Brad Free

The racing surface returned to normal Sunday. Darn. A few horseplayers were looking forward to a second straight day of rally-wide bias. Instead, speed was good Sunday. Lone speed was dynamite. That creates a problem interpreting two big races – a maiden race for 2-year-old fillies, and the Grade 1 Bing Crosby for older sprinters. Avid is headed to the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante after a solid debut in race 1. Is she good enough? It is hard to tell.

Anyone know what the Del Mar weather will be on Pacific Classic Day, Aug. 28? If it is overcast and cool, front-runner Enriched might be long gone in the $1 million Pacific Classic. If it is sunny and warmer, like it was on Saturday, deep closer Dakota Phone could be a good thing. It’s a new angle – handicapping by weather. The local prep races for the $1 million Pacific Classic were run Friday and Saturday at Del Mar. Same place, same Polytrack, two completely different surfaces.

It took longer than expected to launch this blog. Sorry about that. Dot-com issues have been slightly chaotic. Here’s a quick July 31 handicapping postcard from Del Mar. Summer here has been remarkably cool, with daily temperatures barely topping 70 under daylong cloud cover. The pleasant, mild weather has helped create the most consistent main track Del Mar has had in three-plus years of Polytrack. A Del Mar synthetic surface that is consistent? Who would have predicted that?