Late pick three includes intriguing maiden turf races
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DEL MAR, Calif. – The popularity of the late pick three in summer at Del Mar is based on three components – low 15 percent takeout, high $3 minimum, and consistently generous payoffs.
The median payoff is $565 this summer in the late pick three, while the average pool in the first six weeks of the meet was more than $396,000. The late pick three covers races 6-8 on Friday, and though a low-odds single in the final leg could limit the payoff, it also limits the cost of the ticket.
The middle leg of the Friday sequence is the featured seventh race, an allowance sprint with a lone front-runner. The allowance is sandwiched by a pair of turf races for 2-year-old maidens, races 6 and 8, that are every bit as appealing.
Based on objective handicapping, Simple Song is the controlling speed in race 7, a 6 1/2-furlong second-level allowance. But the maiden races require consideration of subjective factors like pedigree and workouts. Below is a closer look at Friday’s late pick three.
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Race 6, five furlongs on turf for maiden fillies, includes a pair of well-meant first-time starters. Deluge starts for trainer Bob Baffert, who said, “She’s very fast.” She will need to be, because the John Sadler-trained On Edge, a Flightline filly from a graded stakes winner, also looks ready to fire.
Baffert maidens typically race on dirt. The trainer is 2 for 34 in maiden turf sprints the past five years for all age groups. Despite that low percentage, Deluge might be the one to beat.
“I just threw her in there [on turf], trying to get a race. It’s the way it came up,” Baffert said.
Deluge posted two bullet works on dirt last month, and the Maximus Mischief filly could set the pace Friday under Juan Hernandez. The turf rails are at 24 feet, and only one of the first six turf sprints at the configuration was won by the pacesetter.
On Edge is the Sadler-trained Flightline filly who was not expected to make her debut until a dirt race next week.
“She had a really nice work [on Aug. 21], so we pulled an audible and put her in versus waiting until the last weekend,” Sadler said.
As for turf, Sadler said “It’ll be fine. [On Edge] has a really long, pretty stride.”
Sadler trained the filly’s sire, Flightline, and dam, Edgeway, the two-time winner of the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo at Del Mar and runner-up in 2021 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. On Edge’s rider is Joel Rosario.
Beyond the first-time starters, the field includes Golden Bee, a solid runner-up in her debut last month in a similar turf sprint. Dan Blacker trains Golden Bee, whose rider is Julien Leparoux.
Race 7 is the allowance in which Simple Song is expected to set the pace. He was compromised by the rail post and a pace duel when he finished a distant sixth last out. Friday, the Mark Glatt trainee could clear the field and be long gone.
His rivals include Cal-bred stakes winner Speedy Wilson, a late-runner with three wins over the Del Mar track. The Last Straw makes his first start since finishing last in a Grade 3 on May 31. Others are Mr. Disrespectful, Smooth Cruisein, and Nesso’s Lastharrah.
Race 8, a turf mile for Cal-bred maiden 2-year-old fillies, includes the most probable winner on the card in the Sadler-trained Just Work It Out. She finished second in her debut at 5 1/2 furlongs on dirt and is likely to improve Friday at the longer trip.
“To me, she’s crying for two turns,” Sadler said.
He believes she’ll benefit from the slower tempo of Friday’s route compared to the fast tempo she pressed in her debut. Rosario rides Just Work It Out, who is by the Kentucky-based stallion Justify.
The main rival for Just Work It Out is Miss Mo Brown, who closed from last to third in her debut at five furlongs on turf. Andy Mathis trains Miss Mo Brown, whose rider is Hector Berrios.
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