DelMar Selections 7-26-17 by @Gio_Ponti24

Del Mar Summer Meet
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
What is there to say, really, that has not already been said and overplayed? Arrogate lost. It was a big shock that rippled the sport sure, but was that the end of that story? I don’t think so. We will see the eventual winner and the champion horse back at the Pacific Classic. I personally don’t think the results will change as I just don’t believe Arrogate cares for this track, but I’ve been wrong several times during before. Sircat Sally, another overwhelming favorite an undefeated filly was racing on her preferred surface and suffered a career ending injury, but she will be moving on to better pastures. We now have Stellar Wind to look forward to watching this upcoming weekend in the Clement Hirsch. This 5 year old mare will most likely be facing Vale Dori for Bob Baffert in that race, as Bob hopes to rebound from the shocking defeat and hand one of his own to John Sadler. There are several days before that occurs so let’s continue to try and focus on what is currently happening at Del Mar. The jockey standings have not changed since we last discussed them. Rafael Bejerano is still tentatively holding on to a small lead while Flavian and Evan charge forward trying to catch him. Kent is now solidly into 4th place with 5 wins after a good performance to close out the first racing week. The trainer standings have changed quite a bit with Peter Eurton making his presence felt with 4 wins and 3 seconds out of 8 starts. Talk about a hot trainer, the Eurton barn is hitting at 88% with his horses finishing in the money. He is someone to definitely keep an eye out for during the big stakes weekends coming up.
Today we have an 8 race card that features a pick 6 carryover of $96,599.72 and the Cougar II Handicap, a G3 event run at a marathon distance of 1 ½ miles. The Pick-6 pool is likely to hit over $250,000.00 so throwing in a few dollars into the pool and hoping for racing luck to be on our side would be a good idea. I will try and assist you with some of those races with a few horses I will be keeping an eye out for. As always, pay attention to the horses to see the demeanor of the athlete and also the way the track is playing in the first two races. Let’s go ahead and dive right in to Wednesday’s card:
Race3:
#11 Del Mar Ann: Without a doubt the favorite of this race will be Salsita for the Hollendorfer barn, however I have two issues with that horse that led me to this mare. First off, she is coming off two dreadful runs at Santa Anita, and yes we can play that horse for course angle (as I have before), however seeing Roman (second issue) in the saddle doesn’t bode confidence for me. Evan has not proved to have a good feel for the turf course at Del Mar. I side with Del Mar Ann. She has raced at Del Mar 3 times and has won 2 of those events, granted several years ago, but they were at a much higher class level which means there is some back class to go back to. This runner has good tactical speed which should keep her close and with this outside slot she should have clear sailing when the real running starts. Her last few races have not been bad and Ocampo sticks around for this spin. If we can get anything close to 4-1 come post time I would be very excited, but I forsee a shorter price around the 5/2 range. Nevertheless, she is one to use to start the Pick 6. (Exotics play)
#8: Speak Up Sailor: East Coast shipper trying out her luck by the seaside. How many times have we seen Hess leg up Desormeaux for a victory? This horse is another strong contender in the opening leg of the Pick 6. She will be up on or near the lead however with other speed signed on for this event it will be interesting to see her revert back to sitting back and make one run like in her runs last year. There is no one better than Kent to find those gaps for her to go through. Food for thought. (Exotics Play)
Race 4:
#10 Tribal Finale: Being that this race will either be one of the hardest races and bombs will fly high or it will be the easiest where the three ML favorites will dictate the race I will hope for chaos and select a bomb to make the pick 6 interesting. This Puype filly is the second runner from that barn and I feel the more capable of making some noise. This filly will be gunning from the outside with an aggressive jockey on board in Tyler Baze. The works don’t get the blook pumping but there are glimpses of what this gal can do (july 3rd work). This sire has a solid hit rate with first time starters and none of the other runners are real world beaters so why not take a shot? (Long shot play)
#1 Rolling Shadow: First thing that caught my attention was that this runner was training at longer distances than what she is asked to run at today and then shows a few blowouts after that to get her on her toes. Evan Roman has been riding lights out with younger horses at these abbreviated distances so having him on board is a plus. The negative? The rail post is never an easy task for a first time starter but at 12-1 it is worth a shot. (Exotic play)

Race 7: The Cougar II Handicap (G3)
#7 Giant Influence: In a field with horses sporting double digit starts, I side with the lightly raced Peter Eurton runner. A few very good positives for this gelding- We talked about how hot Peter Eurton is currently, this guy is coming off a hard fought victory under the same pilot and is looking to make it back to back victories and although he hasn’t raced on this course look at that last reported work out!! He sure seems to like the surface. Now for the strategy of the race flow- Being a marathon race I forsee the speedy Noble Nick on the front end with Infobedad and French Getaway not far behind. I suspect that Giant Influence will be sitting chilly on the outside either 3rd or 4th and preserving his energy for the last turn. This runner will have a tactical advantage over the other runners as they tend to come from further back. This is a test of class but a very positive sign of confidence from this trainer to try him at this route of ground. This is the third race of his form cycle and given the recent blow out I expect bigger and better things from him this time around. (Value Bet)
Race 8:
#2 Aurora Rose: This filly HAS to find a field she can beat after finishing 2nd and 3rd in her last 3 starts. I believe this is the field now. Those last 3 races have come up on turf and she has not disgraced herself, running solid figures for all three. She seems to have an edge over the competition as she can sit up close and hopefully find something late in the stretch to hold off the late chargers. It’s now or never for this filly. (Best Bet)