Rafael Bejarano won five races in one day yesterday for the second time at the current meet and third time in his career at Hollywood Park.
Winning isn’t easy. It’s just that some athletes have the uncanny ability to make it look that way.
With the U.S. Olympic trials in full swing and the most decorated American Olympian, swimmer Michael Phelps, set four his third Games in the pool, Rafael Bejarano is stealing the show at the race track by racking up wins of his own.
Phelps has notched 14 Olympic gold medals in his career, and since 2008, Rafael Bejarano and Joel Rosario have won every major riding title in Southern California.
That streak will continue through the end of this meet with Bejarano’s 57 wins leaving him 23 clear of Joe Talamo in second after notching five wins yesterday on the first day without splitting the most coveted mounts with the departed Rosario.
If Bejarano stays healthy he can single-handedly continue the streak much longer, as winning races in more than bunches will become the norm for him, not the exception. His gaudy 30% win rate with 12 days left in the meet is already more than 10% higher than any of the other riders in the colony, so we could be looking at similar dominance to what Phelps has enjoyed while earning a medal in all 16 races he’s competed in over the last two Olympics.
On Friday night’s card where the talent level of the equine athletes is severely lacking, Bejarano rides in half the eight races, aboard a 5-to-2 favorite and a trio of runners listed at 3-to-1.
That leaves all the other riders with four chances to win.
We’re off to the races!
Pick 4 -
Leg 1 – Race 5 (2,6,7,8) – One of only two allowance races on the card, both for Cal-breds, we’ll go use the logical runners in this maiden event on turf with No. 2 Vonn Nez, No. 6 Scientific, No. 7 Passionville (Bejarano) and No. 8 Attigirl Meadow.
Leg 2 – Race 6 (1,4,6,7) – The only non-claiming event for winners on the night, first-level sprinters travel six furlongs and we’ll use the four-pack of No. 1 This Means War, No. 4 Easy Goes By, No. 6 You Can Dream and No. 7 Roar Baby Roar (Bejarano).
Leg 3 – Race 7 (4,6) – The feature race slot offers up a $25,000 claimer at 1 3/16-miles on turf and No. 6 Seeking Solace should be tough for Ron Ellis on the 12-day turn around with pace to chase from mid-pack.
No. 4 Jairzihno should relish the added ground for his late kick despite just two wins in 35 starts.
Leg 4 – Race 8 (1,3,4,8,11) – Inside and outside chalk should be tough with No. 1 Visionary Man (Bejarano) and No. 11 Et Tu Walker, but we’ll add three others and hope for a price with No. 3 Sidepocket Kid, No. 4 Ruling Force or No. 8 Big Man in Town.
Recap – (2,6,7,8) w (1,4,6,7) w (4,6) w (1,3,4,8,11) – Total cost of ticket = $80
Yesterday’s Result – (-$72)
Total for current Hollywood Park spring/summer meet – (-$1,649.45)
Total from 12/26/10 – 4/22/12 – (+$588.70)
Pick 5 –
Leg 1 – Race 1 (1,2,4,6) – Unlikely we’ll have an odds-on favorite in the opener today, so we’ll use the four that are tough to separate with No. 1 Lisa Lulu, No. 2 Memo to Kathy, No. 4 Indy Beauty and No. 6 Sunshine High.
Leg 2 – Race 2 (1,5) – In what appears to be a rather pace less race for Cal-bred maiden claimers, Bejarano can keep the winning going by putting No. 1 Awesome Year on the lead off a runner-up effort that saw him within two lengths of the lead early.
No. 5 Bev N Bud was relatively close to the pace two races back, but has been well behind in her other four starts.
Leg 3 – Race 3 (8,9) – Another maiden claimer lacking early zip so we’ll give No. 9 Colledimezzo a shot at a wire-to-wire score after a game runner-up effort at 62-to-1 going a touch further in his last. It could mark the first win at Hollywood Park for recently relocated rider Juan Hernandez.
No. 8 I Feel Free has already failed a field high 11 times, but he’s been in the money in seven of those races and will be putting in a late run.
Leg 4 – Race 4 (2,3,6,7,9) – A tough $16,000 claiming route where we spread with No. 2 Ultimate Decision, No. 3 Big Son of a Gun, No. 6 Ziggy’s Starsdust, No. 7 Morganouska and No. 9 Hasty Trend.
Leg 5 – Race 5 (2,6,7,8) – Same four as the late Pick-4.
Recap – (1,2,4,6) w (1,5) w (8,9) w (2,3,6,7,9) w (2,6,7,8) – Total cost of ticket = $160
Yesterday’s Result – (-$90)
Total for current Hollywood Park spring/summer meet – (+$265.90)
Total from 7/20/11 – 4/22/12 – (+$2,150.80)
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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Good luck!
