Del Mar And Saratoga Take Over The National Racing Stage

by Steve Davidowitz | Jul 24 2008

A Column by Steve Davidowitz
July 24, 2008

At this time of year, large numbers of American horseplayers are prone to a form of schizophrenia as they feel compelled to divide their attention between two of the nation's most popular, most important race meets, which are 3,000 miles apart.

Beautiful Del Mar by the Pacific Ocean, north of San Diego, California, has been open for a week with its tweaked, faster Polytrack that seems much more formful than the painfully slow, almost incomprehensible synthetic track that was unveiled without sufficient moisture in 2007.

Venerable Saratoga opened its 36-day season on Wednesday, July 23rd in the sleepy college town of Saratoga Springs, 165 miles north of New York City in the Adirondack mountains. This is where serious and casual racing fans alike are greeted by an historic wooden grandstand, tree-lined parking lots, a traditional dirt racing strip and the Hall of Fame of Racing across the street from the track. All this fits right in with the stately Victorian homes and oversized bed and breakfast mansions that have lined Saratoga streets for more than a century.

The Philadelphia Orchestra and New York City Ballet also spend their summers here, sharing the town with Skidmore College summer students and bleary-eyed horseplayers who tend to party in the local pubs until they feel the need to bury themselves in the Daily Racing Form in search of a key horse in the next day's Pick Six.

Built during the American Civil War, Saratoga is the oldest track in America and is running its 140th meet, having been closed for two years (1911-1912) and three more during WWII when its dates were run at Belmont Park.

Del Mar, a jewel of a track with Spanish style architecture and a view of the Pacific Ocean from several sections of its comfortable, modern grandstand, is running its 69th season. Three of its seasons were during the dark years of WWII. Not to be outdone by its older Eastern rival, Del Mar will be open 43 days through the Wednesday after Labor Day, September 3rd.

Saratoga always closes on Labor Day, a holiday that marks the unofficial end of summer, a day specifically designated to celebrate the American working force, a day that signals the imminent re-opening of the school year.

In the meantime, both tracks will be open six days per week, with Tuesdays dark, and there will be more than 90 stakes between them including more than four-dozen graded events.

Get your Del Mar and Saratoga Odds at Bodog Racebook!

But even beyond the rich stakes schedule that will match dozens of the nation's most accomplished horses, one of the most appealing aspects of both race meets is the dual accent on racing for horses with unknown or unproven credentials. That is, racing for 2-year-olds, racing for the freshmen class of racehorses who are just beginning to reach the necessary physical development to compete in parimutuel races from five furlongs to six and seven furlongs on the main track and up to one mile on the infield turf course.

These are the stars of tomorrow, the horses who may be involved in the Triple Crown races as 3-year-olds next spring, pending their development at Saratoga and Del Mar and subsequent improvement as they mature into their 3-year-old seasons next winter.

At Del Mar and Saratoga there will be more than 100 races for 2-year old maidens and at least 20 allowance races and 10 stakes that will help identify the horses to watch in the Breeders' Cup later this year as well as the aforementioned races for 3-year-olds next winter and spring.

The stakes races on the turf and on the main track for more accomplished horses will certainly be worth planning a visit or two or three to Del Mar and/or Saratoga, as they will be worth betting on in person or via the Bodog Racebook. But when horseplayers open up their pristine Racing Forms to handicap races at these two historic, fantastic racetracks, most will seek out the 2-year-old maiden races, the 2-year-old allowance races and the 2-year-old stakes.

Just shy of breeding and owning a young horse and watching it develop into a star, one of the great thrills in handicapping is to identify a well-bred, nicely prepared juvenile racehorse before everyone sees what you see.

Almost nothing beats betting on such an unproven but promising young horse to win its maiden race or to follow it up the ladder into races where it becomes an elite contender for a championship.

The experience is similar to spotting a future major league baseball star when he plays his first or second major league game. It is as satisfying as picking the Kentucky Derby winner on race day and it can be immensely profitable if you do spot such a bona fide star in the making when the odds are high in the Futures Book or before most players see the same thing.

To that end, I will be listing a few sharp looking maiden winners and losers in this space during the Del Mar and Saratoga race meets. It's one of the joys of each summer, one of the reasons to get up in the morning and realize that a new crop of well-bred, promising young horses is coming out today, tomorrow and maybe the next day too.

