Ellis Park Pick 3 plays for Sunday, August 18

A strong 10-race card will be hosted by Ellis Park on Sunday with a pair of stakes events for juveniles on tap. The co-features are the $100,000 Ellis Park Juvenile and $100,000 Ellis Park Debutante. While I will cover those races with more detail in another piece, I did find a few good betting opportunities on the card that I will attack. The Pick-3 sequence starting in Race 4 has appeal to me. A one-mile maiden special weight contest lacks a lot of depth to kick things off, and going two-deep with Sultry Samurai (#1) (5-2) and Winnipesaukee (#2) (7-5) seems logical. It’s not sexy but one of the two should prevail. The 5TH Race is for fillies and mares going six panels on the dirt. I would not be overly surprised by any  outcome in the affair and I will click the “all” button in the second leg. A competitive race for two-year-olds closes out the sequence. The special weight dash features prospects from powerful barns and I will use two to conclude the ticket. Continental Clash (#3) (7-2) is from the red-hot barn of Dale Romans and was a $550,000 Fasig-Tipton March purchase. The Tiznow colt shows swift morning moves at Churchill Downs in preparation of his debut. I have a strong hunch about the debuting Wheat King (#6) (5-1) from the Mark Casse shedrow. The Chiefswood Stables’ homebred is also by Tiznow, and his dam is a half-sister to a pair of precocious graded winners. Declan Cannon will ride. If I am fortunate enough to collect on that wager I will roll my money over on the late Pick 3 starting in the 8TH Race. Here are my preferred runners in the final three contests (with my top pick in italics): Race 8 – Night Time (#1) (5-1), Letmeno (#2) (6-1), Rowdy Yates (#4) (9-5) Race 9 – Lady Glamour (#4) (5-2), Spitefullness (#6) (10-1), Green Destiny (#7) (5-1), Dixie Mo (#9) (4-1) Race 10 -- Berning Report (#1) (4-1), Avenida Manana (#2) (8-1), It’s Complicated (#4) (7-2) and You People (#9) (10-1) WAGERS Race 4 $1 Pick 3: 1,2 with all with 3,6 = $24 Race 8 50-cent Pick 3: 1,2,4 with 4,6,7,9 with 1,2,4,9 = $24 Good Luck! PHOTO: Ellis Park (c) Coady Photography/Ellis Park