The third week of live racing is in the books at Del Mar and highlights included
Stellar Wind upending
Beholder in the Clement L Hirsch and American Pharaoh's sister
American Cleopatra winning her debut.
Wednesday, July 27Fast main track and
firm turf course. The dirt speed bias that appeared on Sunday, July 17
finally disappeared. There were no wire-to-wire winners on the dirt oval
Wednesday. The winning turf course running styles were a stalker at
five furlongs and a closer at 8.5 furlongs (rail at 24 feet).
Rafael Bejarano booted home a pair.
Gold Rush Dancer
made a smooth transition from turf-to-dirt to capture the Real Good
Deal Stakes at odds of 14-1 under jockey Flavien Prat. Tough it Out was
2nd and Mrazek finished 3rd.
I got home the late Pick 4 on July 27 at
Pick 6 Blog. The winning .50 cent Late Pick 4 ticket paid $588.55.
Thursday, July 28Fast
main track and firm turf course. Forwardly placed runners performed
well on dirt and there was one wire job winner in the 5.5f finale. The
winning turf course running styles were a dueling early runner at five
furlongs, a patient type at one mile, and another patient runner at
eleven furlongs (rail at 24 feet).
I am offering Del Mar weekend full cards and they are available to purchase on
The Runaway Horse Sales Page.
I am also posting daily free Del Mar picks on
The Runaway Horse Free Picks Page and bonus free
Del Mar plays here.Friday, July 29Fast
main track and firm turf course. Forwardly placed runners performed
well on dirt and there was one wire job winner at 5.5f. The winning turf
course running styles were a dueling early runner at one mile, a
stalker at a mile and a sixteenth, and a front runner at a mile and a
sixteenth (rail at 12 feet).
Three wins for leading rider
Flavien Prat. Jamie Theriot booted home a pair.
You're Late beat Love a Honeybadger and race favorite My California in the CTBA Stakes. Stewart Elliott rode the winner for Jeff Bonde.
With Honors (Keith Desormeaux) and
Elwood J (Jerry Hollendofer) both looked good winning juvenile races on Friday.
Saturday, July 30Fast
main track and firm turf course. Four wire-to-wire winners on dirt
(5.5f, 5.5f, 8f, 5.5f). The winning turf course running styles were a
patient runner at 9f, a front runner at five furlongs, and a closer at
one mile (rail at 12 feet).
Tyler Baze and
Victor Espinoza both booted home a pair.
An impressive maiden win turned in by
Big League
in the 3rd race. What'sontheagenda was a clear 2nd and Blame Joe was up
for the show. Peter Miller trains the winner for Rockingham Ranch.
Trainer
Jeff Bonde won another 2-year-old filly race with Miss Sunset.
Stellar Wind turned the tables on
Beholder
in a stellar renewal of the G1 Clement L. Hirsch. Beholder looked like
the controlling speed on paper but Victor Espinoza put Stellar Wind in
the race earlier and that made all the difference.
Sunday, July 31Fast
main track and firm turf course. Forwardly placed runners performed
well on dirt with two wire-to-wire winners (5.5f, 6.5f). The winning
turf course running styles were a patient runner at 9f, a stalker at one
mile, and a midpack stalker at 5f (rail at 12 feet).
Stewart Elliott booted home a pair.
Bob Baffert saddled three winners and Elliott rode two.
American Pharoah's juvenile sister
American Cleopatra
was seemingly dead on the board at 7-1 but that did not stop her from
going virtually wire-to-wire and easily graduating in her debut.
Everybody was so focused on the winner after the race that they forgot
about the excellent effort turned in by runner-up
Union Strike.
The Union Rags first timer broke slow and showed professionalism while
racing along the inside, splitting horses in traffic, and finishing a
clear 2nd after finding racing room in the lane.
Lord Nelson
sat a perfect outside stalking trip en route to an easy four length
score in the G1 Bing Crosby. He has turned into one of the top sprinters
in the country for
Bob Baffert.
* American Pharoah photo by Stacy Edwards
