Long droughts for both Cambina and Nereid have followed since they hit the wire together in last year's American Oaks (Grade I).
Another short stakes field on the turf with six older females traveling 1 1/8-miles in a lackluster edition of the $250,000 John C. Mabee (Grade II).
Every runner enters off a defeat, and all but 3-to-1 third choice All Star Heart on a multiple race losing streak. After winning three straight and 6-of-8, the 5-year-old daughter of Arch was inexplicably last in a field of eight in the Royal Heroine (Grade II) at Hollywood Park on July 7.
The remaining five runners have combined for 25 straight losses and none of them have shown much interest early in their races.
With that in mind, we’ll look for an upset from the longest shot in the field at 10-to-1, Imperialistic Diva, who has laid somewhat close in some races and gets renowned hustler Patrick Valenzuela in the irons for the first time. The 4-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Haafd has a pair of fourth-place finishes beaten by small margins in Grade III events and could turn around what’s been a disappointing summer for trainer Simon Callaghan.
The top two on the morning line, Nereid at 2-to-1 and Cambina at 5-to-2, are both winless since dead-heating in last year’s American Oaks (Grade I) at Hollywood Park.
Nereid has finished off the board in all three starts of 2012, but could also benefit from a lack of pace with the blinkers going on for the first time, while Cambina’s deep closing style appears to put her even more up against it after just a pair of runner-up finishes to show for her last eight starts.
Go Forth North (5-to-1) and City to City (6-to-1) also are off the pace specialists and have both had some success over this turf course, however Go Forth North is winless since 2010 and City to City has won just once in her last nine starts.
We’re off to the races!
Pick 4 -
Leg 1 – Race 6 (1,4,5,6,11) – Flattered by Smart and Single crushing against winners yesterday, No. 4 Golden Production and No. 5 Princess Ash are sure to get lots of attention from bettors today. However, neither has raced or worked over this surface, which could leave them vulnerable at short odds.
We’ll try a trio of others to beat them with No. 1 Changethechannel, No. 6 Not My Tap and No. 11 Belonging.
Leg 2 – Race 7 (1,3,4,5,9) – Another bunch that is for the most part not keen on winning races, so we’ll lean to No. 4 Planet Sunshine, a winner in 4-of-10 career starts and trying two turns for the second time.
Spread with No. 1 Majestic Warrior, No. 3 Dreamcatcher, No. 5 Shaun Washington and No. 9 Riveting Reason.
Leg 3 – Race 8 (1,2,4) – Along with top pick No. 2 Imperialistic Diva, we’ll use No. 4 Nereid off the blinkers angle and No. 1 All Star Heart forgiving her last.
Leg 4 – Race 9 (2,6,8,12) – A full field of solid enough $20,000 female sprinters closes the week and No. 2 Indycat is worthy of another shot in her second for Mike Mitchell after a disappointing try off a long layoff in her last.
No. 12 Miss Oops likes to win races and can get a good trip from the outside, while No. 6 Fast Eydie and No. 8 My Friend Gail have to be respected off their consistency.
Recap – (1,4,5,6,11) w (1,3,4,5,9) w (1,2,4) w (2,6,8,12) – Total cost of ticket = $150
Yesterday’s Result – (+$15.60)
Total for current Del Mar meet – (+$651.95)
Total from 12/26/10 – 7/15/12 – (-$1,571.15)
Pick 5 –
Leg 1 – Race 1 (3,4,6) – No. 4 Full Dancer and No. 6 Last Memories could be late-running sprinter types that excel going long on the lawn, while No. 3 K Js Maddog continues to improve for Jeff Mullins.
Leg 2 – Race 2 (5,7,8,9) – A trio of Cal-bred juvenile fillies with runner-up efforts using No. 5 Cotton’s Point, No. 8 A Little Luckier and No. 9 Boller Bomb, along with No. 7 Sophie’s Secret, who fetched $150,000 at auction and debuts for potent connections.
Leg 3 – Race 3 (6,7) – Garrett Gomez rides back on No. 6 Ransom Canyon looking to make amends for going way too wide in their last and should get a quicker pace to chase.
No. 7 No Silent broke through in a big way sprinting in his last and is proven around two turns.
Leg 4 – Race 4 (3,4,5,7,10) – Use half of this wide-open maiden allowance group with No. 3 Moreno’s Mine, No. 4 Cameo Appearance, No. 5 Caballo Del Cielo, No. 7 Outside Nashville and No. 10 Code West.
Leg 5 – Race 5 (1,6,11) – No. 1 Filly Power has speed and can be tough on the slight cut back in distance if she can clear the runner breaking directly to her outside.
No. 6 Jodeye is a new face in town and should fit at this level off allowance tries inTexas.
No. 11 Yer Woman hasn’t won in forever and has been a huge disappointment in theU.S.We’re skeptical of the likely favorite, but we’ll use her without much confidence.
Recap – (3,4,6) w (5,7,8,9) w (6,7) w (3,4,5,7,10) w (1,6,11) – Total cost of ticket = $180
Yesterday’s Result – (-$240)
Total for current Del Mar meet – (+$16,406.45)
Total from 7/20/11 – 7/15/12 – (+$1,874.55)
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Good luck!
