Green Flash key to $171K carryover
DEL MAR, Calif. – Both Caracortado and No Jet Lag are seeking a return to past glory Wednesday at Del Mar when they head the $90,000 Green Flash Handicap, the featured seventh race on an eight-race card that will entice handicappers with a carryover of $171,914 in the pick six.
The carryover would have been $121,914, but Del Mar seeds the pool with $50,000 on Sundays if the jackpot is not hit on Saturdays. That $50,000 is intended to be divided among those who take down the pick six on Sundays. But if no one hits it, the money gets added to the carryover pool.
The Green Flash, at five furlongs, is usually run on grass, but since turf sprints have been eliminated for the rest of the meet, it will be run on Polytrack. Seven were entered in the race, with graded stakes winners Caracortado and No Jet Lag the class of the field.
But both are question marks. Caracortado, who suffers from foot problems, is making only his third start in 31 months, and he’s never raced on Polytrack. No Jet Lag, who showed so much promise last year as a turf miler, has been a run-off in recent races, prompting trainer Simon Callaghan to try turning him back to a sprint.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Caracortado. Trainer Mike Machowsky is 1 for 31 with a $0.21 ROI over the past five years going from turf to synthetic in sprints.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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“We need to teach him to get back off horses,” Callaghan said Monday. “That shouldn’t be too much of a problem going five-eighths.”
KEY CONTENDERS
CARACORTADO (Last 3 Beyers: 87-94-101)
◗ After a layoff of more than nine months, he was third in a five-furlong turf sprint July 18. If nothing goes amiss before Wednesday, this will be the first time he has raced twice in less than a month since July 2011.
◗ Caracortado has been wearing egg-bar shoes on his front feet and will keep them on for the race, trainer Mike Machowsky said.
◗ Caracortado has never raced on Polytrack but has trained at Del Mar many summers during his career. “He loves training on this main track,” Machowsky said.
NO JET LAG (Last 3 Beyers: 75-95-82)
◗ All his races in this country have been going a mile on grass, but he did win sprinting, going seven furlongs, on an all-weather surface at Lingfield in Britain before being imported to the United States.
◗ “I’d prefer if this race was six furlongs,” Callaghan said.
WINE POLICE (Last 3 Beyers: 68-85-91)
◗ Never was a factor when racing on turf for the first time in the July 18 race from which Caracortado also exits, but should benefit greatly by a return to the main track.
◗ He won on this surface last summer in an allowance race before a good fourth in a stellar field in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Wine Police. Trainer Peter Miller is 7 for 24 with a $2.65 ROI over the past three years going from turf to synthetic in sprints at Del Mar.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Rest of the pick six
Here’s a snapshot of the other races that make up the pick six:
Race 3 – Old pro Hurricane Lake looks formidable, with his main challenge perhaps coming from Jomelo, who is dropping in class, moving back to synthetic, and racing for the white-hot team of trainer Bob Hess Jr. and jockey Kent Desormeaux.
Race 4 – Perfect Set was a close third in a similar spot earlier in the meet. Vibrato Jazz takes a significant drop in class and tries synthetic for the first time.
Race 5 – Majestic Presence chased the high-quality Luminance in her debut and should appreciate the extra distance. Awesome Diamond, third on the grass in her debut, is the only horse in the race with two-turn experience.
Race 6 – Benba has finished second in three straight races and has finished in the money five straight times since being claimed. Frensham was right behind him last time. Smogcutter tries turf for the first time after a sprint win against maidens at Los Alamitos. Cat Meeting needed his last and should improve around two turns.
Race 8 – Aperfectdaytofly, who rallied after early trouble in his debut, goes from an open maiden race into a maiden claimer restricted to California-breds, a significant class drop. Itsgettinhotinhere is turning back to a sprint and taking a slight class drop. Mr. Casanova has a good series of works for connections who can pop at a price.