Bernier: How I'd play Del Mar on Thursday, Aug. 28
I’ve always been more of a multi-race oriented player, so I’ll focus my attention on Thursday’s early pick five.
Race 1: I think this is a wide open race, so I’ll be using all the runners in one fashion or another. All five of BIG HONEY BEE’s career victories have come on synthetic surfaces, and it stands to reason that she’ll take a step forward in her second start off the layoff at a bit of a price.
ON GOLDEN PAWN exits an impressive victory over the Del Mar Polytrack on July 31, and although she loses Rafael Bejarano, she’s in far too sharp form currently to downgrade.
PRETTYHOTPRINCESS was last seen finishing a decent second at Ellis Park in early July, and today, she’ll go out for trainer Hector Palma. If the way she’s been training over the Polytrack is any indication of how she’ll run, the rest of the field will need to be ready to run her down.
A: 1 – Big Honey Bee, 3 – On Golden Pawn, 6 – Prettyhotprincess
B: 2 – Lindz Winz, 7 – Lookin for Jonesy
C: 4 – Popalicious, 5 – Hit Girl
Race 2: This race begins and ends with BIG CAZANOVA. He projects to be the controlling speed of the race, and if he runs anything remotely close to his latest effort here July 26, the rest of the field strictly is competing for minor awards.
A: 4 – Big Cazanova
B: (none)
C: 1 – A Red Tie Day, 6 – American Act
Race 3: Another leg in which it appears there’s one horse the race goes through – NOBLE BIRD. This Casse trainee’s return to the races was a very strong one, and with a little bit of racing luck, he likely would have graduated that day. He owns the highest last-out Beyer Speed Figure in the field, and the rest will need to run him down if they’re to win here today.
A: 6 – Noble Bird
B: 3 – Constantine, 4 – Nowalking, 7 – Native Ride
C: (none)
Race 4: Not only does it look as though GIANT JOURNEY will be one of the few forwardly placed horses in the race, but I truly don’t think it can go overlooked that Russell Baze is named to the mount. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t take this into consideration – but this is the only mount he’s named on today. A lightly raced horse with Russell Baze aboard against a field of runners who hate to win races? Sign me up.
The only other horse I’ll be using in this spot will be ridden by another member of the Baze family, Tyler. ALWAYS AN ANGEL is the other runner that projects to be forwardly placed in this spot, and she’ll be making her first start for trainer Peter Miller.
A: 4 – Giant Journey
B: 9 – Always an Angel
C: (none)
Race 5: If I’m alive to this point, I want to have all of my runners be A’s.
SHOCK WAVE has been training well over the Del Mar Polytrack and is bred to relish the surface in general.
MR. LEWIS C ran evenly in his debut, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him take a step forward at second asking.
SMALL TOWN COP debuts for trainer Jeff Mullins, who has had success with first-time starters, and it’s not as if he’s facing a group of world beaters.
DUST IN ZAHN is another first time starter in here (Phil D’Amato trainee), and again, it’s not like there are any superstars to deal with here.
A: 4 – Shock Wave, 5 – Mr. Lewis C, 8 – Small Town Cop, 10 – Dust in Zahn
B: (none)
C: (none)
