The Truth About Del Mar's New Surface

After watching and digesting the 2007 running of the Pacific "Classic" I've come to one conclusion: The secret ingredient in Del Mar's new "Polytrack" is quicksand. I'm not trying to say that something must be "up" because Lava Man didn't finish in the money. That was bound to happen sooner or later. After all, they're horses not robots.

But when the winning time is 2:07 and change for a 1 1/4 mile race, something is seriously amiss. This is a completely different sport than the one we're used to.

And three horses that barely figured finish 1-2-3, the so-called "Classic" that resembled a walk-out 9th race of 16K claimers. A million-dollar "Classic" race isn't supposed to be a "great race for a bunch of 10-cent superfectas". You should be able to be at least somewhat certain you can pick at least one horse that will finish in the top 3 or 4.

And now Student Council earns a automatic berth into the 2007 Breeder's Cup Classic. That's not a changing of the guard, that's a joke!

Pacific Classic Sunday

A great field has been put together for Sunday's Grade I, $1 Million Pacific Classic at Del Mar (1 1/14 Miles on the Poly Track).

Defending champion Lava Man is the 5/2 morning line favorite to repeat. The Mike Mitchell trained Big Booster is 9/2 on the morning line. I'm not sure if he merits 9/2. He ran 3rd in the Hollywood Gold Cup behind Lava Man and A.P. Xcellent who is 8-1.

But Mitchell has been working miracles with former claimers like On the Acorn who won the San Juan Capistrano and Sun Boat who won the San Diego Handicap. Sun Boat is 6-1 and my gut tells me that a lot of "educated" money is going to be placed on him.

Top West Coast 3-year-old, Tiago, is 6-1. He won the Santa Anita Derby and Swaps Stakes and ran 3rd in the Belmont Stakes in June. Other 3-year-olds in the race are Albertus Maximus (2nd in the Swaps) and Time Squared.

Strub Stakes winner Arson Squad is 12-1.

Rounding out the field are Student Council, Awesome Gem, Porfido, Salty Humor and Hello Sunday.

It's a great field and a nice betting race. My heart tells me Tiago, my gut tells me Sun Boat and my head tells me Lava Man. We'll see.

Best Pal Stakes on Sunday

Two-year-olds will line up on Sunday, 8/12, at Del Mar for the Grade II Best Pal Stakes (6 1/2f on the dirt). The field includes Hollywood Juvenile Championship winner Salute the Sarge, runner up Leonides and four others. It's a prep for the big one of the meet, the Del Mar Futurity, to be run on Del Mar's closing day, September 5.

Last year the race produced three Triple Crown "contenders": Great Hunter, Stormello and Cobalt Blue. So don't say you haven't been warned.

The Santa Rosa Fair

I broke out of my slump and ended up with 4 winners at The Santa Rosa Fair today. My "horse of the day" was a 15-1 shot named Sylvie in the 11th - Maiden Claimers at 1 1/16 miles on the Santa Rosa turf.

Sylvie had 3 lifetime starts dating back to late May. In her first race she pulled up and was vanned off. She ran last in her next race and something like 3rd in her most recent start with a Beyer Rating in the high 50s. Her rating was the 2nd highest of any horse in the race.

I like Maidens that show any kind of interest in their most recent race. At 10-1 on the morning line I put a few buck on her to win. She was the 3-horse and was 21-1 when I placed my bet. At race time the horse was 15-1.

Sylvie broke well and went to the lead and stayed at or near the lead along the backstretch and into the turn

At the top of the stretch another horse took the lead by a head but she fought back gamely, buoyed by a spontaneous chant of "3, 3, 3, 3. . ." taken up in mid-stretch by some die-hards at the table under the "Santa Rosa TV".

It was pure drama unfolding on the screen, as we saw it from our position in the Pavilion at Santa Anita Park, 500 miles away. Sylvie won it.

Thank you Sylvie for reminding us why we come back.

Panty Raid

Good horse, dumb name. It's a good thing the horse doesn't know how dumb her name sounds.

Pick 6 Mania

I'm just glad that an everyday, $2 bettor was able to nab part of the $10 million Pick 6 Pool at Hollywood Park the other day.

One bettor at Los Alamitos hit Monday's record pick six at Hollywood Park twice with a $2 bet and a $4 wager for a combined payoff of $1,152,128.80.

It just goes to show how much luck is involved in hitting a Pick 6. The article also mentions that a $24 ticket in Victorville also hit the Pick 6 that day.

Lava Man Is Smart

Lava Man is a smart horse. He just knows where the finish line is. His win in the Gold Cup on Saturday was one of the most dramatic I've seen in a long time. Just check out Vic Stauffer, what a great call he gave us. Thank you Vic!

Now, if Lava Man were an east coast horse, would it matter that he couldn't "ship"? Would the racing press still treat him like a glorified side show? He's a great horse, plain and simple.

He doesn't like to fly (or travel) and has been doing his best to communicate that to his connections but they just don't pay attention to him.

I watched the Gold Cup a few times on You Tube and it reminded me of a race, the '88 San Bernadino Handicap, with Alysheba, Ferdinand and Good Taste nearly hitting the wire together. Alysheba was another great horse that just knew where the wire was. And he threw in a clunker once in a while too.

2007 Hollywood Gold Cup


1988 San Bernadino Handicap