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Good Evening Marc,
Interesting topic tonight. Love to hear your thoughts on Rosario’s move to NY. Clearly the larger purses NY has to offer, as well as the chance to pick up live stakes mounts is his motivation for leaving a circuit that he has excelled at for the past few years. All that being said, NY without question has the most difficult jockey colony in the country – especially when it comes to Saratoga.
In my opinion, I think he will find success – but he will have to step his game up. He won’t get his pick of the best horses in NY. He is going to have to win some races at a price in order to start taking live mounts away from other riders. I think Joel will have to race “smarter” in order make frequent trips to the winner circle in NY. In CA, he was always willing to take the wide trip – knowing he had the best horse in the race. That won’t fly in NY.
I am pulling for him, and can’t wait to see him ride at Saratoga.
I’ll set the early over under for wins at the Saratoga meet at 28 *** he scored two today at Belmont **
Thoughts?
Hey Brian,
I agree with almost everything you say, but I do have a feeling that his move may have been motivated some by the desire to get away from his wife and four rug rats.
He’s my favorite rider and is always more than gracious with me with his time so I’m bummed to see him go. It does seem he will be back after Saratoga, which makes sense considering the Breeders’ Cup is here.
As far as higher purses and stakes mounts, this is where I’m not so sure. The purses in CA aren’t all that much lower and the quality of stakes runners are on par. He had a shot at almost every top runner and any runner in any race for that matter here, so moving to such a tough colony is sure to be more difficult than it would have been to stay.
Change is always part of life so maybe that’s what he wanted, but I hope he settles back out here. I want him to do well, but I want him to come back to So Cal, so it’s a catch 22.
When you see guys like Nakatani and Gryder giving So Cal another shot with Rosario gone, it shows what an impact he has. He’s one of the best riders I’ve ever seen and with a long career ahead of him might become one of the best ever. Let’s just hope that happens in So Cal.
Can’t bet Dunham. Oh well. On to tomorrow.
P6 already guaranteed. Rafy needs to win to avoid getting shut out. Maybe he couldn’t take the weight of the pressure from today’s blog.
Nice inside angle on the “wife and rug rats”. Never considered that one. Purses are nice in CA, but not like they are in NY. Now that NYRA has the slots racino at Aqueduct, the purses are inflated. For example, a MSW tomorrow at Hollywood has a purse of 50K. MSW at Belmont has a purse of 70K. I know purses will get higher at Del Mar, but the same will hold true at Saratoga.
No doubt, Rosario will be back when NY shifts to Aqueduct, and CA shifts back to Santa Anita (ever been in NY when it gets cold – not that fun… that’s why I am in North Carolina now). But I honestly believe Rosario is in search of building strong relationships in NY. He gets good rides in CA, but Baffert seems to hold most of the cards when it comes to the top west coast horses. With Bafferts recent split with Garcia, who is now riding first call for him… Not Rosario – BAJARANO!
Think of a horse that currently would be a favorite in the Breeders Cup that Rosario has a ride on at this point… keep thinking… (unless I missed one – you will be thinking for a while) Bajarano can sit back and cherry pick all Bafferts horses… minus Game on Dude.
So take a stab – Rosario Over/Under at Saratoga – 28 Wins. And that is a complete guess on my part. If he gets off to a hot start in NY, he could get 35 easy.
No doubt – Rosario gone in CA has a huge impact on the CA colony. Right now, Bejarano seems to be the only one to take advantage. As you mentioned… BAGGED 5 OF 8 YESTERDAY!!!
Rosario rode a bit for Baffert and would likely have gotten some more moving forward and he was Sadler’s main guy as well as getting all of Simon Callaghan’s top turf runners, including Belle Royale who could be a top BC FM turf contender. He also had top call on 4 of the runners in the Triple Bend tomorrow.
Creative Cause could still make an impact, but you’re right in that he’s hit a bit of a cold streak with big time runners, which coincides with Sadler being on a cold streak.
I’ll go over because I’ll be cheering for him and backing him at the windows.
AHHHHHH!!!! 4 horse in the 5th race get’s 14 pounds on rest of the field making second career start. Goes off at 24 – 1. I want a do over!!!
Hard to stay positive in a crazy meet like this.
Chance to go up a few bucks with p3 hit if Raphy can make out a trip from the rail. The way this night/meet is going… probably not that likely. Chance of P6 carry over in CA for Saturday in CA = 100%. Chance of hangover for a guy in NC staying up late and playing the ponies = 110%.
P6 already guaranteed. Rafy needs to win to avoid getting shut out. Maybe he couldn’t handle the weight of the pressure from today’s blog.