality is sitting on a winning run, so we feel confident recommending S S Quality as a Pick 6 single.

For good measure, we’ll bet S S Quality to win and key him over #2 Antrax (9-2) in an exacta. The latter finished second when debuting in a seven-furlong sprint over this track and class level on Aug. 9.

• $32 to win on #5 S S Quality
• $8 Exacta: 5 with 2
  Total: $40

Good luck!