Horses to single in Gulfstream's $727,306 mandatory-payout Pick 6

Get ready! The Sunday card at Gulfstream Park is highlighted by the mandatory payout of a $727,306 Rainbow Pick 6 carryover (first post time 2:35 p.m. ET).

The final pool for this lucrative 20-cent wager should reach millions of dollars, but constructing a winning ticket won’t be easy—the fields look deep and competitive.

Nevertheless, we’ll try to keep ticket costs down by singling a couple of promising runners in the first two legs of the sequence.

Race 6: Maiden Special Weight: #7 Beside Herself (3-1)

Trainer Todd Pletcher has been absolutely on fire at Gulfstream this meet, going 26-for-67 (39%). He won four races on Saturday alone, including the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1).

Pletcher can keep his momentum going on Sunday with Beside Herself, the morning line favorite in this 1 1/16-mile turf test for three-year-old fillies. True, she’s facing a full field, including a couple of first-time starters from the barn of Chad Brown. But Beside Herself looks up to claiming top honors.

Beside Herself has finished third in her first two starts against maiden special weight company, earning solid Brisnet Speed ratings. She ran particularly well in a 1 1/16-mile heat on Dec. 26 at Gulfstream, launching a determined rally into a slow pace to finish less than a length away from victory.

Beside Herself will add blinkers and Lasix for her third start, opening the door for a career-best effort. She has the pedigree to improve with maturity and retains the services of jockey Luis Saez (a 48% winner teaming up with Pletcher), so Beside Herself has the appearance of a logical single.

Race 7: $20,000 Starter Optional Claiming: #5 Our Fantasy (3-1)

The morning-line favorite in this seven-furlong dirt dash for fillies and mares is #4 Don’t Get Khozy (9-5), who finished 8 1/4 lengths clear of Our Fantasy when dominating a one-mile event over this track and class level on Nov. 7. But Our Fantasy reversed the outcome in the Dec. 4 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper Starter S. over the same track and distance, finishing second by a head while Don’t Get Khozy weakened to run fourth by 3 1/4 lengths.

Don’t Get Khozy has since rebounded to finish second in the Rampart S. and third in the Wayward Lass S., proving her worth against unrestricted stakes company. But Our Fantasy has more tactical speed and figures to sit a favorable trip on Sunday, likely stalking longshot #2 Simplify (20-1).

Our Fantasy hails from the hot barn of Saffie Joseph (a 24% winner at Gulfstream this meet) and enters with a solid string of Brisnet Speed ratings, so we’ll think outside the box and make Our Fantasy a nice-priced Rainbow 6 single.

Good luck!