Bernier: How I'd play Del Mar on Saturday

Del Mar has a full 11-race card for the first Saturday of its summer meeting, and I’ll look to make my first play in the opener. First-time starter Kantune is by the precocious multiple graded stakes-winning 2-year-old Kantharos, and he sits at 6-1 on the morning line. Our Tune has proven to be a successful broodmare, and trainer Mark Casse knows what he’s doing when it comes to training on Polytrack. His latest bullet from the gate July 14 here at Del Mar leads me to believe he’ll be ready to roll, and I’m willing to take a shot and make a straight win bet if he stays at his 6-1 morning line or goes off above that.

In the 7th, I’ll look to make a small action wager on He’s a Bling. He’s a Bling debuted at Churchill Downs last month on a muddy and sealed track, and although he was no match for the winner, Thunder’s Rollin’, I thought he ran very nicely considering it was just his first start. This son of Too Much Bling showed speed from the rail and faded late, which can be forgiven based on his inexperience, the track conditions, and the race’s 6 1/2-furlong distance. Today, he’ll cut back to six furlongs for trainer Tom Proctor, and it doesn’t hurt that Drayden Van Dyke – who is arguably the hottest rider in North America at the moment – takes the mount. This gelding is 6-1 on the morning line, but I’m hoping the two Bob Baffert entrants (Power Crazed, Turnover) take all the money and he drifts up a bit.

My final play of the day will be the one I’m most focused on, and that’s a daily double linking the 8th and 9th races. In the 8th, I think Holy Lute is strictly the horse to beat, and he’s the only horse I’ll be usi ng in this leg of the wager. Holy Lute broke his maiden at Del Mar last August and did so rather impressively. He proceeded to be “thrown to the wolves” in the $100,000 El Cajon Stakes going a mile, a race in which he prevailed by a head over a very nice horse in Fury Kapcori. I suppose this is a longwinded way of saying that Holy Lute is getting back over the surface he’s wanted all along, and I’m expecting him to rebound nicely. He won’t offer much value, but that’s why you look to create value – and I think I could potentially find some in Saturday’s feature, the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap.

Diversy Harbor is strictly the horse to beat and is possibly the most likely winner, but she won’t offer any value, and I’m not sure that she’s that much better than some of the others in here. I’m going to be putting the majority of my double emphasis on Tepin in the San Clemente. Tepin exits the Grade 3 Regret at Churchill last month, and at first glance, it looks like she ran evenly throughout and proceeded to back up late; that couldn’t be further from the truth. This daughter of Bernstein sat a ground-saving trip on the hedge, just off the leaders throughout, and as the rail opened up at the top of the lane and she began to unwind her run, she got sawed off badly, essentially stopping her in her tracks. It was her first start on the lawn, and I’m willing to give her another shot here. She’s 20-1 on the morning line, and while I don’t think I’ll quite get that price, she should offer solid value. I’ll use her in the second leg of the daily double and look to play her across the board at anything above odds of 10-1 to win.