Del Mar Notebook

DEL MAR NOTEBOOK

AUGUST 5, 2010

by John Mucciolo

A trio of graded tilts took the spotlight last week at Del Mar.

Bing Crosby S. (G1): Klein and Lebherz's SMILING TIGER (Hold That

Tiger) proved to his elders that he was ready for this jump with a decisive, 1

1/2-length win in here beneath Victor Espinoza. The Kentucky-bred sophomore colt

led at every call and stopped the teletimer in 1:09 1/5 for six panels. This is

the second straight year that a three-year-old has captured the Bing Crosby

(Zensational in 2009), and Smiling Tiger gave 55-year-old conditioner Jeff Bonde

his first Grade 1 victory.

San Diego H. (G2): Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer et al's DAKOTA PHONE

(Zavata) finally broke through at the graded level with a last-to-first run in

this one. The five-year-old gelding finished off 1 1/16-miles in 1:43 2/5 under

the guidance of Joel Rosario. Third in the Santa Anita H. (G1) earlier this

season, Dakota Phone had placed in a total of six graded events and snapped a

16-race losing skein in the San

Diego.

Cougar H. (G3): B. Wayne Hughes' homebred TEMPLE CITY (Dynaformer) set

easy splits under Joe Talamo and never gave his foes a chance in the lane with a

facile tally for Carla Gaines. A head second in the American H. (G2) previously,

the five-year-old dark bay notched his first graded win with a 3 1/4-length

decision and completed 1 1/2-miles on the Polytrack in 2:30 2/5.

Track Stats

From a total of 43 races held over the coastal racetrack during the five-day

race week, favorites won at a 35 percent clip and the top two betting choices

combined for 60 percent of the wins. From 34 frays contested on the Polytrack

oval, 13 animals won in wire-to-wire fashion (38 percent), while two of the nine

grassy tussles went all the way on the lead (22 percent).

The week started with all of the main track winners breaking from posts 4 and

wider, but that changed in a big way, as inside speed was very good for the

remainder of the week, especially in sprint events. Horses were winning from off

the pace some this week, but pacesetters often held on for a minor award if they

didn't go all the way.

Turf racing still favors horses from off the pace in our view, which is

common at Del Mar.

Thursday, Friday and Sunday combined for 10 wire jobs on the Polytrack from

21 races, with the innermost three post positions accounting for 11 wins in

total.

Meet Totals

RACES:		88
POLYTRACK:		63
TURF:		25
FAVORITES:		29 (33 percent)
2ND CHOICES:		19 (21 percent)
TURF WIRE:		2 (8 percent)
POLY-WIRE:		20 (32 percent)

HORSES TO WATCH

Thursday (7/29)

2ND -- In his first outing since November, the once stakes-caliber INDIAN

ASHTON (Tribal Rule) ran a big one to just miss at the wire for conditioner

Wesley Ward. The gelding wasn't claimed out of this and proved he still has

something left in the tank.

5TH -- LIMITED PASSION (Cactus Creole) didn't miss by much when third in her

debut performance in here, and we'll tab the four-year-old as one to keep an eye

on next out for trainer Robert Troeger.

Friday (7/30)

5TH -- CEE'S PRYME (Cee's Tizzy) was well-backed and surely ran like a good

thing in a daylight score at first asking for Gaines, who seemingly has one like

this every year at Del Mar. The gelded sophomore could be of stakes-quality down

the road.

Saturday (7/31)

1ST -- It was good to see GOLDEN MEXICO (Ire) (Daggers Drawn) back in the

winner's circle after holding on late beneath Talamo. The speedy gelding wired a

field over a turf course that it makes it tough to do so, so we'll watch him in

the near future, especially at other Southern California venues.

7TH -- FAISCA (A. P. Warrior) opened up a huge early lead, and maintained it

throughout, in a dominant maiden-breaking tally for conditioner Caesar

Dominguez. The juvenile California-bred could be any type.

8TH -- Multiple stakes hero BATTLE OF HASTINGS (GB) (Royal Applause [GB])

proved that he can handle synthetic ovals as well and nearly pulled off this win

for trainer Jeff Mullins, finishing well clear in second nonetheless. The

consistent gelding now has that many more options as the season unfolds.

Sunday (8/1)

7TH -- JET BLUE GIRL (Gimmeawink) was a good third in here and could be

tabbed for further improvement following this, her first outing since January of

this year.

A Look Ahead

Saturday's $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch S. (G1) is easily the top draw of the

weekend at Del Mar, with an appearance from defending two-time champ and

unbeaten Zenyatta (Street Cry [Ire]) likely.

The babies also get their due in the form of Friday's $150,000 Sorrento S.

(G3) and Sunday's $150,000 Best Pal S. (G2).