Del Mar Observations
– The Polytrack surface tilted toward closers on the meet’s second day, after showing some speed-friendly qualities on opening day. Runners coming from off the pace did well, especially in the first two-turn races run over the track, but one winner also went wire-to-wire and another stalked. In other words — two days into the meet, it looks the track is playing fair. Forget about bias, worry more about pace.
– Times are slow. As Brad Free points in his analysis of opening day, “final times were more than two seconds slower than par from last year,” for the five sprints run over the surface on Wednesday (DRF+).
– Trainer Peter Miller is off to a hot start, winning four of six during the meet’s first two days, all for owner Gerson Racing. The trainer won two of those with jockey Corey Nakatani, who’s three for six on the Polytrack.
