Del Mar Getaway Day: There's nearly a million dollars in the Del Mar pick six pot, thanks to a two-day carryover, and because today is the meet's closing day, there'll be a mandatory payout, which makes throwing together a pick six ticket or two very tempting since even the consolation payouts will be juicy. But what a card there is to handicap! There's not a single race with a true standout; every race offers a full, competitive field. The pick six starts in race five, which is scheduled for 4:05 PST. Plenty of time to come up with something ......; [Posted September 5, 2007 08:00 AM]; ---

Slo-Mo Classic Upset: Longshot Student Council ran the biggest race of his 20-race career in the Pacific Classic, winning the 1 1/4 mile $1 million stakes by half a length over Awesome Gem. Hello Sunday was third. Final time for the race, run for the first time over Polytrack, was 2:07.29 -- Lava Man won last year's edition, run over dirt, in 2:01.62. What a difference a surface makes. This year, Lava Man finished sixth as the even money favorite. "He tried hard," said jockey Corey Nakatani of Lava Man's effort. "But he was struggling a bit out there. He wasn't really getting...; [Posted August 19, 2007 09:00 PM]; ---

Del Mar Carryover Today: Thanks to no winning favorites Wednesday or Thursday and a 37-1 shot upsetting yesterday's nightcap, there's a big two-day pick six carryover of $632,816 at Del Mar today. Racing starts at 4:00 p.m. PT, giving players a few extra hours to handicap what is an uninspiring card. I sort of like Topper's Moment, 5-1 morning line, over likely favorite Forest Miss in the opening leg, but the horse has no works over the Polytrack, which has proven a knock in the past couple of weeks. Maybe we'll get lucky and the carryover will roll into Saturday, which features the G1...; [Posted August 3, 2007 09:15 AM]; ---

Wednesday Evening Notes: - Week two at Saratoga got off to a better start than week one, although favorite Rumspringa was declared a non-starter after unseating rider Ramon Dominguez at the break in the first race. Dominguez was uninjured and all wagers refunded on Rumspringa, who was claimed by owner Michael Repole and trainer Bruce Levine. Winning Move Stable owner Steve Sigler is contesting the claim of the horse from his barn, since Rumspringa lost the jock and was ineligible to run for purse money (DRF). - Trainer Todd Pletcher went 0-for-4 at the Spa today, but both his regular riders scored a...; [Posted August 1, 2007 06:00 PM]; ---

Carryover Alert: Thanks to a parade of longshots, there's a one-day pick six carryover of $212,258 at Del Mar today; at the Spa, a one-day pick six carryover of $92,503....; [Posted July 30, 2007 07:30 AM]; ---

So Disappointing: - Jockey Jose Valdivia on Buzzard Bay's eighth-place finish in the San Diego Handicap as the 3-2 favorite: "This just blows my mind. He was running so easy. Going down the backside I had a big grin on my face. He was just floating. I thought we were going to take them wire-to-wire for sure. But then when we went for home and I asked him for it, there was nothing there. I was out of horse. I don't know what happened. He just wasn't there. So disappointing. Oh, brother." Sun Boat rallied from last to win the race (ThoroTimes)....; [Posted July 22, 2007 09:45 AM]; ---

Octave Wins CCAO: - At Belmont, Rags to Riches understudy Octave won an unexciting renewal of the Coaching Club American Oaks, tracking pacesetter Folk's ambling fractions of :23.91, :48, 1:12.25, and 1:36.47 before drawing away at the eighth pole to win by half a length over the late closing Lear's Princess, who may have earned a Saratoga start on the strength of her stretch run. "Our filly ran a great race," said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. "Maybe we'll have to look at the Alabama now" (Blood-Horse). The CCAO was Octave's second Grade 1 win in a row; the Todd Pletcher-trained filly took the Mother...; [Posted July 21, 2007 10:30 PM]; ---

Del Mar Observations: - The Polytrack surface tilted toward closers on the meet's second day, after showing some speed-friendly qualities on opening day. Runners coming from off the pace did well, especially in the first two-turn races run over the track, but one winner also went wire-to-wire and another stalked. In other words -- two days into the meet, it looks the track is playing fair. Forget about bias, worry more about pace. - Times are slow. As Brad Free points in his analysis of opening day, "final times were more than two seconds slower than par from last year," for the five...; [Posted July 20, 2007 09:15 AM]; ---

Del Mar's Polytrack Era Begins: - Slowly. Race two was the first run over the new surface and the fractions for the six furlong affair were :22.68, :47.09, and 1:00.29, with a final fraction of :13.66. But the surface seemed to play fair through the afternoon. Pressers and stalkers did just fine, closers didn't dominate. Watching from 3,000 miles away, the track looked firm, the kickback minimal, and only a few horses appeared uncertain about what was under their feet. "They're gripping it, but it's a lot different from anything they've ever been on," jockey Richard Migliore told DRF after the second race. "It's going...; [Posted July 18, 2007 11:00 PM]; ---

Handicapping Polytrack: Del Mar opens Wednesday with a new Polytrack surface and reduced banking on the turns (DRF+) and cautious handicappers will watch intently the meet's first days (North County Times) to see how the synthetic track plays. Almost certainly, the surface will evince qualities noted on other synthetics. It'll be fairer, kinder to closers, crueler to speed. For those wondering how to handle this strange new world in which speed doesn't always rule, Del Mar offers a James Quinn piece on Polytrack handicapping (PDF). I'm no Quinn, but here's what I've noticed about synthetic surfaces: - Fewer races are won wire-to-wire...; [Posted July 17, 2007 07:45 PM]; ---

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