Del Mar Babies for Sunday, Aug. 31

Race 1
Maiden special weight
2-year-old fillies
1 mile, Polytrack
Purse: $75,000

Key contenders

6) Maybelline

This Bob Baffert-trained filly performed very nicely in her debut here at Del Mar sprinting on the Polytrack, but her second effort was rather lackluster. The big key to the second start was the addition of blinkers, and they surely didn’t appear to work to her benefit. Today, she’ll shed the blinkers and stretch out to two turns for the first time, and all indications are that this daughter of Lookin At Lucky should relish the added ground. She won’t be much of a price, but look for this gal to fire a big one in the opener.

FORMULATOR FACT: Trainer Bob Baffert is 19 for 58 (39 ITM, $2.59 ROI) over the past five years with 2-year-olds stretching out from sprints to routes.

8) Quint

Although this miss will be making her first start for trainer Simon Callaghan, she’s shown in the mornings that she can handle the Del Mar Polytrack, and she figures to be live in her North American debut. She has the advantage of drawing outside of the other runners, but Victor Espinoza has to make sure he doesn’t get hung too wide entering the first turn here. It’s worth noting that this gal is entered in a race on Labor Day, so there’s an outside chance she doesn’t run here. If she does, she’s surely a player.

FORMULATOR FACT: Trainer Simon Callaghan is 3 for 20 over the past two years with 2-year-olds on synthetic surfaces.

The strategy

I wish I could get cute here, but I just think Baffert’s filly is way the horse to beat. Her 5-2 morning line may end up being a bit of a pipedream – which makes this race difficult to play individually, mainly because I don’t love any of the other fillies entered. If I were forced to make a play here, I’d likely play a cold exacta of Maybellene over Quint … but that’s only if I were forced to play the race.

For “Babies” sake, here’s the play: EXACTA of 6 / 8