JC / Railbird

Del Mar Archive

So Disappointing

– Jockey Jose Valdivia on Buzzard Bay’s eighth-place finish in the San Diego Handicap as the 3-2 favorite:

Sun Boat rallied from last to win the race (ThoroTimes).
– Through Saturday, favorites had won nine of the 26 races on Del Mar’s new Polytrack (35%), and 17 starters with odds of 5-1 or less won (65%). Guess handicappers are doing just fine with the new surface.

Posted in Del Mar on July 22, 2007

Octave Wins CCAO

– At Belmont, Rags to Riches understudy Octave won an unexciting renewal of the Coaching Club American Oaks, tracking pacesetter Folk’s ambling fractions of :23.91, :48, 1:12.25, and 1:36.47 before drawing away at the eighth pole to win by half a length over the late closing Lear’s Princess, who may have earned a Saratoga start on the strength of her stretch run. “Our filly ran a great race,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “Maybe we’ll have to look at the Alabama now” (Blood-Horse).
The CCAO was Octave’s second Grade 1 win in a row; the Todd Pletcher-trained filly took the Mother Goose easily last month. She’s now won the first two legs of the Triple Tiara. To claim the third, she’ll have to start in the Alabama.
– A bizarre incident in Belmont’s sixth resulted in Pasqualina being declared a non-starter when she left the gate without rider Alan Garcia, who appeared to reach out for the right side of the stall at the break. Garcia came off the horse, slammed into the gate, and fell to the ground; Pasqualina chased the rest of the field around the track. Both jockey and horse were apparently fine, with Garcia riding his remaining mounts for the afternoon.
– Poor Fleetheart. The filly was thoroughly schooled in her first turf and stakes try at Del Mar today in the Osunitas Handicap. Breaking from the outside, another first for her, Fleetheart was positioned well off the pace through the first three quarters, looking uncomfortable the whole time, then found herself squeezed between two rivals at the top of the stretch. She finished last, losing her first race in five starts. Kris’ Sis won, paying $9, while even-money favorite Double Trouble finished third.
– Add to your watch list: More Happy. The two-year-old filly by Vindication, trained by Bob Baffert, debuted in Del Mar’s fourth today, which she won in a quick 1:05.7 by a neck over Foxy Danseur. More Happy is first-crop sire Vindication’s third winner from eight starters.
– Dreaming of Anna, sent off as the 3-1 third favorite, won the Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs (BRIS).

Posted in Del Mar, Races/Results on July 21, 2007

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.

Posted in Del Mar on July 20, 2007

Del Mar’s Polytrack Era Begins

– Slowly. Race two was the first run over the new surface and the fractions for the six furlong affair were :22.68, :47.09, and 1:00.29, with a final fraction of :13.66. But the surface seemed to play fair through the afternoon. Pressers and stalkers did just fine, closers didn’t dominate. Watching from 3,000 miles away, the track looked firm, the kickback minimal, and only a few horses appeared uncertain about what was under their feet. “They’re gripping it, but it’s a lot different from anything they’ve ever been on,” jockey Richard Migliore told DRF after the second race. “It’s going to take some time for some of them to get used to it.” Migliore also warned handicappers that the surface was “tiring” and “You’re going to want a horse that makes one run. You don’t want a horse that’s going to be fighting you.”
– Trainer Richard Mandella won the day’s third, the two-year-old maiden special Bob Baffert’s Maimonides was scratched from, with 9-1 first time starter Kanan Dume, who tracked early speed Good Man Dan into the stretch, then held off even-money favorite Coast Guard to win by a neck. Look for all three to come back. Kanan Dume is by Malibu Moon, out of the late turf stakes-winning mare Trishdye, euthanized for complications following his birth.
– The unbeaten filly Fleetheart returns on Saturday, when she’ll try turf and stakes company for the first time in the Osunitas Handicap. Fleetheart is a half-sister to turf stakes winner Guardianofthegate, as pointed out in this earlier post, and she’s proven herself a tough, tactical runner in all four of her career starts.

Posted in Del Mar on July 18, 2007