Opening Day at Del Mar
Photo from Del Mar, one of many posted to Flickr through the day.
The Los Angeles Times sets the scene:
They came by cars, limos, trains and planes. Ladies wore hats so brash and colorful that strangers stopped to take photos. Men dressed in white suits and carrying drinks gawked and prowled. It was an atmosphere worthy of a Hollywood premiere.
A record crowd of 45,309 caught two notable performances (charts). In the seventh, Lava Girl, making her debut, breaking from post 11, and the longest shot on the board at 32-1, finished in a dead heat with Go On Babe. The 3-year-old Purge filly is a half-sibling to retired star Lava Man and trained by Doug O’Neill. In the Oceanside Stakes, Twirling Candy, trying turf and two turns for the first time, scored a 2 1/4-length win over pacesetter Macias, running the final quarter in :22.83 (the final furlong in 11:54):
Left at the Gate has more on the undefeated John Sadler trainee, including speculation that he might head to Saratoga for the Travers. (Very interesting. If he were to run, Twirling Candy could join the Omnisurface Stars roster.)
And what about the Polytrack? “The talk has been upbeat,” reported the Union-Tribune on the eve of the opener. Trainer Bob Baffert commented on Facebook, “Track still not to my liking even though we won a race. Hopefully it will tighten down more the next few days.” But other trainers praised the surface: “Hats off to [new track superintendent] Richard Tedesco,” said Doug O’Neill. “It looked like it was pretty fair,” observed John Sadler. So it did, with one winner wire-to-wire, a few off the pace, and a couple closers.
But, wait … the Paulick Report is out with a story this morning that all may not be well. “Del Mar’s Polytrack surface was closed early Thursday morning … because of concerns over the condition of the track.” Developing?
7/23/10 Addendum: Trainer Bruce Headley says two of his horses were injured training on the track. “I was scared to death to run them.”
We Take a Break
… from Saratoga to ask, what’s going on at Del Mar? Jockey fights, kicking horses, drug positives, pot smoking … at least that crowd of munchies-stricken Ziggy Marley fans helped buoy the bottom line.
Del Mar Poly Sires, Week One
Del Mar Polytrack winners, with sires and broodmare sires:
View complete spreadsheet here.
Last year’s leading Del Mar Polytrack sires are off to a slow start, with the exception of Unusual Heat, who had three winners (out of 22 starters) during the meet’s first six days. Event of Year, who went 6-for-15 in 2007, is 0-for-3 after opening week; Tale of the Cat, 5-for-16 in 2007, is 0-for-5; Forestry, 4-for-13 in 2007, is 0-for-3. Sires with multiple winners so far this meet are Tiznow, 3-for-4 (all at distances of 8/8.25 furlongs), including Well Armed, now guaranteed a Breeders’ Cup Classic post after winning the San Diego Handicap; and Explicit, 2-for-3. On the broodmare sire side, the late Buckaroo — by Buckpasser, winner of the Peter Pan, sire of 11 active sons at stud, known as a speed influence — is 2-for-3. One week’s worth of results is hardly a sample size from which to draw strong conclusions, but the results do suggest that with the faster times and fairer track this year, there is a shift back to pedigrees that appreciate a quick surface and pace.
It’s Unofficial
… claimer turned stakes star Lava Man is retired, after fading to finish last in the Eddie Read Handicap on Sunday. Retirement plans are pending:
“Ultimately, I’d like him to go to the Kentucky Horse Park,” Kenly said. “Doug [O’Neill] would like him to stay as a stable pony.”
West Coast Funny Cide! Doesn’t seem like a bad way to keep the $5.2 million earner working, especially if the 7-year-old gelding enjoys being at the racetrack …
Fast and Fair
As Valerie commented earlier, Del Mar racing secretary Tom Robbins underestimated how much watering would affect the Polytrack, with Plan for Fun, winner of the $10K claiming race that kicked off the 2008 meet, going a mile in a track record setting 1:37.82 (or approximately five seconds faster than the same distance would have been run in 2007 over the sun-baked synthetic surface). The third and fifth races also set new track records, for the 6-furlong and 5.5-furlong marks, and according to Steven Crist, the five main track races on the opening day card “went an average of 38 Beyer points faster than the ones on last year’s very similar opening-day lineup.”
Not only was the track faster, it appeared to play fair as well, with main track winners scoring from far off the pace, mid-pack, or on the lead:
[1ST-P = Position at first call; 1ST-L = Lengths behind at first call/if leader, lengths ahead; 2ND-P = Position at second; 2ND-L = Lengths behind at second/if leader, lengths ahead; FRAC = Final split. View full spreadsheet here.]
