Del Mar Daily Notebook

DEL MAR DAILY NOTEBOOK

THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2006

by Brian P. Turner

A field of 10 went to the post for Thursday's 7TH race, an allowance/optional

claiming event for three-year-olds going nine furlongs over the Jimmy Durante

Turf Course. UNRIVALED SONG (Fusaichi Pegasus) was sent to the post as the

favorite despite the fact that he had only one career start to his credit, a

maiden win going this distance on the grass at Hollywood. The bay rallied from

off the pace that day and finished gamely through the stretch drive for a solid

1 1/4-length victory.

When the gates sprang open in this event, Unrivaled Song was content to lay

off the pace early through opening fractions of :24 1/5 and :49 2/5. As the

field entered the final turn, the bay began to make up ground and came wide into

the stretch, closing with an extremely impressive turn of foot to cross the

finish line 1 1/4 lengths in front.

Rateau (Rahy) vied for the lead early and dug in gamely late for second, a

head in front of Presidential Cause (Giant's Causeway) in third.

There were five sprints contested on the main track Thursday with horses on

or near the pace winning three of them, while the lone dirt route was won by a

runner closing from off the pace. In addition to the feature, there was one

other turf offering, a five-furlong sprint which was won by a horse closing from

off the pace.

Victor Espinoza booted home a winner today and continues to lead the way in

the jockey standings with 29 winners for the meet. Once more, Corey Nakatani

took off his mounts today, and Martin Garcia was able to take advantage to move

ahead of Nakatani in the standings by a score of 18 to 17.

Doug O'Neill's lone runner on the day absolutely dominated, solidifying his

spot atop the trainer standings, and he now has 12 wins for the meet. No runners

were sent out by Jeff Mullins today so he remains in second with eight and he is

followed by Jerry Hollendorfer and John Sadler who have six winners each.

Horses to Watch

1ST - KEY LIME TIME (Cat Thief) reeled off her second win in a row in this

claiming event. The dark bay stayed four lengths off the pace early through

opening fractions of :21 4/5 and :45 4/5 before moving up to take command near

the quarter-pole. From there, the three-year-old filly opened up on the field

through the stretch drive with a nice turn of foot, before hitting the finish

line eight lengths clear of her competition. Trainer O'Neill had her sitting on

ready for this race, and he may be a bit sorry to see her go as she was claimed

away from him. Key Lime Time will be making her next start for the always

dangerous Juan Garcia.

2ND - DAISYKILLER (Gilded Time) had an impressive career debut for Chuck

Peery in this maiden claiming event and lit up the tote board in the process.

The two-year-old filly bounded out of the gate and vied for the lead through

early fractions of :22 2/5 and :46 2/5. Once the field hit the stretch, the bay

still had another gear left and bounded away from the competition to hit the

finish line 4 1/2 lengths in front, furnishing a tremendous $112.20 win payoff.

7TH - Unrivaled Song has had two impressive efforts in as many starts.

Despite losing a ton of ground coming wide in this event, the three-year-old

gelding still handled this field so easily that jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. had

already begun to wind him down before the wire. This effort was much more

impressive than the charts will show.

Tomorrow's Outlook - Friday, August 11

A mere field of five is scheduled to go to the gate for Friday's Real Good

Deal S. for Cal-bred three-year-olds going seven furlongs. DA STOOPS (Distorted

Humor) will be dropping back down to face fellow state-breds after finishing a

well beaten third in the Dwyer S. (G2) at Belmont on Independence Day. The dark

bay has had success at Del Mar in the past and always seems to put in his best

efforts in state-bred stakes races.

BOLD CHIEFTAIN (Chief Seattle) will be making his first start since finishing

third in the El Camino Real Derby (G3) at Bay Meadows back in January. The dark

bay has been putting in some stamina building works for his return and even

shows a bullet five-furlong clocking of 1:00 at Golden Gate back in mid-July.

SEVEN NATION ARMY (General Meeting) has a win and a place to show from two

starts at Del Mar, with his second-place effort coming here on July 23 against

optional claiming company. The bay will need a quick pace early to set up his

late kick.

RED STATE (Smoke Glacken) has a ton of early speed and could be a danger if

allowed his own way on the lead. BUDDYANDROWDY (Soft Gold [Brz]) has one career

start, a runner-up effort against open maidens back in April.

Friday's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and a high of 80.

Friday's Best Plays

3RD - BRENDOLYN (Knockadoon) is coming off a solid second-place effort

against this level in her last start where she rallied from just off the pace

and closed determinedly late to miss by a length at the wire. The chestnut tops

the field in both BRIS Prime Power and BRIS Class rating, while her best BRIS

Speed ratings are on line with the best of this field. Trainer Craig Dollase's

runners have been sitting on ready so far this meet as they have a record of

3-3-0 from 10 starts.

7TH - BEAUTYANDTHEBEAST (GB) (Machiavellian) will be making her first start

since April in this eight-furlong turf allowance. The chestnut was entered for

Wednesday's Osunitas H. but scratched, opting for this event instead. This

appears to be a good spot for her to make her return to the track as she tops

the field in BRIS Prime Power by more than six points and also has the advantage

in BRIS Class rating. Her best BRIS Speed ratings at the distance and on the

surface top the field and she should prove to be tough if trainer Neil Drysdale

has her ready after the vacation.