Del Mar Recap of the Weekend

Here’s how the bets went for the weekend:

Friday Del Mar:

1^st race—we thought that the #5 would go wire-to-wire with Delgadillo.  P-Val had the same idea and beat the #5 with the #4, but at least we had the Quinella.  Not a bad start to Del Mar.

2^nd race—we liked #5 with Eddie [Maldonado] and Adam [Kitchingman] together. They couldn’t catch the #8, who we didn’t value as much as lone speed.

3^rd race—we went for some longer priced horses and the favorite won.  So that was a wash.

4^th race—we had the exacta, as we liked the #1 and #6 together.  Not too bad.

5^th race—we liked the #7 with Peter Miller and Martin Garcia at an overlay.  So naturally, Bejarano (Senor Day) on the #4 runs it down to shut us out for the race.

6^th race—we liked the #1 and #3 headed into the race, but the local horses showed up huge.  It was hard to take the bombs underneath the #8.  #8 was too short to bet to win; we needed #1 or #3 behind her.  On the plus side, it helped us to find the exacta in the Del Mar Oaks on Saturday.

We left before the 7^th race to get dinner because they were terribad maiden claimers and we were coming back for a marathon day on Saturday.  We did bet the #2 to win and in quinellas with the #1 and #10.  That got blown up to nothing by the #3 doing a Wise Dan impersonation.  This was doubly validated by the fact that a ten pound bug boy won by double-digits on the #3 to boot.  I rest my case on the randomness of maiden claimers in SoCal (or anywhere).  We lost marginally on the day, but got to see my cousin who's stationed in San Diego before the track.  So a pretty darn good Friday with that and getting to be at Del Mar again.

Saturday at Arlington:

We were a bad fourth in the opener, but had the second race exacta at Arlington

The third race was a hanging third from the #4, but we had the fourth race winner (10 got overbet, went with 9 instead)

5th race:  Had the 9 who got clear in the stretch, but decided to interfere and blow the turn to get dq'd to 9th from 2nd.

Both Hatoofs (6 and 11):  Looked strong for first 6.5 furlongs and weakened in the stretch.

We had the American St. Leger exacta at Arlington.  4 was too short for win bets, but we cashed.  So that was nice.

Secretariat:  Went for using 12 and 13 with 5; didn't have 5 with other favorites.

Beverly D:  Got 1st/3rd-ed off the exacta by Tom Queally and forgot to use Euros together.

Million winner/exacta (we had 1 & 10 as primary win bets and exacta horses, so the inquiry was superfluous to the cashing) helped to put us in the black for the weekend.  We skipped the 12th, where we'd have been 3rd anyway.

Saturday at Saratoga:

Didn't get put up in the 1st when interfered with a little bit to be a hard-luck second.

2nd and 3rd races were speed and quits.

4th race winner/exacta at Saratoga; probably should have had the tri, as the 4 was also involved in the exacta box.

5th race, got ran down by the #9 and needed the #10; boxed 10 with 11, but not with 9.

6th race, the #10 ran evenly in mid-pack.

7th race, the wrong color green got home (#5 beat #12, my back up once #3 scratched)

Skipped the 8th, as #4 was too short to bet to win.  Considering the exacta was 23-1/23-1, a smart move.

Sword Dancer, we needed the #4 to get home.  Big Blue Kitten had other ideas.  No exacta soup for us.

Alabama was just a $3 show cash, as we thought they'd bridge jump Sylmar.  #5 rushed up like an idiot and ran 3rd behind Fiftyshadesofhay, which ruined the exacta savers.

Skipped betting races 11 and 12 to focus on Arlington/Del Mar.  Ran 5th in the 11th, but didn't bet it.  Would have had the 12th race winner, but it would not have paid as much as the Million plays did.

Del Mar:

1st race, we bet #6 as a long shot since #7 was short.  #6 rushed up too soon, too fast and the #7 won, my original pick that got bet since the field was scratched to five.  I didn't know Del Mar turned into Bay Meadows South.  The 5-horse field discouraged us from playing a pick five.

2nd race, we had the #4 and #10 as longshots under the two favorites.  #10 got ran down in the end by the #2, who was an underlay.

3rd race, I skipped since #1 was my "by default, too short to bet" pick.  #1 won despite a horrible break.

4th race, I needed 1 or 7 to run behind the 2.  Got 1st/3rd-ed again by a 22-1.

5th race $4 quinella was had (4-8), although I thought #4 deserved to go down via DQ for forcing its way through.  A lucky break.

6th race, we needed the #4 and #9 to get there.  Ben Cecil decides to have a 2 year old fire at 16-1 cold on the board. 2nd/3rd-ed out of an exacta once again.

7th race, thought Know More could run better at Del Mar.  He was flat.  We liked Maldonado's #9 as well, but Bejarano got let go at 9-2 when we though he'd be favored to run him down at the end.

Del Mar Oaks, we had the $2 exacta.  Would have been nice for the #1 to get there for the win, but a cash is a cash. Didn't want Monsieur Day beating us in the last on the lawn.

We left before the 9th (liked the 9) and 10th (liked the 8), which saved money, as both those horses ran off the board.