Bernier: Sizing up Sunday's juvenile races at Del Mar
Race 2
5 furlongs
Maiden special weight
Statebred 2-year-old fillies
Field of 9
Purse: $75,000
Key Contenders
2) Princess Bertrando
This daughter of Bertrando took a nice step forward in her second career start last time out during the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meeting. It’s also nice to know that effort came against stakes company. Today, she’ll be back among maidens, and I’d be surprised if this Jeff Bonde trainee doesn’t take another step forward. The biggest question she’ll have to answer is whether she can handle the Polytrack at Del Mar, which is no small question.
FORMULATOR FACT: Bonde is 9 for 33 (16 in the money, $2.13 return on investment) over the past year with horses transitioning from dirt to synthetic.
7) Take It Easy
This filly trained by Steve Miyadi put forth a decent debut performance last month at Santa Anita, one in which she finished with interest and galloped out nicely. By no means did she appear to be a world beater or sure thing to graduate in her second start, and the 3-1 morning line would seem to be a bit of an underlay, but this daughter of Ministers Wild Cat should appreciate the switch to the synthetic surface and would seemed poised to improve off her debut try.
FORMULATOR FACT: Miyadi is 14 for 91 over the past four years with second-time starters running on synthetic surfaces.
The Strategy
When I first looked at this field, I thought I really liked Princess Bertrando. Once I went through the field a second time, I was a bit less enthused. After another pass through, I found myself making arguments for any number of fillies in this field. At the end of the day, sometimes the best bets are the ones you don’t make, and I feel like that is the case for me with this race. I won’t be making a play here, but if I absolutely had to pick a horse to win, it would be Princess Bertrando.
Race 7
6 furlongs
Maiden special weight
2-year-old fillies
Field of 10
Purse: $75,000
Key Contenders
9) Make the Sun Shine
This daughter of Malibu Moon cost owner John Oxley a pretty penny in March, as she sold for $700,000. In her debut effort at Churchill Downs last month, this filly went off as the favorite and ran very respectably. After displaying good early speed, she changed leads nicely at the top of the lane and unfortunately got a bit short at the end. With that effort under her belt, it’s safe to expect this Mark Casse trainee to take a big step forward. The only downfall here would be from a value standpoint, as it seems as though the 3-1 morning line might be a bit of a pipedream.
FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past two years, Casse is 5 for 14 (12 ITM) with second-time starters transitioning from dirt to synthetic.
1) Starlet O’Hara
Starlet O’Hara was badly outrun in her debut at Los Alamitos earlier this month for trainer Bob Baffert, which is something that seldom happens with any of his horses – let alone 2-year-olds. That said, this daughter of Discreetly Mine came charging down the lane absolutely full of run, and it would seem reasonable to expect her to move forward off that educational performance. Again, Baffert 2-year-olds at Del Mar rarely offer much of a price, simply because they’re all generally well meant.
FORMULATOR FACT: Baffert is 9 for 40 (22 ITM) over the past five years with 2-year-old second-time starters at Del Mar.
The Strategy
I’ll be very surprised if Make the Sun Shine and Starlet O’Hara don’t put forth nice performances, and I’ll strictly use the two of them in a rather large exacta box. If I had to choose a horse on top, I’d lean toward the Casse runner, but there doesn’t seem to be much value there. Therefore, here’s the play: Exacta box 1,9
For information regarding all the runners in these fields, check out Closer Looks in DRF GamePlan.