BYRON KING HANDICAPS $5 MILLION RAINBOW 6 JACKPOT,

With a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 pool Saturday at Gulfstream Park and the potential for a carryover of close to $1 million if the jackpot goes unhit Thursday and Friday, money could be given away there this weekend. It just won’t be easy money.

Although memories are short, including my own, it seems the races that comprise Saturday’s Rainbow 6 are among the deepest and most contentious we’ve seen recently on a mandatory payout day. In total, there are 66 horses in the body of the fields for the Rainbow 6, the final six races on the card, resulting in more than 1.5 million wagering combinations.

Now, the task is to hit the Rainbow 6 with a ticket representing a wee fraction of those combinations. So, I’ll dive in and aim to narrow the focus on the leading contenders while formulating a DRF TicketMaker play that costs just more than $200.

The first leg is the ninth race, a maiden $25,000 claimer for 2-year-olds that landed 10 horses in the body of the field, plus a few more on the alsoeligible list. Filled mostly with first- or second-time starters, it is a race just about anyone could win. So, my strategy is simple: advance and hope for a price.

Paso a La Reina (10), Ronehandofblackjak (8) and Shhh It’s a Secret (3) are the three I like most and are “A” plays in TicketMaker format. Paso a La Reina and Shhh It’s a Secret each have the benefit of a race, which should serve them well, while Ronehandofblackjak is a pedigree play, a first-timer by a win-early speed sire in Kantharos.

Backup “B” runners include Awesome Friday (2), Sunshine Bay (6), Bargainaire (7), and Midtown Rose (9).

Contention does not seem as deep in the 10th race, a maiden claimer on grass in which the winner seems among three or four prospects. My preference is to use Spanish Dude (9) and Iron Johnny (11) as “A” horses while backing them up with Friend Zone (2) and Nonno Nino (5). The “B” runners do not seem to have the upside of the “A” runners but are better drawn with a relatively short run to the first of two turns on the Gulfstream turf.

Fourteen horses comprise the 11th race, a $6,250 claimer going six furlongs on the main track. Typical of a race for this level, these runners are largely unreliable, suggesting that spreading is the way to go.

Jersey Street (13) is nicely positioned outside the other speed and enters in good form for a horse of this caliber, having been first or second in three of his last four starts, though most of those were against conditioned claimers, not the open types he faces Saturday.

Dash of Dazzle (1) also figures prominently on the basis of his recent starts and after joining a winning barn following a claim when second June 16. He also has a stalking, closing style that should aid him in a race with plenty of pace in the lineup, though he will have to negotiate a lot of traffic to win.

Others to use include Wild Good (5), a speedy class dropper returning from a 4 1/2-month layoff; secondafter-the-claim runner McFly (2); classy comebacker Face of Winner (6); popular claim horse Journey’s End (9); and Big Awesome (10), the winningest horse in the body of the race with eight victories.

Wanting to get past this leg, all of them seem best played as “A” horses in TicketMaker.

A healthy dose of quality is in the 12th race, the Princess Rooney, a Win and You’re In prep for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Here, I view Curlin’s Approval as a false favorite and will try a couple of others as alternatives.

My choice is My Miss Tapit (3), who has shown an affinity for Gulfstream and still seems to be developing, in contrast to Curlin’s Approval, whose better days came in early 2017. My Miss Tapit is also fresh and has trainer Todd Pletcher in her corner.

Ms Locust Point (2) is my “B” play, possessing sharp speed and catching a sprint field surprisingly lacking early lick. If Curlin’s Approval and others in here with some pace let her go, she could prove tough to catch.

Another stakes race follows with the Smile Sprint, where finally it appears time to single, using only X Y Jet (8), the class and speed of the race, who lands the cozy outside spot. He is not unbeatable while coming off a trip to Dubai, where he ran second over a strip that was kind to his running style, but relative to the other options Saturday, he looks like the best one.

Finally, that leaves the 14th race on a card spanning almost seven hours – a maiden $10,000 claimer. Here, three horses are “A” runners: R Baby Driver (8), a lightly raced horse with the potential to move forward with blinkers off, and Talking Point (5) and Xiroma (4), who ran third and second when matched against a similar cast earlier in the month.