I think the logical choice(s) would be the Frantic and/or Lights Out. Same cover, weaker cores

Try taking polish off of Strike King....

i hit it with a 4000 pad...

How's the Strike King drilled?  The Lights Out would definitely be stronger than your Strike King based on core/coverstock.  Hitting it with 4k will obviously take the shine off the ball and make the ball break a little earlier and not have the hockey stick reaction it appears you are getting.  I would probably go with 3k to get the ball to roll more evenly. 

The Strikeking is one of those sneaky strong backend balls. I'd expect this ball to come from Storm, not Brunswick. I'd suggest 3000 or 4000 grit roughening up by hand with a damp pad.

I would also have suggested the Lights Out as a step down from the HyRoad.

Based on what your illustration shows, I can understand somewhat of why you are getting the reaction you stated. Knocking the shine off of it will help some but I don't think it would make that great of a difference. My Lights Out is drilled similar to that and it hooks a ton on the backend. A step down from the Hy-Road probably would be a Rumble or Wrecker with more of a control type drilling or you could go with the new Up Roar if you want a pearl.

+1 for the Lights Out recommendation

I absolutely love my HyRoad and it is my benchmark ball (and I usually do not have to switch to another ball because it is pretty versatile), but the Lights Out is a good go-to ball when I feel like the HyRoad read too early or is too strong. I feel like the Lights Out gives a bit of a tamer look on the lanes and compliments the HyRoad well.

I agree with staying away from the HyRoad Pearl if you're looking for a step down. Logically I thought having a pearlized version of the HyRoad would make sense as a step down, but that wasn't the case. I drilled my HyRoad and the HyRoad Pearl exactly the same (ends up being pin above ring finger and CG kicked out a bit) and I found that it basically hooks the same amount of boards...just the shape looks different (steeper entry angle with the pearl).

Lights Out, easy recommendation.  You just have to choose the right layout.  I have my HyRoad drilled with wide angles to get it to get downlane with strong motion while I have my Lights Out with very small angles which has it turn over more quickly, meaning it is very smooth and definitely a step down.
You can probably do so with your Strike King but you already have a more "flippy" drill.  As someone said, surface will slow it down but won't change the shape of the hook enough.