Key race in pick six runs through D’Amato pair
When a hot trainer endorses both his runners in the most significant race on the nine-race card Friday at Del Mar, perhaps it is a good idea to heed the advice.
Phil D’Amato starts Raymundos Secret and Zee Drop in a one-mile turf allowance, race 5, that straddles three popular wagers. It is the final leg of an early pick five, first leg of a late pick five, and second leg of a pick six that starts with a $142,512 standard carryover.
A bettor could get knocked out of everything in the second-level allowance for fillies and mares, or leverage a good opinion into multiple payoffs. Either way, the D’Amato duo plays a key role in the race.
Raymundos Secret, the favorite, returns from a nine-month layoff, and the trainer expects a top effort first start back.
“She does things really easy,” D’Amato said. “She’ll bullet-work and she doesn’t look like she’s bullet-working. Good horses are like that.”
She also runs well fresh, even around two turns. Raymundos Secret won her debut last winter, and a starter allowance last summer that was her first in six months. Raymundos Secret could be a pick-six single, but D’Amato recommends bettors double the race.
Zee Drop finished sixth at Santa Anita in a race similar to Friday’s on June 14 in her first start since she won a maiden race on the turf at Del Mar last September. D’Amato says she has been training well.
“Zee Drop needed that race pretty bad last time, and I think she just came up short on us,” D’Amato said. “She does not act like a filly that will be short on Friday.”
D’Amato is not playing politics. The fillies have different owners and diverse styles, but Raymundos Secret and Zee Drop both have credentials – lightly raced fillies that have run well on the Del Mar turf. From a wagering perspective, it boils down to ticket cost.
Include both? “I definitely think so,” D’Amato said.
Four others entered the fifth-race feature. They are Strike At Dawn, Ellie Arroway, Love and Peace, and Tapwater.
Raymundos Secret and Zee Drop benefit from a hot stable. D’Amato’s nine starters last week produced three wins, two seconds and two thirds, and lifted the trainer to a tie for second in the standings.
Raymundos Secret, listed at 9-5 by track linemaker John Lies, is making her first start for D’Amato. Previously trained by Richard Baltas, she has won 3 of 5. Flavien Prat rides Raymundos Secret, a front-runner/pace-presser.
“She’s the kind of filly I that can sit one-two, but she definitely has the speed to be on the lead if need be,” D’Amato said. “‘I’ll leave it up to Flavien. He’s ridden her before.”
The turf rails move to 24 feet Friday, the first time this summer at the setting. The course generally plays fair, though late-runners win at a higher rate than front-runners/pressers. If the speed of Raymundos Secret does not carry, Zee Drop could win from behind under Abel Cedillo.
The supporting feature Friday is race 9, an entry-level Cal-bred allowance at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
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The race attracted nine, and Whooping Jay is the program favorite based on a runner-up stakes finish last out. Race-9 entrants Sea of Liberty had a tough trip in his last start, and Golden Doughnut was pace-compromised.
The horse to beat could be stretch-out Offshore Affair, who is different horse since being gelded last year.
“He came back very, very well as a neutered horse,” trainer Carla Gaines said. “He was just a big doofus, now he’s paying more attention. He’s more focused.”
Offshore Affair finished fourth as the favorite in a sprint last out, but he ran well. He was distracted by an unruly horse in the gate, broke slowly, and was shuffled back, then rallied to miss by less than a length. He ran a winning race.
Gaines has targeted the Friday route since just days following the sprint. Offshore Affair, who will be ridden back by Cedillo, finished second his only turf route.
Friday offers pick-six players a rare opportunity at a reasonable takeout. Although single-ticket jackpots raise effective takeout, a standard carryover provides counterbalance Friday. Del Mar’s pick six is split three ways – 70 percent of net pool to perfect tickets or carryover, 15 percent to consolations, and 15 percent allocated to the jackpot.
On non-carryover days, only 64.87 cents of each dollar wagered in the pick six is returned to bettors, an effective takeout rate of more than 35 percent. (Standard takeout is 23.68 percent, in addition to 15 percent of net allocated to the single-ticket jackpot.)
Assuming $500,000 in new money Friday, pick six bettors will be paid $324,350 plus the $142,512 carryover, or $466,862. That is an effective takeout of less than 7 percent.