Byrama's only win from five previous stakes tries came sprinting over six furlongs at Hollywood Park in the Manhattan Beach.
In years past, the weekend festivities would begin a half hour earlier over the 2nd half of the meet to ensure eight races could be run before the sun dipped completely into the ocean past the top of the stretch.
Despite strong field sizes that have remained mostly consistent throughout the meet, we move to seven races this evening starting at 4 o’clock where scratches have left us with some short fields including in the featured $85,000 Sandy Blue Handicap for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf.
Byrama is the 2-to-1 favorite and 119-lb. high weight in the short field of six off a fourth-place finish in the San Clemente (Grade II) behind fillies that are a cut above and go in tomorrow’s Del Mar Oaks (Grade I). The British-bred daughter of Byron has closed to finish in the money in 8-of-9 career starts, all on turf, and removes the blinkers after experimenting with them in her last two.
Garrett Gomez sticks with Byrama after also being aboard Customer Base when she rolled late to defeat older runners over this turf course on July 27. The Lemon Drop Kid filly gets Mike Smith in the irons for the first time and offers value at 4-to-1 for red-hot connections.
In the money in all eight starts, Lady Ten is the 5-to-2 second choice trying a stakes in consecutive races after the daughter of Rock Hard Ten saw her two-race win streak snapped by a third-place effort in the Le Cle at Hollywood Park on July 8. The only blemish on Bob Baffert’s stat line is no more, as his 7% strike rate on turf from earlier in the year has more than doubled to 15%.
We’re off to the races!
Pick 4 -
Leg 1 – Race 4 (2,3,7,8) – An abbreviated slate means two races overlap our horizontal wagers and we use a quartet of these 3-year-old fillies sprinting for a $16,000 tag with No. 2 Never Shea Never, No. 3 No Tricks for Jack, No. 7 Lady Rochelle and No. 8 Warren’s Morgan.
Leg 2 – Race 5 (2,3,4,5) – The 2nd-4th place finishers from a good looking $80,000 claimer dip in for a touch less today and that trio of No. 2 Resistant, No. 3 No Rachmones and No. 4 Wildcat Moon are the likeliest winners.
The new face in town could upset as Calder shippers have so often done around these parts with No. 5 Dancer Humor luring Gomez after missing by a neck to a next out winner in her debut.
Leg 3 – Race 6 (2,4,5) – Stick with the three short prices from above with No. 2 Byrama, No. 4 Lady Ten and No. 5 Customer Base.
Leg 4 – Race 7 (1,5,7,8,10,11) – Sprinkle in a couple bombers in this six-pack with No. 1 Nicole’s Mark, No. 5 Miss Purple Rain, No. 7 Tiz Lovely, No. 8 Malibu Love, No. 10 Yodelin’ Angel and No. 11 It’s Candy Time.
Recap – (2,3,7,8) w (2,3,4,5) w (2,4,5) w (1,5,7,8,10,11) – Total cost of ticket = $144
Yesterday’s Result – (-$108)
Total for currentDelMar meet – (+$249.95)
Total from 12/26/10 – 7/15/12 – (-$1,571.15)
Pick 5 –
Leg 1 – Race 1 (1,4) – No. 4 Quizzical gets off the rail after a solid runner-up effort behind a promising filly and we’ll double up with No. 1 Fly to Freedom on the major barn upgrade off the claim.
Leg 2 – Race 2 (1,3,4,7,8,9) – Six-deep with maiden claiming sprinters using No. 1 Qatar’sPearl, No. 3 Fable Haven, No. 4 Northern Force, No. 7 Field Report, No. 8 Axle and No. 9 St. Sincere.
Leg 3 – Race 3 (1,3) – A 3-year-old facing elders, No. 3 Canuletmedowneasy gets back to his preferred sprint game where he has a pair of wins along with two runner-up efforts from four tries against solid company. With speedsters drawn directly inside and outside of him, he can track just off them and get first run on the closers.
No. 1 Clubhouse Ride has been facing tougher at this same level and can continue the string of runners cutting back to win at this abbreviated sprint distance after Shrug and Circa’sgoldengear did it over the past two days.
Leg 4 – Race 4 (2,3,7,8) – Same four as Pick-4.
Leg 5 – Race 5 (2,3,4,5) – Same four as Pick-4.
Recap – (1,4) w (1,3,4,7,8,9) w (1,3) w (2,3,7,8) w (2,3,4,5) – Total cost of ticket = $192
Yesterday’s Result – (-$144)
Total for current Del Mar meet – (+$16,376.45)
Total from 7/20/11 – 7/15/12 – (+$1,874.55)
Best Bet of the Day – Can now be found in the free analysis section at www.theracingedition.com along with an early Pick-4 ticket and a consensus box for the entire card.
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For more Del Mar action check out Jarrod Horak’s Pick 6 Blog.
Good luck!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Marc,
Hope all has been well. Haven’t checked in for a few weeks, but judging by your bankroll for the meet, looks like you are doing just fine.
Man – you need to get to Saratoga. I hope you get a chance to get there at some point. Great racing – full fields!!! Crazy purses thanks to the VLT’s downstate. I didn’t do all that well at the betting windows on my trip to the Spa a few weeks back, but still had a blast!!! I repeat – you need to get there!!! Del Mar is great, but it isn’t Saratoga (and I say that with no disrespect – I really like Del Mar – and I certainly can’t knock the pool size you get in So. Cal when you look at last Wednesday).
I can knock the 7 race cards on a Friday. What is up with that? I get the whole concert concept… but run 9 or 10 races and then have a concert. Not the biggest fan of any of the concert line up this year (with exception of Ben Harper tomorrow – really wish I was there for that one)
What are your thoughts on the 7 race cards on Fridays at Del Mar? Is this really a good concept?
Let’s hit the P4 tonight!!!
Cheese
Yo,
Glad you had a good time on your trips. Hoping to make it to the Spa next year and I’m sure I’ll like it, but it won’t be better than Del Mar. Heat, humidity, rain and stuffiness will never out do the opposite from that at Del Mar.
I’m looking forward to Ben Harper tomorrow. The only concert I’ll attend all season. 7 races aren’t a big deal. The 4 o clock tradition and concert don’t need to be messed with. Better to have full fields than stretch the horse population thin.
I’m sitting on a nice p5 here. Need to get lucky.
LOL… Sorry Marc. To be honest – I didn’t read most of your write up tonight prior to posting a comment. Amateur move on my part. By your tone – it looks like you aren’t a big fan of the 7 race card either.