Last week at Del Mar, for example, the fourth race on Sunday, July 20th - a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race for 2-year-old fillies - definitely caught my eye.

The winner Turtle Creek Babe ran well enough for trainer Ron McAnally, who is off to a good start at Del Mar, but the horse who made the strongest impression was the second-place finisher - the very well named Stardom Bound. Stardom Bound seemed to lose all chance in this relatively short race immediately after the start, breaking a few lengths behind the field. But that impression was fleeting as she relentlessly rallied widest of all to pass all but the winner in a most exciting career debut.

The performance said "stakes horse" to anyone who saw it and the impression was underscored when Stardom Bound blew by Turtle Creek Babe in the gallop out after the finish. A daughter of 2004 Wood Memorial winner Tapit and trained by Christopher Pasch, Stardom Bound is bred to improve with time and distance. That is precisely the kind of information a schizophrenic horseplayer like me is hoping to find while glancing back and forth between races at Saratoga and Del Mar for the rest of the summer.

The best stakes performances of the July 19-20 weekend

Well Armed, third to Curlin in the $6 million Dubai World Cup in March, was a convincing, wire-to-wire winner over multiple G1 winner Surf Cat in the $300,000 San Diego Handicap (G2) in track record time of 1:41.57 on the Polytrack to also earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 103. Well Armed is a likely contender for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on October 25th.

Evening Attire won the 1 1/2-mile, $250,000 Greenwood Cup at Philadelphia Park in track record time of 2:29.90 at the advanced age of 10 to earn a solid 103 Beyer Speed Figure. This was Evening Attire's first victory out of New York in his nine-year racing career, and it stamps him as a bona fide threat for the newly created $500,000 1 1/2-mile Breeders' Cup Marathon, to be run at Santa Anita on October 25th.

Monzante was a strong last-to-first winner on Sunday over favored Whatsthescript in the $400,000 Eddie Read Handicap (G1) at 1 1/8 miles over the Del Mar turf course. Monzante, trained by Mike Mitchell, earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 102 for his impressive performance under a confident Rafael Bejarano. Mitchell says he's going to point Monzante for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile on October 25th.

Music Note and Little Belle, both owned by Godolphin Racing LLC, finished 1-2 in the $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) as the favored 3-10 coupled entry. But it was wire-to-wire winner Music Note who dominated the 1 1/4-mile race to win by 11 lengths in the good time of 2:01.66, for a respectable 100 Beyer Speed Figure of 100 while being hand ridden through the late stages. Next stop is the 1 1/4-mile, $750,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga on August 16th or perhaps a try against male rivals in the Travers Stakes a week later.

Gio Ponti out-dueled stretch running Court Vision by a nose in the $750,000 Virginia Derby (G2) at Colonial Downs on Saturday, with multiple turf stakes winner Sailor's Cap a respectable third as the 13-10 betting favorite. Gio Ponti, trained by Christophe Clement, completed the 10 furlongs on a firm turf course under Garrett Gomez in 2:02.22 for a slightly below par Beyer Speed Figure of 99. The moderate Speed Figure was trumped, however, by the positive visual impression the top two made during their furious late battle. Both are considered likely starters in the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes (G1) on Arlington Million Day, August 9th.

Added notes: The Arlington Million and two other Grade 1 stakes - the Secretariat and Beverly D - will command international attention on August 9th. But aside from that one big day at Arlington Park in Chicago, it will be Del Mar and Saratoga that will be the showcase for la crème de la crème every week from now to September.

On August 23rd and 24th, for example, Saratoga and Del Mar will offer their premier million dollar races on consecutive days. On August 23rd, Saratoga will feature the $1 million Travers Stakes (G1) for 3-year-olds among five other graded stakes. The next day at Del Mar, the $1 million Pacific Classic (G1) for 3-year-olds and up will be the centerpiece of four graded stakes.

Bet on Travers Stakes and Pacific Classic at Bodog Racebook!

A handicapping 'Face Off' between Dave Tuley and myself will focus on both $1 million races and be posted on the Bodog horseracing page on Thursday evening, August 21st.

Steve Davidowitz has written two highly acclaimed books on Thoroughbred racing---Betting Thoroughbreds and The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing. He also is a regular contributor to Daily Racing Form's Simulcast Weekly and DRF Plus and his columns appear in the Bodog Racebook each week.