Border Town lands in softer spot, but must keep his cool

DEL MAR, Calif. – The competition is not as tough for Border Town on Friday at Del Mar. Bettors hope the colt’s attitude softens likewise.

Border Town is favored to win the featured eighth race, a second-level allowance turf mile against easier than he met last month. Border Town, a maiden and allowance winner, finished a flat sixth as the second betting choice in the one-mile Grade 3 American at Santa Anita.

Maybe he was not good enough. Maybe he had an excuse. By the time Border Town arrived in the paddock, he had become so visibly irritated that trainer Richard Mandella knew he was in trouble.

“For some reason, he went over to the race pissed off, in a bad mood, kicking and nasty,” Mandella said. “Something upset him in the barn, and I don’t know what it was. He just had a bad day, and I could see it going over. He was in a bad frame of mind, and he kind of ran like it.”

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Border Town sleepwalked around the course, looking nothing like the Border Town who in his previous start scored an impressive turf-mile allowance win by running faster each successive quarter-mile and finishing in 22.44 seconds.

Mandella is confident that 2-for-7 Border Town can return to form Friday, based on his mindset since arriving at Del Mar.

“He’s done really well, had a big work [Saturday], and I think he’ll run well,” Mandella said.

Drayden Van Dyke will ride Border Town, replacing Flavien Prat, who tested positive for coronavirus and is in quarantine. Border Town’s rivals include allowance winner Irish Heatwave, sprint stakes runner-up Mesut, allowance runner-up Maestro Dearte, and King of Speed. First-time gelding Gregorian Chant and Order and Law also entered.

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Border Town will enter with the highest figures and a pedigree to be special. A 4-year-old sired by War Front, he is a sibling to 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hit It a Bomb.

The temporary rails are at the outermost 30-foot setting on Friday but the placement does not typically influence the Del Mar course profile. The past three summers, 37 turf miles were run with the rails at 30 feet – five winners led wire-to-wire, 11 won from second or third position, and 21 winners rallied from fourth or farther back.

A handicapping challenge Friday is pace. There is none. All seven entrants typically run from behind. Irish Heatwave and King of Speed occasionally produce speed, and stretch-out Mesut could be forwardly placed. But the role of pacesetter is up for grabs, and if the race becomes a sprint for home, fastest finisher Border Town should be tough.

A supporting feature on Friday is the sixth, a 1 3/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares in which Pretty Point is the one to beat dropping to entry-level allowance after finishing third in a stakes race. The shipper Woodfin merits longshot consideration.