“Now they’re kicking in down the lane. Before, everybody used to be floundering,” said trainer Art Sherman, who won the third race, referring to how races would fall apart in the stretch last summer. “Now you can tell turning for home that horses had momentum and were moving forward, which we didn’t have last year” (Blood-Horse).
Call Him Crazy
… because Jeremy Plonk likes handicapping synthetic surfaces such as Del Mar:
I like that endurance is demanded, pedigrees weed out some of the weaklings, and that four-furlong, morning-glory speedballs suddenly look like the afternoon chumps they should be.
Call me crazy too, I’m also a fan of the synthetic era.
Checking In
Few posts this week, as preparations are underway to move Railbird headquarters north for the upcoming Saratoga meet, and there’s been a little project consuming many of my hours lately. In the weeks since I announced this web site, I’ve been delighted by the response from potential readers and contributors, but whenever anyone has asked for details — as so many have — I’ve been evasive. “I’ll let you know,” I’ve said. “I’ll email.” And then I’ve changed the subject. The secrecy is ending soon; Raceday 360 is nearly ready for unveiling, just in time for the Spa …
But first, Del Mar opens tomorrow, and track officials are confident the Polytrack will play faster in the afternoon, now that watering will be part of daily maintenance. “I hesitate trying to predict time, but I would be surprised if we didn’t break 1:40,” said racing secretary Tom Robbins, referring to the meet’s first race, a $10,000 one-mile claiming event (DRF). That time would be about two seconds faster than a mile run over the surface last summer. As with last year, it’s worth it to pay attention to pace and time, especially for the first few days — a simple spreadsheet noting the early positions and final fractions of winners, maintained from the start, can yield much useful information through the meet.
The opening day feature is the Oceanside Stakes, split into two divisions, with the first (race six) coming up slightly more interesting. Indian Sun, a bit player in the California Derby preps this spring, starts off a brief layoff for trainer Dan Hendricks. The colt’s won twice over turf, once at the distance, and finished second in his other three grass starts, including his last, the G3 Will Rogers. Moral Compass, third in the G3 Hill Prince at Belmont last month, ships west to make his first start for trainer Jack Carava and gets Garrett Gomez aboard.
The best racing meets of the year are upon us … as Frank of That’s Amore put it so well, “Summer is here.”
Del Mar Getaway Day
There’s nearly a million dollars in the Del Mar pick six pot, thanks to a two-day carryover, and because today is the meet’s closing day, there’ll be a mandatory payout, which makes throwing together a pick six ticket or two very tempting since even the consolation payouts will be juicy. But what a card there is to handicap! There’s not a single race with a true standout; every race offers a full, competitive field. The pick six starts in race five, which is scheduled for 4:05 PST. Plenty of time to come up with something …
Slo-Mo Classic Upset
Longshot Student Council ran the biggest race of his 20-race career in the Pacific Classic, winning the 1 1/4 mile $1 million stakes by half a length over Awesome Gem. Hello Sunday was third. Final time for the race, run for the first time over Polytrack, was 2:07.29 — Lava Man won last year’s edition, run over dirt, in 2:01.62. What a difference a surface makes. This year, Lava Man finished sixth as the even money favorite. “He tried hard,” said jockey Corey Nakatani of Lava Man’s effort. “But he was struggling a bit out there. He wasn’t really getting the track” (Blood-Horse).
Del Mar Carryover Today
Thanks to no winning favorites Wednesday or Thursday and a 37-1 shot upsetting yesterday’s nightcap, there’s a big two-day pick six carryover of $632,816 at Del Mar today. Racing starts at 4:00 p.m. PT, giving players a few extra hours to handicap what is an uninspiring card. I sort of like Topper’s Moment, 5-1 morning line, over likely favorite Forest Miss in the opening leg, but the horse has no works over the Polytrack, which has proven a knock in the past couple of weeks. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the carryover will roll into Saturday, which features the G1 Mabee on the turf. Last year’s winner Dancing Edie will try to repeat by running on the lead (DRF), but she’ll have to contend with Price Tag, who ran second to Citronnade in the Gamely.
About
Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
Elsewhere
Find Jessica on Pinboard and Instagram, Railbird on LibraryThing and Twitter.
Etc.
Links
Search
Boston Racing
Spreadsheets/Data
← Home
Copyright © 2000-2023 by Jessica Chapel. All rights reserved.