Weekend Warrior for Saturday, July 23: Picks for Diana, New York Derby, San Clemente

Saturday is the first day of the season when both Del Mar and Saratoga – the two big summer boutique race meetings – will be racing, and that’s great. But from a Weekend Warrior perspective, one that looks for bettable stakes events, Saturday is something of a challenge.

For example, Del Mar’s Grade 2, $200,000 San Diego Handicap is immensely important because it marks the U.S. return of Dubai World Cup winner and 2014 Horse of the Year California Chrome, but it is just not a great betting race. The Grade 3, $150,000 Sanford is the supporting feature at Saratoga, but it drew a field of only five. Even though there aren’t many opportunities elsewhere, the Warrior still found three stakes to play. Let’s go.

Diana Stakes

Miss Temple City rates top billing in the headliner at Saratoga off a strong win over a good group of males in the Maker’s 46 Mile in her first start this year and her game fourth of 14 most recently in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes. But those two races were at a mile, and the Diana is at 1 1/8 miles.

Yes, I know Miss Temple City was miles the best when narrowly beaten by Her Emmynency in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup last fall going nine furlongs. However, Her Emmynency has not run well in three starts since, I have questions about how strong the QE II really was, and I suspect that Miss Temple City is at her best going shorter than the distance she must travel Saturday.

It’s tough to get a handle on Dacita. She was terrific in nailing the mighty Tepin over this Saratoga Mellon turf course last summer, winning the Ballston Spa in her U.S. debut. But while Dacita ran her best race since then when she won the New York Stakes most recently, narrowly beaten runner-up Sea Calisi was brutally unlucky not to win that day after stumbling at the start, being bottled up on the inside, and bobbling at a crucial point in the stretch run.

Wekeela will get my money here. Wekeela, a Group 1-level performer last year in France, ran well when second to the champion Tepin in the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland last April in her U.S. debut, even if she was soundly beaten. As a result, she was 4-5 in Santa Anita’s Gamely Stakes last time out but was dealt an impossible trip, trying to close into a very slow pace, and did well to be a narrowly beaten second. Wekeela should get a more honest pace setup this time, and I’m anticipating a peak effort.

New York Derby

In all the years of the Weekend Warrior, I have never included a race from Finger Lakes. But kudos to Finger Lakes for carding one of the day’s few legitimately interesting betting stakes.

There is talent in this New York Derby for New York-bred 3-year-olds. Awesome Gent (whom I bet last time at 21-1 in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens) and D’funnything are runners, but both are suspect while stretching out to two turns. Extinct Charm is not suspect going a route after finishing second in the Pegasus Stakes most recently to Donegal Moon, who didn’t even reach his reserve price when he went though the ring at $1.6 million at the recent Fasig-Tipton sale of horses of racing age. But I prefer Hit It Once More.

I’m not concerned about Hit It Once More’s fade in the unrestricted Easy Goer Stakes last time because Cupid did the same thing in the same race and came back to win last week’s Indiana Derby. Hit It Once More now moves back in with New York-breds, company he crushed in his prior two starts.

San Clemente Handicap

The line in the sand in this supporting feature at Del Mar revolves around your feelings about Belvoir Bay. If you think she’ll run back to, or improve on, her huge, big-figure win last year in the Blue Norther, then bet her. If you question whether she’ll fire off the seven-month layoff, as I do, there is reason to play against her.

I’m going with Mokat, who hit the board twice against the brilliant Songbird on dirt this year and now moves back to turf, perhaps her best surface, for a barn that has excellent numbers with this surface switch.