2010 Del Mar Preview

The 2010 Del Mar meet will run from this Wednesday, July 21st, until Wednesday, September 9th.  The track is dark on Monday's and Tuesday's

Below is a link to an Excel file containing all of the graded and listed stakes for the 2010 Del Mar meet.  I will update this file weekly.

2010 Del Mar Stakes Calendar 

Del Mar will hold a free on-line handicapping contest during the 2010 meet; JP Fanshawe posted a FanShot regarding the contest this morning.

Some additional bits of information about Del Mar to keep in mind:

POLYSTATS

Del Mar changed its main track from dirt to Polytrack prior to the 2007 race meet.  Here are a few winners' statistics on the Poly since the changeover.

607 Polytrack sprints
181 (30%) - Leading after ½ mile
196 (32%) - Within 2.0 lengths after ½ mile
230 (38%) - More than 2.0 lengths back after ½ mile

31% Favorites
8% Odds-On Favorites
35% Even to 3/1 odds
23% >3/1, =5/1
16% >5/1, = 8/1
15% >8/1, =20/1
4% >20/1

214 Polytrack routes
39 (18%) - Leading after ½ mile
48 (22%) - Within 2.0 lengths after ½ mile
127 (59%) - More than 2.0 lengths back after ½ mile

29% Favorites
9% Odds on winners
35% Even to 3/1 odds
23% >3/1, =5/1
13% >5/1, =8/1
19% >8/1, =20/1
5% >20/1

-In 2009, the main track was very fair in terms of post position for races carded under a mile.  About the only takeaway was that the first six post positions did a little bit better than the outer six.

-In races over a mile on the main track, post positions 8 and 9 both saw 26% and 23% of their starters win.  No other post position saw anything higher than 15%.  Given that the outside three posts (10-11-12) weren't used very often, it appears that the outside was the place to be when going two turns on the Poly (at least during the 2009 meet).

-Del Mar doesn't run a lot of turf sprints (only 16 in 2009) so it's difficult to draw any conclusions on post from the 2009 data.

-Turf routes also don't appear to favor any particular location as the top three posts by winning percentage were the 1, 6, and 7 spots.

-Like Keeneland, Del Mar has the Trakus "real-time tracking system" to provide fraction, beaten length, distance traveled, and average speed information.  Trackus charts for the Del Mar meet can be found at the track's website.

-Del Mar has a section on their website called "Patrol Judge Report" that essentially identifies horses that had troubled trips during a race.  (Link: Patrol Judge Report)

-Del Mar will offer a $0.50 Pick 4 throughout the 2010 meet.